Battery Removal / Battery service

In order to remove the battery half the bike has to be taken apart.. literally!

You have to remove the center panel and the LH grab rail, turn signal and panel.
The RH parts can stay in place.
Then back out but don't completely remove the fuel filter screw.
Then remove the hose to the fuel evaporation valve and wiggle the valve assembly off of the flat steel holder.
You don't have to unhook the valve; just tuck it out of the way for now.
Then remove the negative battery cable. At this point, I had to reach across from the RH side with a very long Phillips screwdriver to loosen the positive cable. Unhook the flat rubber strap.
With just the right amount of wiggling and muttered words about the designer, I was able to tilt and pull the battery out to where I could completely unhook the positive terminal.
Measure the box carefully before getting a new battery because almost nothing fits.
Reinstall is the reverse. Good luck.

Make sure that you are checking your battery fluid level periodically! A battery low on destilled water will fail on you quickly!
Use a syringe or turkey blaster to fill the cells up with fluid as needed!

You can also use a Bendy straw The type that can be turned 90 degrees. Just take off your seat, Pull the plugs off the top of the battery. Dip the straw in to your distilled water put finger over top to seal then put straw over the battery cell that needs filled and release your finger from the other end dropping the water into the battery cell repeat until filled to full line.

Battery removal and replacement

All of this will go on the wiki once I'm done.

I finally bit the bullet and decided to replace my almost dead battery. I fried two Deltran battery tenders trying to get this battery charged back up. Enough was enough. I read through BSK's instructions on the wiki on battery removal twice and armed with my whole toolset, magnetic bolt holder, magnetic arm and a flashlight, I set to work at 5:45 AM.

BSK's instructions say to only take off the left side plastics. I found it easier with both left and right side plastics off.

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Moved the fuel filter out of the way.

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Disconnected my Techlusion.

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Disconnected what I am assuming is the evaporation valve (do you believe they let me work on my bike?!?) :)

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Negative terminal first. A little wiggling. Positive terminal next. Walla. Out came the battery. Do not do this without a magnetic screw catcher thingy, it is indespensible.

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Installation is the reverse of removal. Enjoy!


More battery info….

Now here's my quesiton: I had always assumed that the battery in my bike was OEM. But old posts on CG say that the YB12AL-A2 is a sealed battery replacement for the OEM. Mine is obviously not sealed. So,

1. The posts mentioning YB12AL-A2 as a sealed battery are wrong?
2. This is a non-OEM replacement?

Can anyone shed any light?

Now I gotta run out and get a replacement battery. India being bike land, I am hoping there won't be too much of a problem finding one. Stay tuned.

posted by bluegoose1

I suspect that having a smaller capacity battery will only matter if you don't ride enough to keep the battery fully charged or have a battery tender. The smaller capacity will reduce the number of times you can use your starter motor before it goes flat.

Having a smaller capacity battery will mean that it will be fully charged more quickly, but will have less power, so will also discharge more quickly. The charging current shouldn't matter as long as your regulator is still working. All a regulator does is (basically) open a circuit so no more power goes into the battery. (Same happens with solar panels - I lost two batteries through over-charging because my regulator went bust and I didn't realise it.)

How quickly a battery discharges depends on how fast power comes in against how fast it goes out. On the CS there aren't too many things to take power out. The \"basic\" power drain, ie the spark plugs, computer, lights (which are always on, regardless of whether it's day or night), will be covered by your generator's output. The worry is with \"accessories\", such as heated handgrips. I think in India you wouldn't really be worried too much about keeping your hands warm. (If you have an accessory plug on your dashboard, don't use it unnecessarily.)

[…]

So to summarise: As long as your CS is in good tune, has a good generator and regulator, and starts easily (this will be the biggest single drain) a smaller capacity battery should not be a worry.

BlueGoose

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