Best battery?

I have a 2009 TE250 and I am in search of a new battery. The original Yuasa YTZ7S lasted me 3 years, which I though was great! They appear to cost over $100. When it died, I had to get one quick so I went to Batteries+ and got one of their XTreeme AGM batteries for under $50. It worked good for a few years, but it was a little taller than the factory Yuasa, so the seat would mash down on the top of the battery. It deformed the plastic on the top of the battery, but it never leaked. I was happy with the performance of the battery for what I paid, but never really like the fact that it was a little too tall.

Been looking at the Li batteries, don't know much about them. Is it better to buy a cheaper battery and get a few years out of it, or a more expensive and hope it lasts long enough to get your moneys worth? I live in Minnesota, so the battery sits idle for 4-5 months a year.

Thanks!

EarthX

zip ty has 'em

+++EarthX

I'm in the same conundrum atm. I've been burned by ballistic Evo lithium batteries and wouldn't recommend them. Earthx seems to get great reviews and have a great warranty.

Well Ballastic really are not good in super cold areas.... and any battery you use if it sits idle it will go bad fast.... put a GOOD trickle charger on it....

Shorai , bought it 2 years ago , have never had to put a charger on it . It does not drain over time like regular batteries .

It is about half the size and cranks much better .

EarthX !
ZipTy Racing has them.

My 310 will sit for months, then starts right up.
No trickle charging needed. Had the EarthX for at least 3 yrs now.
Great cranking power all the time. Only 3 lbs.

Sure beats the heavy stock battery.

It was waaay worse than, "it doesn't work good in cold weather" with mine. Both batteries shorted out internally and rattled like a spray can. Pure junk. Lesson learned at the tune of $150 each. Ballistic's warranty is a joke as well since it's prorated based on full MSRP.
Like I mentioned, EarthX seems to get good reviews and has a non prorated warranty.

Stark Li batteries have been getting some decent reviews as well. I think they are cheaper than the EarthX.

I have 2 EarthX, both 3 years old. Both bikes sit at times. No trickle charging. Very consistent power. I had 2 issues; 1st battery I purchased was a warranty issue as it would not hold a charge. Very quickly replaced so all was well. That's when I bought a second battery for my Ducati. Last summer the second issue was just an observance... At 10k feet in Wyoming I woke up and went for a ride. Temps were in the 20s/30's. When I went to start the bike I was like... Oh shit. Turned real slow and expected it to die but it kept going another couple of seconds and fired. Not sure if this is normal or not with lithium batteries.

that is kinda normal in really cold situations.... not california wussy its 50 degrees cold but colorado idaho montana its really cold stuff

I had an antigravity for ages, never had any problems. Sold with the bike and still going.
Cells apparently made in US if it matters to you, and great customer service at the time.

Yes normal and a bit counter intuitive. When cold they need to warm up. Either on a road bike turn the headlight on for a minute or two or on a dirt bike hit the starter a few times.
Some heat in it and they are ready to go.

I use Aliant YLP14 LiFePo4 battery as replacement of Yuasa YTZ7S. Very good results!

Another vote for EarthX.

My Shorai let me down just after a year and would've cost 1/2 + shipping to replace. No thanks.

2011 TE310 and no problems with the 3 year old Shorai

I have the smallest Battery Tender battery in two 2008 TE's and they work great! I can start my stalled 510 while in gear with the clutch in, much better then the stock lead acid Yuasa ever could. I got 1 battery and the Deltran li-po charger on Amazon for like $100. It worked so good I bought the 2nd battery from Amazon.

Best? I dunno- depends on what is important to you. Next time around I'll probably go with the Earth-X just to save weight; in spite of living in the cold mountains.

I do note that the Chinese are getting better and cheaper with their AGM batteries- how they do it & ship 'em half-way around the world is beyond me. Here is a couple of AGMs that are <$25 to your door.
wow.

good luck.

first ebay battery
second ebay battery






[2 years later: I bought one of these batteries in November 2016. It was a perfectly serviceable battery for those 11 months (100hrs, 100 rides approximately, 5~ starts/ride) until October 2017 when it failed during a ride. Actually, I thought it was the starter at first. Anyhooo, it has an 18 month warranty so I emailed the distributor here in the US and they said to send it in (here's the kicker: the sell a shipping label for $6.50) for examination; if it's faulty- they'll send me a new one. I had no problem with that. 8 days later I got a new battery- very kewl. So if this one last 1 year my total battery cost would be $30- pretty damn good. epilogue: I used my 3 year old Yuasa in the meantime... it was definitely hating life but still (barely) turned the bike over. Yuasa is my favorite AGM ]

How do they do it you ask? Simple really. Steal other countries proprietary technical information, buy our precious metals from our own scrap yards, pay workers slave labor wages, use cheap fossil fuel/coal energy and receive favorable trade agreements

LOL! While true, it does give us some terrific deals! Here's what I have in my KTM450 for the past two seasons without failure. http://goo.gl/TVHLci

What actually matters in one of these batteries is the CCA (cold cranking amps) if you compare this one to a similar antigravity, which has US made cells the difference is substantial.