Page 1 of 3

Basic Battery Question

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 9:32 am
by maxwelljd
Hi All,

Right now my bike has an (old/dead) battery that needs to be replaced. It's a Yuasa B54-6.

Looking at some pics that Smithers had put up he's using a 6N12A-2D. When I looked up the specs I couldn't find any difference between these two batteries. Will both of them work for my CA95?

Thanks

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:00 am
by aaron7
This is the one I'm running. No problems yet!

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Battery-6N12-4A ... 53e09807af

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:06 pm
by tuff cub
i use this one:
http://www.atbatt.com/product/3526/sla/ ... f2/battery

paid $26 for it locally at a battery specialty place. made some new connectors and it's super clean looking and theoretically has a better service life as it's meant to live through being discharged frequently. comes charged, no need to juice it.

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:14 pm
by hoghungry1
I just now bought one of those. They are on sale. Thank you !

SubTotal $19.99
Promo Discount : Thursday Special (M024PTL - 10% OFF) - $2.00
Shipping (Ground Shipping) $6.93
TOTAL $24.92

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 11:10 pm
by tuff cub
it's a little less deep than the factory battery, so i just cut a piece of radiator hose to wedge it in there snug. you will have to splice the two power wires into one spade connector or use one of those spade splitter things- but splicing is cleaner. good opportunity to make a new ground cable as well. at first i had my doubts that the tiny little connector would flow well enough, but it works great.

Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 11:17 pm
by hoghungry1
Uh oh- think I goofed . I was drinking beer, clicked on the battery, saw the price and leaped on it.

I would prefer to have a sound mechanical connection rather than a spade. Vibration issues. Didn't realize it was slimmer either. I like my batteries to fit as designed. Think I just burned 25 bucks?

Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:28 am
by tuff cub
it's better technology than the older batteries. the spade connectors won't vibrate off, and with a little heat shrink tubing you can make it look like it belongs. i'll get a photo of the way i did mine later today and you can decide whether it will be an aesthetic hurdle.

Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 1:42 pm
by aaron7
Are you sure that battery won't fail? Make sure the way it charges is the same as a car battery. Probably a reason you don't see that type ever used.

Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:49 pm
by tuff cub
i've only used it for a couple months, but the specialists at the industrial battery shop that have extensive knowledge on the subject assured me these were far more durable and lasted longer than the original units. here it is, wired up:

Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 3:27 am
by hoghungry1
OK, I am feeling better.

Very nice installation, I am a union electrician and I appreciate clean work. You heat shrank all the connections and sized up the wire. When you tied the original wiring in to the new positive lead, did you ring and bolt that connection or use compression connectors?

Looks good.

Did you fellers realize there are only three battery manufacturers in the world and they just label them according to customers? Kinda scary thought aint it?

All this battery advertising is pure bullshit. Poor NASCAR sponsors....

Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 6:16 am
by Spokes
If anyone is still interested, you have two other brand/model choices for 6 volt batteries with the proper terminal position and screw configuration for the CA95 & CA160

1. Motocross Brand Original Equipment Battery-6 Volt 6N12A-20. I bought mine at Batteries Plus. Off the shelf for the CA95
2.) Wisco Brand 6 Volt battery JA-3 Racine Wisconsin. This is the new battery in my CA160

Both battery bracket dimentions for the CA95 & CA160 are exactly the same.

The batteries fit perfect. No mod needed.

Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 6:39 am
by Smithers
I'm surely going to run one of these SLA (sealed lead acid) batteries next time I need one. Good info guys.

Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 12:49 pm
by tuff cub
hoghungry1 wrote:...did you ring and bolt that connection or use compression connectors?


after digging around my bin and coming up short, i just clipped some metal off an old hose clamp to make a crimp connector and then soldered it. i was out of heat shrink in that size so i used friction tape. i was a vw mechanic for a while- fixed lots of bogus wiring and did many engine swaps requiring extensive rewiring. i could wire a car from the ground up but am terrified of AC. i've had such crumby luck with other bike batteries i figured i'd give this a shot. so far so good.

Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 9:36 pm
by Jetblackchemist
Tuff, how is the SLA battery holding up? I'm going to buy a battery very soon and was thinking about one of these myself.

Posted: Thu May 05, 2011 11:23 pm
by bluerider
Not sure it is a good idea to run a sealed battery in these bikes. Their electrical system lacks a voltage regulator, which means they can over charge the battery if run at max rpm with the high beams on. Over charging the battery builds up excessive heat and can cause the battery to boil over. With the stock battery this is inconvenient and shortens the life of the battery, but with a sealed battery it can be catastrophic.

Robin