What have you done to your XS today?

I have bought two of these now and am very happy with them. Maintenance free, they’ve held up well, free delivery. I had one arrive with just the smallest cosmetic damage , still totally usable. But the company sent me another one at no cost, and very quickly too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AGM-BATTER...:QgEAAOSwYVlaKFRP:sc:USPSPriority!52001!US!-1


5D145415-4E35-40BF-9CCF-A1BB34277B98.png
 
Just bought one. Not too expensive for peace of mind and knowing that my battery is good. Also, no more worrying about water level OR acid eating my bike. Thanks for the suggestion and link Mailman!

P.S.- I don’t know who does this or how it is done, but it sure would be handy to have a “hat tipping” or “winkin” gun- finger slingin” emoji guy for when people really help you out or steer you in the right direction. I’m sure plenty of folks here have found themselves in the same shoes. What say you?
 
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I've been running an AGM battery for years. Holds the charge well (hot or cold) and no leaks. No RUST!
 
I've used the motobatt ones on a couple bikes. Never had a problem and they always lasted well. Had one on a ducati 748/853 and even after sitting outside in winter it fired up no problem in below freezing temps.
 
I have to say that capacitors look good on paper but they seldom seem to work that well in practice. Another technology that has been surprisingly disappointing is the lithium polymer battery. A pal of mine bought an expensive Li-Po battery for his 2008 Suzuki SV650 and it seems to have completely failed within a few weeks of use. He bought a good brand (Battery Tender) and is a highly experienced technical guy - so it does appear to be a genuine product quality failure. Frankly, I really question whether saving half a dozen pounds on a 450 lb motorcycle is really worth it....

Anyhow - today I did a little cleaning and put the wheels back on Lucille (‘76 Standard) and then I went for a little ride. Those new Michelin Pilot Activs are very nice indeed! The rear one was a bit of pig to mount because the XS650 alloy rims are not very deep-dish but we wrestled it on and everything fits-up nicely.

Pete
 
MaxPete said:
Another technology that has been surprisingly disappointing is the lithium polymer battery. A pal of mine bought an expensive Li-Po battery for his 2008 Suzuki SV650 and it seems to have completely failed within a few weeks of use. He bought a good brand (Battery Tender) and is a highly experienced technical guy - so it does appear to be a genuine product quality failure. Frankly, I really question whether saving half a dozen pounds on a 450 lb motorcycle is really worth it....

Pete
Click to expand...

Pete,

We use Li-Po batteries on our race bikes (Total loss system electrical system). The ones I use are these little "4s 2200mAh" batteries which are used for things like RC cars/boats & drones. About the size of a pack of smokes and weigh next to nothing...GREAT weight savings and when fully charged, we're pushing 16.5v through the ignition (HUGE spark), but for about 20-30 min. tops. They're used for one-race, then back to the charger if needed to use later in the day...I have 5 of them ready to go at any moment. :)

The one thing I know about these batteries (And I'm no expert) is they don't like to be drained below half of their capacity...they also don't like to be over charged, and cycling them each time they are used is important for longevity. So I don't really know how they would be if they're constantly getting a charge while running (Like in a bike with a generator/alternator system). I think what people like about Li-Po batteries is they maintain their output voltage until they are drained and then they just stop vs. a lead-acid battery that begins to lose power/voltage as it begins to drain. Anyways, thought I'd share my limited experience with Li-Po's and an application that they work very well for. :)
 
Good points Brassnck - and I’d agree about the excessive discharge levels being hard on the Li-Po batteries.

Your point about the constant charging of a conventional vehicle charging system is entirely valid too - and that may be the problem with their use on a street bike.
 
Ok, so this is weird. I threw my old battery in yesterday morning because it was fully charged and I wanted to ride to work. The bike is acting weird. Surging a bit while idling, just slightly, and the flickering is only happening after the bike warms up. For the first few minutes after cold start in he morning, nothing. Same thing after a 9 hour day at work, about 2-3 minutes running and then its flickering all the time. I ran a quick errand yesterday evening a few hours after work, and I noticed when tilted to the left, the bike didn't flicker. When level or tilted to the right, not only did the bike flicker but the idle seemed to increase slightly. I took a quick video to demonstrate this. Check it out and put on your thinking caps boys. Let me know what you think may be going on. My theories so far are the flasher unit under the tank, because flashing gets erratic sometimes at interstate speeds, or just simple vibrations in the headlight bucket. At this point I may have to open up the carbs, and I’m considering making a new wiring harness for the bike since I’m paranoid now of the old wiring. I’ll have a good space to do it in THE NEW GARAGE OF THE HOUSE I JUST BOUGHT with my girlfriend. Kinda excited and stressed to the max. But I need the bike for refuge.
 
Ahhh - OK. I couldn’t figure what you meant by the term “flicker” but now I see it.

Do the signals work normally sometimes? If so then at least you know that the connections are all correct. If not - then you have other issues in addition to one or more bad connections.

If the signals do work properly at least sometimes then it seems pretty clear that you have a loose or dirty/corroded connection somewhere in the turn signal circuit.

You’ll need to take the tank off and open the headlight bucket - and then clean every single connection including inside the female half of the bullet connectors. This type of repair is pretty common on old bikes and once you have it sorted out, everything should work pretty well on a day to day basis.

Pete
 
One other thought Thaddeus - have you switched to LED signal lights?

If so, the stock flasher won’t likely work properly because the LEDs don’t draw enough current to make the bimetallic strip heat up. I wonder if that could be causing your odd flickering issue.
 
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Saturday Garage Time ! Here’s the back wall where my 78E project is actually progressing !
Made it to the steering stem bearings, Rotor off crankshaft and,
Front SR500 dual disc brakes back off after passing “fitment check” on components I’ve sourced .
SR500 Handlebars too.
Wheels (So Straight) ready for polishing up :)
The bike is safely still “dry storage”
but improving !!
-RT
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MaxPete said:
One other thought Thaddeus - have switched to LED signal lights?

If so, the stock flasher won’t likely work properly because the LEDs don’t draw enough current to make the bimetallic strip heat up. I wonder if that could be causing your odd flickering issue.
Click to expand...
I HAVE switched to LED’s, but I don’t think it’s related- the flickering didn't start until just a month or so ago. I think it’s related to the new turn signals ir installation thereof if anything. I think the blinking is erratic at high speed because the flasher is just stuffed under the tank. I think it’s vibrating too much. Maybe I should just solder a length of wire to its terminals and relocate it somewhere where I can hang it by its rubber housing. The other thing that perplexes me is why is the neutral light flickering too? It must be on the same circuit as the turn signals. God, I’m going to have to study a wiring diagram
 
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