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Post by dabully on May 6, 2010 1:48:20 GMT -5
I just purchased a scooter from someone it has 744 mile on it and i put a hundred. The previous owner said he never charged the battery i was wondering is there some type of charging system (alternator) I dont want to be driving in the country at night and my lights go out on me.
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Post by Bluefront on May 6, 2010 6:04:51 GMT -5
The batteries on these scoots are like car batteries only smaller. The scooter charges the battery as you drive along. With proper maintenance, they should last 2-3 years or so. Also.....the headlight and taillight usually only work when the engine is running, and will continue to do so even if the battery goes dead. The main thing is to keep the battery charged during the winter months when the scoot is not being used. Welcome to SD and good luck.....  |
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Post by CCProf on May 6, 2010 6:37:28 GMT -5
I swear by my battery tender. I plug in after every ride because the lights, starter and fuel injection place a major drain on the old battery. Even after sitting all winter, it cranked right up. Well worth the investment vs new battery.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 6, 2010 6:55:49 GMT -5
+1 for the Battery Tender. Money well spent IMO. The quality of the battery and what you subject it to will have some effect on life. I've seen some scoots come with batteries that can't seem to last more than a few months and I've even seen some very cheap Chinese scooters shipped with Yuasa (and other) batteries that hold up very well.
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Post by kz1000st on May 6, 2010 6:57:37 GMT -5
There was a guy who wrote to Cycle World once who swore his battery was fourteen years old. He said after every ride he hooked it up to a Cycle Tender or some kind of trickle charger. He wanted to know if it was time to replace the battery. They gave him a "after fourteen years, what do you think?" kind of answer.
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Post by earlwb on May 6, 2010 8:19:16 GMT -5
About the Chinese scooters, the factories typically use the cheapest battery they can get that might work. The cheaper it is the better. So a OEM battery may or may not work right out of the crate the scooter came in. You can add the acid and charge it up some, then use it to see how the scooter runs when you are doing your PDI, but after that the battery is on borrowed time. It could go bad anytime from right out of the box to a year later.
Yes there is a charging circuit in the scooters to help keep the battery charged. But it only trickle charges the battery. if you do a lot of short trips during the week, the battery doesn't have time to charge back up so hooking up a battery tender is a good idea.
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Post by WarrenS on May 6, 2010 10:18:20 GMT -5
I had a "90 Honda Pacific Coast that I bought in "92. When I traded it in in 2003 on the Burgman it still had the original battery in it. I would check it often and put a battery maintainer on it during the Winter. The dealer must have done a good job of setting it up. The battery maintainer I used is from JC Whitney. It says it will not charge your battery, only maintain it.
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Post by anhoa on May 6, 2010 14:59:52 GMT -5
My chinese OEM last about 18 months.
Anhoa
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Post by dabully on May 7, 2010 1:57:53 GMT -5
Thanks guys im new to the forum and scooter/moped.
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Post by Kiwiscoot on May 7, 2010 7:14:43 GMT -5
Our January 2008 Xingyue's battery is still going fine.
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Post by G-Bo on May 8, 2010 12:49:50 GMT -5
My Jonway OEM battery lasted 3 months. The Interstate Battery replacement is still going strong!
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Post by eagle150 on May 10, 2010 0:18:05 GMT -5
Well...
My $700 Xingyue Eagle came with a Japanese battery (Yuasa brand if I recall)... AMAZING! It's now 3 years old and still going strong. So is the factory-installed Gates Powerlink belt. It appears these come with equipment ranging from third-world junk, to Asian and American premium stuff!
Leo in Texas
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Post by owenbrau on May 12, 2010 18:53:35 GMT -5
Mine lasted two years.
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Post by earlwb on May 13, 2010 11:25:23 GMT -5
My Roketa 150's OEM battery was still working after nine months, but it had lost a lot of its capacity. You had maybe one or two quick pushes of the starter button before it would run out of juice.
The Roketa 250's battery lasted long enough to do a PDI and a test ride. Was dead the next day. i tried to charge it up and it stayed dead.
I put in better AGM batteries from a Batteries Plus store in our area.
Now my Harley Sportster tends to eat batteries. Either that or the manufacturer deliberately rigs the batteries to go bad after a couple of years. Harley is real proud of those batteries and they price them accordingly too. The problem with the Harley's is they have the battery right behind the engine where it gets the heat radiation coming off the engine to heat it up good, along with the hot engine oil tank on the right side as well, plus it is a sealed battery, so you cannot add water to it either. So the batteries get cooked real good. some of the Big Harley V twins have a wrap around oil tank that surrounds the battery, so it get no air circulation and has oil more than 220 degrees F hot all around it, and it is still behind the hot engine.
The best Harley battery I had, lasted over three years, but that was before Harley went with the sealed AGM batteries. I had only added distilled water to it. You had to add water weekly as it boiled the water out pretty fast in the summer.
