After 13 years of service, Red Battery retires

[AV8R]

Resting voltage was getting to around 11.4V fully charged and occasionally id find my bike needing a jump after sitting more than a week, so it was time to replace the battery that came with my 05 that Ive had for about a year now.

There she is, ole Red of whom Ive heard was a great battery


Check out that installed date: Jan 2006 (13 years to the month). Wow.


Look at the size difference between the old Red lead (left) and new lithium Scorpion (right)


Depth is good, but width is a little short and the height is much shorter.
The new battery is like 1/3 the weight of the old, but with much better electrical specs
Note, i sanded the bikes pos and neg power cable terminals so they are clean. Were greasy.


While Im at it, gunna upgrade the battery cover to a newer style from the shorter 05 style
Top off the rear brake fluid while im here.


Fait accompli


Slow charge and we should be ready for this weekends ride

 

[dduelin]

After cleaning the terminals a smear of dielectric grease is a very good thing.

 

[ddemair]

There she is, ole Red of whom Ive heard was a great battery

I have to ask... since you got 13 years out of the old battery, why didn't you buy another?

 

[Upt' North]

I recently posted somewhere else on here that I thought my original battery was approaching its end of life scenario. I say genuine, it's got Honda written on it and I can't see anyone buying an OEM battery replacement and the history file with the bike makes no mention of battery change. Mine started to misbehave on charging with the Optimate, it now goes to red not green, of course it could be the charger.
Anyhows, it's been parked for two months, went to it Monday to run it to temp and bang, no not BANG, fired up first time. Well I never, it does seem strange that some have lots of issues with batteries and some go forever, this bike would have been parked up over just about every winter since 1998. It's definitely having the same battery back on, I think it's actually a Honda branded Yuasa.
Upt'North.

 

[T_C]

battery that came with my 05 that Ive had for about a year now.

Check out that installed date: Jan 2006 (13 years to the month). Wow.

13 years or 3?

 

[st1300doug]

13 Years? That's phenomenal....for ANY vehicle battery!

 

[the Ferret]

if it's an 05, why would someone have replaced the oem battery in 06? 1 year later? Then again it doesn't make sense that the original would have gone from 2005 to 2016 either. Interesting mystery.

 

[fnmag]

Excellent service. Congrats on your new Scorpion battery. Hope it last a long time as well.

 

[SMSW]

Uh oh... Another light battery up high. Easier for you too to pick up the bike after tipovers and you will accelerate more smartly when accompanying parades.

 

[Al st1100]

there should be a date code etched into the plastic that would verify build date of the battery

 

[Al st1100]

Resting voltage was getting to around 11.4V fully charged and occasionally id find my bike needing a jump after sitting more than a week, so it was time to replace the battery that came with my 05 that Ive had for about a year now.

There she is, ole Red of whom Ive heard was a great battery


Check out that installed date: Jan 2006 (13 years to the month). Wow.


Look at the size difference between the old Red lead (left) and new lithium Scorpion (right)


Depth is good, but width is a little short and the height is much shorter.
The new battery is like 1/3 the weight of the old, but with much better electrical specs
Note, i sanded the bikes pos and neg power cable terminals so they are clean. Were greasy.


While Im at it, gunna upgrade the battery cover to a newer style from the shorter 05 style
Top off the rear brake fluid while im here.


Fait accompli


Slow charge and we should be ready for this weekends ride

sorry to burst your bubble but the ODYSSEY EXTREME series of batteries did not come out till 2015 (google it) http://www.odysseybattery.com/documents/ODY_ATEX_press release_FINAL.pdf why the sticker is punched out the way it is who knows. I thought it was too good to be true.

 

[fifthave]

Just a friendly word of caution...do not use dielectric grease on your battery terminals. Dielectric grease is non conductive and when you put it on your terminal the heat generated as the current passes thru the battery cable ends will soften the dielectric grease and it will run down between the battery cables ends and the battery posts. All will be good until you get home and things cool down overnight and the grease gets thick again. Once it gets thick it will stop the flow of current from the battery to the battery cables. Then when you get ready to ride again your bike will not start or will crank really slow. You would immediately think new battery is defective but it fact it will be the dielectric grease the is insulating the current so it cannot flow from the battery to the battery cables.

