[nitrous12]

Educate me on battery maintenance please.
Do these bikes (mine is a 230F) have an alternator?
How long do the batteries typically last?
Is a charger an essential thing to have in the garage?

Thanks!

[JimDirt]

Batteries are a crap shoot , you can have a $30 battery last 2 years and a $80 battery can last 1 year , there is no "Do This" and all is well

Any bike with a battery and/or E-Start has a alternator/generator

A Battery Tender or similar trickle/float charger is a must if your bike sits for any length of time(over winter) , but if you use your bike year round then its not as necessary , unless the temps get cold , batteries dont like cold because most have water in them , so they can freeze , once that happens , the battery is usually toast

Gel or Lithium batteries last longer but are more expensive , i have a Shorai in my 450X , its been in there since 2011 , after going thru 6 $80+ batteries in 5 years , it was worth the extra money ($100-$150) for me , my bike can sit all winter in my garage and crank right over in spring without charging

Keeping a battery charged/warm/cycled during winter is a must for battery life , usually if a battery is going to go bad its right in the beginning of spring after sitting all winter with no charge cycling (usually lead/water filled batteries)

So there is no set life cycle for batteries , some people have to replace them every year , even with maintenance , and some will last several years , but a trickle/float charger is a must have , just like having the proper wrench to work on your bike , your battery needs the proper tool to keep it working properly

Hope that helped !

[MattBennett23]

I have the stock battery in my 250X still. It is a 2009 that I bought in 2011. It has lasted thru 3 cold Michigan winters. Still cranks like new.

Only thing we do it hook it to a battery tender trickle charger when we are done riding for the year.

Do that and you should be good to go for several years. Like car batteries, they will need to be replaced eventually, but that is the best thing you can do for it...

[nitrous12]

This is helpful guys. I appreciate the input as I learn my way around everything.

Any recommendations on a battery tender? I have seen different chargers listed in tools sections of sites but the price disparity is so high I feel like I don't know what is what and what is appropriate for what I need.

I would like to ride all year or at least whenever I can get out even for short rides when no snow is on the ground, which leads me to my next topic to explore....a light to put on it for the short daylight months. So any suggestions on that are welcome too!

Thanks again!

[MattBennett23]

http://www.crfsonly.com/catalog/product_info.php/manufacturers_id/156/products_id/1567

[nitrous12]

http://www.crfsonly.com/catalog/product_info.php/manufacturers_id/156/products_id/1567

Awesome! I imagine I can charge the battery in my quad with this as well?

[Aussiecrf230]

You can charge any 12 volt battery.
Avoid hooking them together to charge both at once as the flatter battery will not get charged properly.

[Aussiecrf230]

Jim,
I heard the Shorai can get water in them and should be sealed with a little silicon around the top. Anyone in US had any trouble like that?

[JimDirt]

I have not , but then again , i try to keep my bike ABOVE water , i ride around lakes not in them , lol , but , honestly no i have not heard about this anywhere , this is the first i have heard of this happening ! , i ride thru streams all the time , not usually up to the seat , but i have done up to the bottom of the airbox , on occasion

How is the water getting in ?? , from washing the bike , or rain ?? , i am a bit confused as to how/when the water is actually getting IN the battery when its under the seat and protected by the side panels

[Aussiecrf230]

Just heard a few complaints that it wasn't sealed properly. Since the complaint was the didn't last as long as the old Yuasa it may have been a reply on a warranty claim.

" you let water get in the battery"

Don't know how, but I have seen some bikes with snorkels.

[JimDirt]

I have not heard of anyone over here saying anything about water , but then again , i dont know anyone personally that has submerged their bike , so far mine has outlasted several Yuasa's

I have a friend with a 2011 KTM 450SXF (he now has a 2013 as well) that has gone thru 3 Shorai's in the same amount of time i have had mine (2011) (we got them about the same time at the same place) , but his was not for water issues , he had jetting issues and kept killing the batteries ,and because for some reason , KTM thought it was smart to get rid of the kick start to save some weight from 2011 on , even though the bike weighed about the same as all the "other" bikes without a E-Start at the time , so when the battery gets low , and the bike wont start (Dungey had this issue in a race last year , no kick start = race over) , you have no option but to charge the battery

Shorai's dont like conventional charging , especially with chargers that "cycle" while charging , so i am sure that is what led to the demise of his

[Aussiecrf230]

Just an update on battery life for my old Yuasa YTX5L-BS. It is left on a trickle charge when not in use. I brought this battery in 2007 and is cranks the old 230 over even though it is a bit cool temperature wise. This is the longest lasting bike battery I have ever had.

I have to put that down to being constantly floated via the charger.

Now the question is do I replace it lest I be left not being able to start when it does die or just wait until it does.

[MattBennett23]

Update on my earlier post. I finally needed to replace the stock battery in my 2009 CRF250X. Like I said before we keep it on a trickle charger when not in use. I just needed to replace the battery this year after winter. It is a 2009 and it is now 2016. I bought the bike new in 2011. So I got 5 years of use and the battery was at least 7 years old. Trickle charge is the way to go...

[Back2-2]

That's pretty good - BUT, I got you beat.
I just fired up my 2006 Yamaha YFZ450 yesterday which still has the OEM Yuasa battery it came with when I bought it new if sept 2006.

So there Mr. smarty Honda pants !

[MattBennett23]

Ya, well my bike is Red, so there!!