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Post by "Big Guy" on May 14, 2010 5:46:57 GMT -5
One of the key points that was missed here so far is operator error... I find that a lot of folks tend to skip reading the directions on their batteries because it's such a simple thing to do. Add the acid, charge it up and slap in in, right? Wrong! If you don't follow the directions, it can go bad literally overnight!
When you get your new battery and fill it with the acid, you don't charge it right away. You have to let the acid settle for at least 1/2 hour - at the shop, we usually let it sit for an hour or so. Charging the battery right away after the acid is added is a sure way to ruin it.
On the batteries we sell to the general public, we no longer sell them uncharged. When we did, we had about a 25% return rate within the first 90 days. Since we started selling them charged, maybe a 2% return rate - big difference!
-Rich
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Post by anhoa on May 14, 2010 9:15:51 GMT -5
Yup..let it sits for 1hr..shake it up like a cocktail drink since it's spill proof and maintenance-free battery (AGM). Then charge it. hehehhehe
Anhoa
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Post by gamedad on Jun 18, 2010 18:35:44 GMT -5
My battery stopped turning the engine over after the first week, I learned to kick start it. 19k miles later, I forget it ever had electric start. Oh, yeah, only fair to note, I broke the kickstart peg, twice, untill i came up with a easy fix. |
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Post by trailheadmike on Feb 18, 2013 12:16:11 GMT -5
I bought a Scorpion battery for my 260 for $43 dollars delivered and it was dead this morning - lasted 14 months even with being on a battery tender every day. I ride almost every day.
Maybe this time I'll invest in a better battery.
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Post by prodigit on Feb 18, 2013 13:55:32 GMT -5
On cold seasons it's harder on the battery. Just don't let it sit for weeks, without riding. Best thing you can do is ride regularly (like at least for 20 minutes, once a week, or more), that'll keep the battery active for a long time.
Once the battery goes bad, you can on most scoots still kickstart the bike. As far as 14 years old battery, if it is true, it must be a motorcycle; not a chinese scoot; unless he replaced the battery with a very, very good one.
On cars, batteries can last almost 10 years in optimal conditions.
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Post by scootermass on Feb 18, 2013 17:30:47 GMT -5
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Post by scootermass on Feb 18, 2013 17:42:45 GMT -5
I bought a Scorpion battery for my 260 for $43 dollars delivered and it was dead this morning - lasted 14 months even with being on a battery tender every day. I ride almost every day. Maybe this time I'll invest in a better battery. Trail: Funny...I have heard good things about Scorpion batteries. I wouldn't buy one as they are only like $15.00 less expensive then a Yuasa. Maybe you received a bad unit. Keep in a float charge when you're not using it! |
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Post by trailheadmike on Feb 18, 2013 18:41:13 GMT -5
The real lesson I guess is you pay half-again as much but get a battery that lasts twice as long or more. Penny wise and pound foolish.
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Post by wutzthedeal on Feb 18, 2013 19:19:18 GMT -5
Mine lasted about 4 months and even with a battery tender, would only give me about 20 engine turnovers which isn't always enough with cold oil. It was 3AH around 40CCA. Replaced it with a 6AH at about 90CCA and keep that up with a battery tender and it's going strong. You can get one for $25, it's worth the peace of mind and not having to kick start.
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Post by carasdad on Feb 18, 2013 20:27:18 GMT -5
5 mins to 5 years so far. It's almost a guess on that. One of our car battery is 12 years old...still kickin!! problem with AGM batteries is once the power falls below 9.8 volts or so....most older chargers won't touch them. They think it is a dead or shorted cel. Why?...don't ask me..I didn't believe it till I tried a few AMG's that were 'Dead'. My old Schumacher would not even try to charge them. Neighbors cheap 40 dollar Harbor Freight one did!! Float chargers will do it also...just takes a few days..  |
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Post by trailheadmike on Feb 23, 2013 12:19:19 GMT -5
Here's a tip - before you spend $43 for a new battery, check the fuse on your battery tender. Turns out mine blew, and that is why the battery wasn't charging and the tender light was blinking. Now I have a new battery I don't need! Totally forgot there was a fuse.
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Post by spandi on Feb 23, 2013 12:35:24 GMT -5
Here's a tip - before you spend $43 for a new battery, check the fuse on your battery tender. Turns out mine blew, and that is why the battery wasn't charging and the tender light was blinking. Now I have a new battery I don't need! Totally forgot there was a fuse. Thanks Mike. I have a tender and if anything comes up with charging my battery, I'll know where to look. |
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Post by konner27 on Feb 23, 2013 20:25:36 GMT -5
I have a float charger from Harbor Freight that I got for 5 bucks and it works perfectly. I have been using it over this winter to keep my battery charged up.
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