Battery recommendations and experiences...WalMart?

Fuck walmart batteries!!! good luck getting a refund when they fail in 2 weeks. That battery is prob ok to use, but don't buy it from walmart if you do decide to get it.
 
My experience with wally batteries, bike and car, is that after a relatively short time they start to self-discharge really quickly and need a charge frequently. I think they die and get thrown away when they eventually need a charge too frequently to be tolerable to the owner. Other batteries seem to last about twice as long, to me.
 
we've got 1 at Advance Auto. AGM (ETX15L ) , around $80.00. Just recharged mine, aprox 1 and1/2 old. Killed it trying to diagnose elec' prob's. Should still be good.

Most batteries will last longer than most owners actually get due to lack of maintainance. Proper storage and a float charger will greatly extend battery life
 
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I use who ever is cheap. Walmart farm and fleet etc. Straight up I swap bikes and batteries so often I loose track but as stated keep a eye on electrolyte level and charge em now and then with a modern self regulating charger and they last a long time. My garden tractor battery is on year 4, I paid about $25.00 for it. There are only a few battery makers, just a lot of labels get stuck on the same old lump of plastic and lead. My first glass mat battery expired in a few months of use, there were a lot of bad ones made. I got a warranty replacement but it took three weeks at the height of bike season. And that ain't long a round here.
 
This is my 3rd season on my Walmart battery. I noticed it hesitating before starting to crank this year so I think it's weakening. If I get one more season out of it, I'll be happy. I only got 4 years out of the last one which was not from Walmart. I think 3 to 4 years is about normal for a wet battery on these bikes because of all the vibration. I will get a sealed battery next. I have a couple already in other bikes and they are holding up very well.

Batteries are funny. Over the years, I've had good and bad good brand name ones and good and bad cheapos. Brand doesn't seem to matter, it's more like how that particular battery was assembled and manufactured. Some are made well and last, some must not be and crap out in a short time.
 
This is season number 5 for my battery (lead acid type). I don't know its age because it came on the bike when I bought it. The PO probably had it for 1 or 2 years. So, I believe my battery has been used for 6 seasons at least.

Its a Canadian Tire battery (not available in the USA). Through the riding season its only charged from the bike itself. In the winter, I keep it inside (freezing a discharged battery is bad) and charge it a couple of times.

I keep expecting it to start giving me problems, but it just keeps working well.

A good voltage regulator helps the battery to last, and water level must be kept to correct level.

My battery box has a piece of rubber on the bottom and I have some "bubble wrap" around the sides of the battery box, to help isolate the battery from them bad vibes.
 
Best batteries for me come from Battery Plus. Sometimes they have a coupon for $15 off and mat batteries come with a 2 year full replacement warranty.
 
Yuasa or Deka are the only batteries I trust. I do work for a dealership however and don't have to pay retail. We have a ton of customers that are in to buy a "good battery" after buying one from Wal-mart and it crapped out on them within the year. I was running a Deka ETX16L in my old standup jetski, new battery 3 summers ago. Used it alot the first summer. Started the machine 1 time last spring for about 30 seconds out of the water to make sure it would fire up, didn't ride or start it the rest of the year. It sat all winter all the way up to July of this year when I was getting it ready to sell. I didn't charge it or even open the hood and it fired right up! I was sold on these batteries at that point. I am not saying that you should neglect your battery like this but good to know it still fired up. I did though a battery tender on it to top it off before selling the unit, I know the owner of the unit now and he is still running this battery now with no issues. Being a newer rider he is falling off a lot and starting the ski quite a bit. Napa now carries the Deka batteries as well.
 
walmart betteries have worked well for me me toyota truck battery is 5 years old and my lawn mower bat is 3 years old can't say about cycle bat it is new
 
The Wal-Mart battery is a cheap battery. The local wal-mart here has Yuasa batteries. A bottom of the line battery. Wal-Mart gets the cheapest one they can to cut the price. The one I had worked fine till I left the key on and drained it dead. After that it would not fully charge or hold the cgarge. I replaced it with a Yuasa battery from the local tractor supply. It cost $42 instead of the $37 I paid at wal mart. You couls see just how much better quality battery the Tractor Supply battery was, heavier case and terminals as well as caps for the cells, not a plastic strip.
That battery has been in the bike three years and still going strong.
I keep all my batteries charged up by riding or charging at least once a month. Twice during the winter.
I just replaced the Wal-Mart battery in my Harley with one from Advanced Auto. The Wal-mart battery in the Harley was ok till I got home and had to relieve myself very badly and just hit the engine stop switch and jumped of the do my duty and left the key on. After that it got so it wouldn't charge or hold a charge.
No battery can withstand severe abuse, the cheap Wal-Mart battery won't handle even minor abuse.
Spend a few extra bucks and get one from a parts store or battery supply.
Leo
 
i got my AGM from mikes. it was charged when it came. sat for over a year, kept the same charge. ran the bike a few times, still charged. should be putting some miles on it in the next couple of weeks, and the battery is one of the few things that im not even worried about.
 
+1 more for BatterysPlus AGM, I got 2 bad ones in a row Very Frustrating, after the 2nd went bad they apologized and started the warranty over. Working great for 2 years now.
 

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