I experienced this first hand and it took me a while to figure out what happened. It doesn't happen over night, in my case it was about two months after I replaced the battery. Things were fine one day and the next day the bike wouldn't even crank! I couldn't figure out how things went south so quickly, so I did the usual troubleshooting check list checked starter relay and starter fuses the battery etc the whole list and found nothing,

I never in a million years suspected the dielectric grease but that is what it was...Cleaned all of the dielectric grease off the battery posts and the battery cable ends and everything was back to normal. I never would have believed it if it hadn't happened to me!

By the way...you don't need to protect battery cables with the modern AGM batteries like your Odyssey or your lithium battery that is your replacement because they are sealed and do not vent the internal gasses, which is where your corroded cables ends came from. Just trying to save you a headache and a hassle from someone who has been there done that but didn't get a t-shirt, just a very miserable hands on education. thanks

 

[Jjonahjamison]

I've got a 2007 with the original battery. Its going to be replaced before spring "just because", but its never caused me any grief.

When the bike is parked in the garage it is always connected to a battery tender, which has probably helped extend its lifespan into double digits.

 

[fnmag]

I've got a 2007 with the original battery. Its going to be replaced before spring "just because", but its never caused me any grief.

When the bike is parked in the garage it is always connected to a battery tender, which has probably helped extend its lifespan into double digits.

You got your money from that battery. That's a great service life.

 

[dwalby]

if it's an 05, why would someone have replaced the oem battery in 06? 1 year later? Then again it doesn't make sense that the original would have gone from 2005 to 2016 either. Interesting mystery.

not a mystery at all, the "6" represents 2016, not 2006. Since the average battery only lasts a few years there's no need to print a new batch of stickers every decade with the two-digit year. And even if they did, it would be an "06" instead of a "6". So in reality it was only a 3 year life, not 13.

 

[Bush]

.you don't need to protect battery cables with the modern AGM batteries like your Odyssey or your lithium battery that is your replacement because they are sealed and do not vent the internal gasses, which is where your corroded cables ends came from.

I disagree. Corrosion on battery terminals results from accumulated dirt on top of the battery surface, which allows leakage of voltage across that surface between the posts.

 

[AV8R]

not a mystery at all, the "6" represents 2016, not 2006. Since the average battery only lasts a few years there's no need to print a new batch of stickers every decade with the two-digit year. And even if they did, it would be an "06" instead of a "6". So in reality it was only a 3 year life, not 13.

Really?

OK... Well then if that’s the case it went south in 3 years? Sorry for the fake news

And, that answers the question why not buy another!


Anywho, at least also say something encouraging like:
- Dang you’re handsome in that picture AV!
- Wow, amazing electrical and mechanical acumen, even IGOFAR would notice

 

[SupraSabre]

It must be that time of year, when batteries go south! On Tuesday morning, my 2010 almost didn't start. Started and then died, than was really weak, but did catch.

So, I bought a Shoria battery off Amazon; $195 battery for $159. And then I got to subtract5 $99 in points, so for $60 I got it! Shipping was $9, but if I went with free shipping, that was supposed to take a week. It showed up yesterday, two days after ordering it!

I'll be changing it out this weekend!

 

[fnmag]

It must be that time of year, when batteries go south! On Tuesday morning, my 2010 almost didn't start. Started and then died, than was really weak, but did catch.

So, I bought a Shoria battery off Amazon; $195 battery for $159. And then I got to subtract5 $99 in points, so for $60 I got it! Shipping was $9, but if I went with free shipping, that was supposed to take a week. It showed up yesterday, two days after ordering it!

I'll be changing it out this weekend!

Dang, Merry Christmas. You got a great deal on that battery. Enjoy.

 

[fnmag]

Really?

OK... Well then if that’s the case it went south in 3 years? Sorry for the fake news

And, that answers the question why not buy another!


Anywho, at least also say something encouraging like:
- Dang you’re handsome in that picture AV!
- Wow, amazing electrical and mechanical acumen, even IGOFAR would notice

No worries, anybody could have made that mistake.
I think you do have good electrical and mechanical skills.
Also, your pics are very clear which is helpful.