Tomcat61's Steamer '98

[London_Phil]

OEM is YB14L-A2

14AH, and probably the biggest you can fit.
AGM batteries will generally have higher cold crank (CCA) value, and are preferred generally.
Poor or duff batteries are sprag killers.
A lot of folk use AGM, some buy old school acid, and junk them yearly.
I used MotoBatt, but some people have had issues with them.
lithium is latest tech, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the reliability of Lithium batts, as seen with IT tech exploding....
Larger battery not needed, but good battery is.

[Tomcat61]

Thanks Phil,

I found out that 16Ah batterys are generally wider, so not possible to fit into Steamer's batt box.
I looked Motobatt's at local store's website, but there were no measurements on show.
The "YB14L-A2" Yuasa costs 54,90€ and GS of the same type costs 34,90€.  I think Yuasa is better quality.  Motobatt costs roughly 50% more than Yuasas.  Cheaper brands I leave to the shelf.

I had AGM battery on my diesel Alfa and had trouble to keep it fully charged, when using the Webasto fuel powered heater.  Same could happen with Steamer equipped with heated grips?  The alternator can't handle bigger than 14Ah batteries?  The DAR gets worse with bigger batt? 

[London_Phil]

Its a uk site, but will give you some options

https://www.tayna.co.uk/YB14L-A2-Motorcycle-Batteries-G78.html

[threepot]

A good question. I've often thought about a bigger battery? Would the stock charging system cope,and would it fit?
The stock set up barely copes to start these 'beasts', and that includes my Daytona. I've read that upgrading the wiring from the alternator thru the starting mechanism helps?

[London_Phil]

You need to understand the "separateness" of the start and charge systems, as it were.
Limitations to starting would be battery condition,  battery CCA ( amount of energy the battery can release in one go), engine compression, Starter efficiency ( ie brushes/commutator).
Charging rate will have no effect on this, as you're not charging until engine is running.
As far as charging goes, the Alternator output is the main issue, its not very high,  combined with poor wiring connections between Alternator and battery.
There is a mod to the wiring somewhere, but I cant find it. I think essentially the wiring from the alternator to battery is replaced, but some rewiring is needed.
I found with a MotoBatt, and cleaned connectors, I could get 14.5v above 1800RPM on the Steamer,,( sniff...    ... ), but if you start adding extra lights etc, you run up against max output issues with Alternator.

[Tomcat61]

So today after work I went to the Motonet store where I found that Motobatt MBTX14AU costs 94€ and is AGM technology.  It should last longer plus has more cranking power 210CCA compared to Yuasa YB14LA2's 175 and Motobatt is 16,5Ah while Yuasa is 14Ah.  Bigger is better, I hope  :icon_wink:

Also genious is the 4 post design for connecting additional applications to the battery.

What confuses me is that on the box Motobatt says that "No initial charging required" but the store's web site they recommend initial charging before the battery is installed in place.
I measured the voltage of the battery just out of the box and it read 12.6V which should be as in a fully charged battery.

I guess initial charging won't do any harm?

[Timbox2]

Yep, charge it, my Yuasa shows 13v sitting

[Sin_Tiger]

  charge it overnight before you try a start.

[bemusedinsojo]

So today after work I went to the Motonet store where I found that Motobatt MBTX14AU costs 94€ and is AGM technology.  It should last longer plus has more cranking power 210CCA compared to Yuasa YB14LA2's 175 and Motobatt is 16,5Ah while Yuasa is 14Ah.  Bigger is better, I hope  :icon_wink:

Also genious is the 4 post design for connecting additional applications to the battery.

What confuses me is that on the box Motobatt says that "No initial charging required" but the store's web site they recommend initial charging before the battery is installed in place.
I measured the voltage of the battery just out of the box and it read 12.6V which should be as in a fully charged battery.

I guess initial charging won't do any harm?

That is the one I have. I bought my Steamer (Freddie, after Freddie Mercury) in 7/15 and it is still going and is hard to deplete. The first year, before I knew about the sprag, it sat from November to March with the stock clock and started right up. I keep a tender on it now to avoid a slow start though.

P.S. PM me for a manual link

[Tomcat61]

Today I put in new battery, but before that I cleaned the cables with sandpaper.  Now the starter turns faster.  It was a pleasure to ride today, I missed my old girl  :icon_wink:  she didn't mind the cold weather, just barely 40F.  I went to local historic bike club for a chat and coffee.

[Sin_Tiger]

If you have a bit of time and patience, cleaning and dielectric greasing the connectors in the large multi blocks under the seat and behind the instruments is very worthwhile.

Missing her after such a short time, it must be

[threepot]

If you have a bit of time and patience, cleaning and dielectric greasing the connectors in the large multi blocks under the seat and behind the instruments is very worthwhile.

Missing her after such a short time, it must be

Especially the one from the ignition switch. Cured a little issue I had a while back. What felt like a coil starting to fail,and rev needle fluctuating slightly. And I noticed it on my Daytona recently! And a bit of attention to that connector,seems to have sorted it!!? So thanks to the guy's on here that advised
Should be a general maintenance task?

[Tomcat61]

This morning it was a couple of degrees below zero C, about 28F, and the starting first failed, engine just wouldn't turn, second attemp succeeded and Steamer woke up right away.  I also noticed a few drops of cooling liquid from between cylinder and head, but it stopped when engine started to warm up.  Is this a symptom of head gasket failure or normal in cold weather?  Do I need to check the head bolt tightness?

Maybe my Steamer is crying for the cruelty of working her in cold weather 

[London_Phil]

This morning it was a couple of degrees below zero C, about 28F, and the starting first failed, engine just wouldn't turn, second attemp succeeded and Steamer woke up right away.  I also noticed a few drops of cooling liquid from between cylinder and head, but it stopped when engine started to warm up.  Is this a symptom of head gasket failure or normal in cold weather?  Do I need to check the head bolt tightness?

Maybe my Steamer is crying for the cruelty of working her in cold weather 

Is it definitely coolant from the head gasket, not condensation or dripping from elsewhere?

[Tomcat61]

Good point Phil, as I didn't see for sure that it came from between the head and cylinder block. It felt like coolant on fingers, but I didn't taste it 

Tomorrow I will be looking like a hawk 

Not many bikes on the roads, Spring is very cold for this time of year.  Yesterday there was 6 bikes at the bike club and 2 were Tigers  :icon_wink:  my Steamer and 800 XC.