Battery shaken to death?

rhysbud

rhysbud

XS650 Enthusiast
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Gents. I have a rather odd issue with my XS. It appears to be shaking my batteries to death at a rapid rate. I built the bike and relocated a small battery under the rear seat cover near the brake light. The first one I used was a AGM 'Motobatt' battery and lasted nearly a year. It killed that one so I switched to a small 1.2ah lead acid but I only lasted a few weeks but was worth the gamble. Now I'm looking to fix this issue once and for all and I'm thinking of getting the small 4cell antigravity one and running it in the same place hoping it can handle the vibration. Or another option maybe place the battery where the starter motor was, being more central to the motor it might not shake as bad? Also, some more context to the story, the battery is mounted on vekco strips which absorb some shock and it is kick start only. So yeah, I'm all ears with tips for this issue. Thanks!
 
I have had the same problem with a motobatt battery in a sidecar. Was told to use a battery suitable for an off road quad. They have been designed to take the extra vibration or so I was told. We have been using a Yuasa battery for a Honda trx quad. The battery is securely clamped and has rubber cushioning. It has lasted longer than the motobatt so far. That particular battery will be hard to fit into a stock battery XS battery box.
I did not have a problem using the motobatt battery in a XS bike with the stock battery mounting box.
 
Yup, vibration will kill batteries. Here's a pair of dirt-cheap 6v agm batteries, tied together to get 12 volts. Smaller overall than the OEM battery.
2x6vBattery1.jpg

Stock XS1B rubber mounted battery box. Since the batteries are smaller, there's enuff room to pack them in foam, reduces vibration.
2x6vBattery2.jpg 2x6vBattery3.jpg


Going on 6-7 years now on this pair...
 
And the further back you go the worse it gets, why taillights, rear fenders, license brackets, all tend to fatigue crack. I kinda figure the vibration acts on a lever, the cylinder is where it comes from, the weight of the tranny tends to keep the rear of the engine "more" stationary so the far tail is shaking in the opposite direction at about 3 or 4 times the amplitude.
Just a guess that mounting close to rear of engine should shake it less.
 
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I was thinking the same in regards to vibration and location of the battery, just wanted someone to concur I guess. I don't have much room to play with so any sort of battery at stock size isn't really an option. Also would a capacitor, like the bobber guys run, work in this scenario or will it get drained by the acewell Speedo too quickly and not fire the pamco?
 
rhys, I'm not sure what charging system you have, but im almost positive you cannot run a capacitor on the stock alternator. I don't have a front brake on my bike so I clearly do not have an educated response as to why, but I know I had to go with a PMA to run a cap.
 
Hey Nastybeads I'm running a PMA system with a pamco ignition. The only thing I'm really worried about is the current draw from my acewell digital Speedo as it has a constant 12v feed.
 
Try it without the speedo, then with; see if you will need to add a switch, or move the speedo feed to your headlight circuit.
 
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These bikes are paint shakers with two wheels. You can easily wreck a battery by putting it up high behind your seat under a cowl cafe style, even mounted on foam... for a custom build the only viable mounting locations are the conventional one or on top of or even under the swingarm.

A PMA, if it's working, will produce plenty of current for your speedo but I'd put it in a switched light circuit to minimize draw at kickstart. Those Chinese stators fail routinely though. I went back to stock alternator setup.
 
rhysbud said:
Hey Nastybeads I'm running a PMA system with a pamco ignition. The only thing I'm really worried about is the current draw from my acewell digital Speedo as it has a constant 12v feed.
Click to expand...

Hi rhys,
those cheap bastards at Yamaha wouldn't have rubber-mounted the stock battery box unless they absolutely had to, eh?
Most likely your mini-battery ain't gonna live a long and happy life unless it's also vibration-isolated.
If you can't find a place on the bike to hang a rubber net to keep the battery in, try this:-
Buy a mini-battery that can't leak acid. Keep it in a pouch on your belt and plug it in like you would a heated vest.
 
I wouldn't associate Yamaha with being cheap bastards but yes, they're rubber mounted for a reason. I have found and made a solution to this issue, Just need more riding time to ensure it is sorted 100%
 
rhysbud said:
I wouldn't associate Yamaha with being cheap bastards but yes, they're rubber mounted for a reason. I have found and made a solution to this issue, Just need more riding time to ensure it is sorted 100%
Click to expand...
Hi rhysbud,
they all are. Cheap bastards, that is. They gotta be to keep the bikes' cost down to where they are affordable.
 

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