What CCA on a battery will be better?

[leonides]

I see that must of the ST1300 batteries are 230CCA, are there any other more powerful, and if so does it really makes a difference?

 

[dduelin]

230 seems to be adequate and the norm for the group size. Some batteries are rated more conservative at 190 CCA and still do just fine for normal designed use. A full electrical load will kill the battery in a few minutes regardless.

 

[st1300doug]

230 CCA is the norm. But- I buy the 250 CCA, as it spins the 1300 easily. The last one w/that rating that I bought....was a BatteryMax from Amazon. Cost: $48 est.

 

[T_C]

Don't forget, CCA is cold cranking amps. How much power the battery can generate at 0° F over 30 seconds, without dropping below 7.2v.

This is not an indication of total capacity.

This is not an measurement of what it can do at 50°F, or over a 10 second discharge.

A cold ST13 will pull about 125amps while starting, at standard temperature.

 

[dduelin]

Battery sellers can get creative on CCA numbers even though the definition is standard. Just saying. Lead is expensive and cheap batteries have less of it. There is a case to be made for buying batteries by weight. Again just saying.

Marine batteries advertise MCA which makes the "number" bigger because the test is done at 32 F instead of 0 F but it actually gives a more relevant number because who uses their boat in zero or sub zero weather? In Miami, a really good high quality 190 CCA battery might out-perform and out-last a cheap 230 CCA battery. Too bad they don't give HCA on motorcycle batteries, hot cranking amps, test done at 80 F.

190 to 230 advertised is plenty.

 

[RaYzerman]

There's only so much you can get out of an AGM of the smallish size of the ST battery, and to me, they always crank a bit slow compared to other bikes I've had with larger AGM's of similar CCA. Size matters, LOL, amp-hours counts. But, here you are down in Florida where you could get away with a Lithium and not have cold starting issues that occur in the northern climes. I'd still get the biggest one that fits, but it would serve you well down there. Earth-X might be the better ones out there now.

 

[T_C]

Earth-X might be the better ones out there now.

Pulled my homemade LiFe out for other uses and now have Eatth-X in the bike. Like it.

 

[ST Gui]

A full electrical load will kill the battery in a few minutes regardless.

Don't forget, CCA is cold cranking amps. How much power the battery can generate at 0° F over 30 seconds, without dropping below 7.2v.

This is not an indication of total capacity.

Lead is expensive and cheap batteries have less of it. There is a case to be made for buying batteries by weight. Again just saying.

As I don't live in a particularly cold climate (most of the time) CCA isn't all that important especially if the bike is in a decent state of tune.

Honda downsized the 1300's battery compared to the 1100's and fooling around with the bike while adding farkles or whatever can deplete the 1300's battery in very short order.

Here's an article by hoowasat doing the Huntington Beach Honda battery upgrade where the box area is modified to install a larger (Odyssey PC545) battery. I'll hazard a guess that the CCA may be higher but more importantly overall capacity is increased. This makes a difference for a more heavily electrically loaded bike or even a standard load with the IGN on and engine off. You'll get a few extra minutes compare to the stock battery.

HBH does this for police motors because they start and stop a lot throughout a shift (your tax paying $$ at work). The rest of use aren't usually so challenged so getting home to a tender is usually good enough.

 

[wjbertrand]

230CCA is going to probably be the limit without going to Lithium. Having said that, over the 12 years I owned my ST1300 I never felt the need for more cranking amps. My Super Tenere is a different story. It came with a 210CCA battery that seems to barely turn the engine over. I would usually start but I never felt confident. Also if I clumsily stalled the engine at a traffic light, there weren't enough amps to crank the engine whilst still in gear against the wet clutch oil drag. I'd have to find neutral and then re-start it. I found that the traffic waiting behind me to be somewhat impatient with this. In the end I decided to experiment with a Li battery rated at 387CCA (calculated). So far I'm pleased, it really cranks the bike vigorously, even with the transmission in gear.

 

[Larry Fine]

The AGM I got at Walmart cranks the engine well even after sitting outside, under a cover, without a charger, over three months.

 

[Honda-st-team]

Great HBH Info

 

[TourNut]

Bought this 260CCA battery last year : https://www.impactbattery.com/ytz14-12s-moto-classic-sealed-agm-battery.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr6rA6sa61wIVljUrCh3RNAlTEAYYASABEgLUR_D_BwE