Lucky battery?

[Cal25]

Just ran the HiBird after sitting for a few months. Been busy with other projects and it got stuck and un-accessable. I aired up the tires and rolled it outside and drained most of the gas via the drain line on the carb. Checked the oil and added a bit. Put a little fresh fuel in and then I went to find the key. I expected the battery to be completely flat but it was not! Hit the button and there was plenty of power to start the thing even after sitting about 6 months.

Heard many stories about how poor the china batteries are. Mine is a sealled gel cell. Are they better than the regular lead acid batteries as far as life expectancy? Or did I just get a lucky one? I'm curious as to what batteries people have had good luck with and not so much luck with.

[forchetto]

A sealed gel battery has a normal life of around 5 years on stand-by duty. They do tend to lose about 3% of their charge every month if they're not recharged, so yours would have been low but adequate to start the engine.

My company supplies sealed batteries by the truckload, they're part of our products. All Chinese, but good enough for most users. The mystery is where do they go for the ones they fit to most of their bike?, the ones that Jincheng sent with my monkeybikes looked so bad I didn't even fit them. The one with my Skyteam CT70 replica lasted days. To their credit, Zongshen and Qingqi (Qlink XF200) did fit decent batteries.

[phil]

you ride a ct 70 copy too :!: i knew i liked you i thought i was the only one :lol:

[knothead]

I have the original battery in my '07 Lifan. It had been sitting for almost a year until last week, the battery was DEAD but the bike started on the second kick.... I rode it for a while and parked it... today the bike started with the button like it was nothing.

It's funny, you're not supposed to let an AGM battery drop below 12.5 volts, ever (it only takes one time and then they usually won't hold a charge afterwards). Mine was below 8 volts and acts like nothing has ever happened.

[SpudRider]

I got a genuine Yuasa YB7-A battery with my Zongshen Sierra 200GY-2. My battery has always performed flawlessly, right from the very beginning. :)

Spud :)

[forchetto]

you ride a ct 70 copy too :!: i knew i liked you i thought i was the only one :lol:

It's a SKYTEAM ST110-6, with a LIFAN 107cc engine. It has been uprated with a 22mm carb, POSH ignition, free breathing air filter and exhaust and uprated rear dampers.

Even though its design is over 35 years old, the amount of attention it gets from the general public is amazing. I'm sick and tired of explaining what it is, so I've had Honda stickers on it, to stop people asking "what make is that".

It remains one of my favourite bikes, I love it...:

http://www.telecable.es/personales/amvelectronica/dax/dax.jpg

[Alaskan-Dad]

forchetto,
very nice looking 70 clone, sweet!

Having heard China bikes come with weak batteries I decided to use Deltran battery tenders on all three of our bikes. All three batteries survived a winter in the shop, so were happy campers :wink:
I was really surprised at the quality of these units, I guess this high quality is why they have a Five year warranty. Deltran uses heavy weight wires and comes with a handy plug or regular style battery charger clamps.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41emX9eO3TL._SL500_AA280_.jpg


Fully automatic two-stage lead-acid battery charger. Perfect for all lead-acid, sealed maintenance-free and gel cell batteries. After reaching peak 14.4 VDC, charger automatically switches to 13.2 VDC float voltage. When voltage drops below 12.6 VDC, charger resumes charging back to 14.4 VDC. Solid state two color LED indicates stage of charger. Spark proof. Reverse polarity protected. 12' output cord.

LINK (http://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-12-Volt-Charger/dp/B000CITK8S)
Yes I was impressed with my Deltran tender jr's.

[SpudRider]

...Yes I was impressed with my Deltran tender jr's.
Dad,

Thank you for telling us about your experience with the Deltran battery tenders! I appreciate it when someone takes the time to inform us he is pleased with a product he purchased. :)

Spud :)

[SpudRider]

...It's a SKYTEAM ST110-6, with a LIFAN 107cc engine...It remains one of my favourite bikes, I love it...
That is a great little bike! If you don't mind, please tell us how much you paid for it. :)

Spud :)

[forchetto]

If you don't mind, please tell us how much you paid for it. :)

They're selling for 1500 euros at the moment, about US$2000. I got mine secondhand two years ago from someone who had bought it and promptly got fed up with it. It only had 400 km on it, for 1000euros (US$1300).

[phil]

they are cheaper here but i cant understand why i havent seen the skyteam but the cost of a lifan is much less and the pitster while more expenseive than the lifan is still cheaper go figure :?: