What batteries do you use, + an electrical question

[mr. z]

As of the present, I have been using a small, 7 amp deal from a company called Great Plains Cycle, who sells them on e-bay for $69.00, + shipping. They are a sealed/gel type,are made in Vietnam, and fit stock Pan and Knuckle oil tanks. I am having my doubts about using them anymore, the first one I had lasted 3 years, in the last 3 months I've gone thru two.
I was considering going back to using the small, dry-charged type that Yuasa sells, but they will only handle 5.5 amps, and my generator/regulator combo from Cycle Electric put out 7, I've used these in the past with only marginal results on other bikes anyway.

However, it may not be the batteries' fault to begin with. What will happen is, I will put a new Vietnam made/Great Plains battery in, start the bike. I will get approx. two 50 mile rides out of it, the bike will run as long as I want to,lights and all, but once the bike is shut off, the battery will be completly discharged, to point that I could touch both terminals together and no spark of juice at all Sent the gen/reg unit to Cycle Electric for testing, they informed that my unit had no problems, everything is charging and looking good. I also sent the new battery back to Greats Plains, they said upon arrival, the batt tested at 11 volts, after charging it came back to the full 12 volts, but sent me a new replacement anyway. I then reinstalled everything, this time as a test, I ran a direct lead from the regulator to the battery, instead of to the terminal box behind the coil, which is how I've always had it before, to power up the bike. Took two 50 mile rides, got it home, shut it off,new battery is completly dead. Bike was running on generator power only, the battery, I'm guessing has a draw on it somewhere, draining it of juice. I wired this bike myself, following the schematic from HD's 59-69 service manual. All my wiring in the terminal box and beyond look good however my next step is to get a better multimeter to check my connections, wish I could find what is causing this before I have to de-wire the whole bike, electrics were never my strong point.

Any thoughts on your battery preferences, and a more pin-pointed place to start tracking this issue would be greatly appreciated.

[NYFB]

May not be much help, but I have recently had the same problem with these same gel batteries. I went through two of the 6 volt ones on my bike. I first thought it was the generator / regulator (Cycle Electric) but everything seems to run fine with the Harley original style battery.

[mr. z]

yeah, I'm kinda wondering the same thing, that thier quality control took a dive, and both the 6 and 12 volt batts that they sell may now suck. We'll see.

[Ohio-Rider]

Are you using the Cycle Electric with the internal voltage regualtor? If you are using a external regulator it may be sticking open/closed and draining the battery. When you put a freshly charged battery in the bike do you get any type of spark at all when hooking up the wire to it? If so, you got yourself a short.

[hogboy52]

The battery is not 5.5 amps, it's 5.5 amp-hours. That is the amount it holds at full charge. Have you actually checked the voltage at the battery terminals with the engine running? It should be near 14 volts.
A $6 Harbor Freight digital meter is all you would need and they will also measure up to 10 amps.

[steinauge]

I use the 5.5 yuasas with good results.Vietnam? Seems like we end up trading with the enemy no matter what !D oes ANYONE in America make a battery to fit?

[108]

I saw where Optima is now making a 6 volt battery for antique cars. Maybe with a little prodding they would make an H2 replacement ?

[duoglide58]

I had a bad run on the mini 12 volt batteries. On the recommendation of some folks on this board, I installed a 12 volt battery size YTZ14S. It is a gel battery that you can mount on end in the oil tank. That was 3 years ago. It is a larger battery and it does not seem to run down when I run the spot lights or high beams. I have thought about putting a larger regulator on the generator since it has the low output unit that was necessary with the mini battery.

Take a look at this thread in the Knowledge Base with pictures of the battery
viewtopic.php?f=62&t=2365

Doug

[59Panman]

I run the Yuasa YTZ14S with the low output regulator on my 59. This was the combination Cycle Electric recommended.

No problems.

[steve_wood]

I'm using a Werker WKA12-12F2. It's a sealed gell battery that is 6" by 3.75 by 3.75. I stand it up in the battery pocket with some foam padding in the corners. It's worked okay so far. Nice thing is that it's 12 amp-hours....

[hogboy52]

There is a variety of "racing" batteries along the lines of these.

http://www.braillebattery.com/index.php/batteries/b106/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[mr. z]

I'm still at it, the charge from generator to battery is as it should be, what has me scratching my head is why when the bike is being driven, there is a discharge situation.

Thanx also for the battery recomendations.

[hogboy52]

Cycle Electric is wrong. The generator may in fact charge fine but the reverse current relay, or in this case (if it's solid state) the diode in the regulator is leaking current from the battery through the generator when the motor is off.

[mr. z]

I would have to agree, got a new meter to use that wasn't so thrashed and beat-up over the years, all my wireing checks out fine, I'm thinking this has to be a regulater issue, its the only thing that makes sense. Trying again with a Yuasa battery this time, if its the same situation, the regualter(attached to the end solid state type) is gonna have to go.

[Kuda]

Not trying to trash Great Plains here, I don't have the evidence I need to be 100% sure. But here's my short story: I bought thier 12V battery at the recommendation of folks on this board. Trickle charged it overnight with a Battery Tender Plus, tested it in the morning, installed it and left for a 4200 mile ride. Mind you, this bike has one headlight, one LED taillight, stock points and condensor, and not much else. At the end of the first day, not even 900 miles, after filling up I had no power at all. Sometime between gas stops the battery had completely shorted internally. Jumped the bike off a nice guy with a scooter to get it started (yes, they'll run on just the generator even if the battery is flat) and continued on my way. Bought a battery charger at Walmart (thank God for 24 hour stores), tried to charge the battery: no dice, dead as a stone. 0 Volts. Bought a mini 12V tractor battery, and over a year later it's still in there. Shipped the battery back to Great Plains, and they were kind enough to send a brand new one back. But it's still sitting on the shelf...

-Kuda
'49 panchop