WARNING - Motobatt batteries are SHIT.

[TurboKat]

I felt compelled to let you blokes know about 3 failures of Motobatt batteries I've experienced, the first was on ZX6 Dave's track bike, he bought the batt, used the bike twice & then didn't touch it for 7 months & it was dead flat, charged it up (4A charger) & the bike started once, stalled & then had no elecs - the battery had open circuited internally & was fucked.
The second was on my Blackbird on Thursday, had a Motobatt in it when I bought it & all was fine until I left it for a couple of months without starting it, the batt was weak so I charged it on my C-Tek Intellicharger, the charger said it charged ok but when I put it in the bike it just buzzed the starter solenoid, I put it back on charge on a 1A trickle charger but it wouldn't take any more charge, put it back in the bike & it was completely dead - internally open circuited.
At the Superbikes I was telling the lads the story & Shano says "yeah, my Motobatt leaks like a cunt" so yesdy I decided to check the Motobatt I bought 6 weeks ago for my Brother's V Max & guess what? Dead as fried chicken & it won't take any charge.
Took it back to the shop this morning & he gave me my $$ back no questions asked & told me they've had so many failures with them that they won't stock them any more - "They're a heap of shit mate" were his exact words.
On the way home I bought a Yuasa for $6 more than the Motobatt cost, back in the day I had Yuasas in my GSs & Katanas & they never gave any trouble. I have a Yuasa in my Gix 11 & it's about 6 or 7 years old & I've had it in 3 different bikes & it's still going strong.
Buy a Motobatt at your peril, you have been warned.

[BANDITROD]

i have been through 3 of thise peices of shit in my gixxer in the last 3 years TK so i know where you are coming from

[Deano]

A mate and I were pulling the motor out of his bike. He had painted the motor recently and powder coated the frame and swingarm all in black. Started pulling the motor out and noticed his motobatt battery had spewed its guts all down the back of the motor over the arm and frame. As a quick way to destroy a lot of hard work.
I also believe that was the second battery he had as the first failed prematurely

[Tony Nitrous]

Got a Yuasa that's over 6 months old and spins up
like a new one, just put two on other bikes. Not cheap
and not lightweight but seem a safe reliable buy.
Yuasa and a trickle charger both pay for them selves over time.

[kev@vcm]

Mine lasted only 4 months

[Jinx]

Bugger. Got 2 Motobatts just before Xmas for the KTM and Triumph. Hope I get at least 12 months out of them. Yuasa it is next time.

[hooligan]

I've had a motobatt in my vfr for the last couple of years, and i only start it every couple of months. It still starts every time like a champ. Also had one in my KTM 640 for a year and it started on the button every time.
Maybe you mexicans got a bad batch?

[scotty]

3 starts in my wr and it was lights out( see what I did there)

[Yella]

I've had a motobatt in my vfr for the last couple of years, and i only start it every couple of months. It still starts every time like a champ. Also had one in my KTM 640 for a year and it started on the button every time.
Maybe you mexicans got a bad batch?

Same boat here run in the 7 for a couple of years now and in the new Busa both with out problem as said maybe a bad batch

[scotty]

I got mine 2 1/2 years ago

[Aido]

Cunt!
Bought one in Sept.....Used it once for a track day and the bike has been parked since then.....Flat and wont take charge.
I blame you for this TK as I was happy enough to live in ignorant bliss until this afternoon.

[NINJAINOZ]

Sounds like they were maybe good quality & the company may have been bought out & they have gone to shit, I almost bought one my self recently thinking because they are priced a bit more than most other batteries that they were good

Anyone had any experience with the SSB batteries?
I ended up getting an SSB Lithium Ion Ultralite (Looks to be manufactured by Skyrich in the USA & rebranded for SSB?) for $120 including postage from All Purpose Batteries in Sydney (Smeaton Grange), Similar batteries would cost $200+ & postage on top of that if you are buying online

I was planning on replacing the large YTX12BS with the smaller (30mm less height) & lighter YTX9BS & found the Lithium Ion ultralite ( LITX9BS ) batteries were a heck of a lot lighter, It only weighs 0.8Kg compared to the stock battery which is probably closer to 5Kg, SSB mentioned on the phone they were changing the part number soon too?

I found them for $115 elsewhere online & these people said they would do better & I got the same battery below for $120 delivered, Fast postage too

http://www.allpurposebatteries.com.au/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=litx9bs&imageField.x=0&imageField.y=0&search_in_description=1

I cant comment on the reliability yet but so far so good, Fires up the old ZXR no worries, there is some good info here>
http://www.superstart.com.au/Products/tabid/95/vid/4/Default.aspx

http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh540/NINJAINOZ/ZXR750 FIGHTER BUILD/ltx12bsultralite_zpsd8dc5eff.jpg

Hopefully too many other people dont buy the Motobatt batteries after reading this

[fimpBIKES]

ive had afew ssb's from allpurposebatts, gel ones
they are cheap and deliver very quickly work fine

thinking about one as above for the kat. all the chassis bracing makes it fucking tricky to get std size battery in
just reading upp on them here to see if its worth it...
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-battery/li-ion-motorcycle-battery/shorai-vs-ballistic-li-ion-motorcycle-battery.htm

[Dynomutt]

I only fit either Varta or Yuasa batteries. If you want a good battery that has plenty of cranking power and is no larger than a YTX9 then use the YTZ14 batteries, they are the same physical size as the YTX9 but carry 230CCA. I fit them on all the big aircooled motors I built and the oilcooled motors. They will easily spin up a Z1260 motor or a high comp oilcooled lump, and still have power in reserve. They work fine with the stock charging systems on these bikes. Don't bother with cheap versions of these batteries as they do not have the same cranking capabilities and will shit out pretty quickly, the Varta and Yuasa ones are much better quality, the last Varta I put on my own bike was a month ago after the one that had been on there for the last 6 years finally died on me.

[fimpBIKES]

i agree that the lesser known brands will probably not produce the CCA that they claim.
i know the katana ssb is awesome for the price, but still struggles to crank a cold GSX motor (as did the standard battery...)

anyways, im keen to order a ballistic battery from overseas and try it out
does anyone thing customs will have a problem with air-frieghting a li-ion battery?

[stiffsimon]

Hutch on here does a good price on these

http://antigravitybatteries.com/

[JackTar]

i have been through 3 of thise peices of shit in my gixxer in the last 3 years TK so i know where you are coming from

Slow learner much?

If yours are under the seat I would hazard a guess it isn't the battery.