The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => BMW Technical Q&A, Primarily R65 => Topic started by: Justin B. on September 03, 2008, 01:10:58 PM
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I have been trying out a fairly inexpensive AGM battery in the Junkyard LS. So far - so good. It has been in over a year on the "included" 500 ma trickle charger and it cranks the bike over just as fast as the PC680 does the others. I just ordered another one for the "Garage Ornament", and at $52 and change plus shipping I think it's pretty good bang-for-your-buck...
Here is a link to the battery: http://www.gruberpower.com/gruberpower/advertising/batteries/cutsheets/58-ytx20-bs.asp
It's only an 18 AH battery but I doubt an R65 will ever notice the missing 2 AH.
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Justin, That's a steal!
;)
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I don't have any long-term test data but I used to only get a little over a year out of a wet battery 'cause I never did seem to remember to keep them filled up. And, when I did remember I usually got 'em too full and they dribbled and made a mess of things. This battery is about what a wet battery costs so even if it doesn't outlast one the other benefits makes it worth it in my mind.
I am a big Odyssey fan (have them in three bikes) but at well over $100 I doubt I will be buying any more. I remember the first Odyssey I bought was about $64 including shipping... Suraklyn tried one of the Panasonic AGMs in his R1200ST and after a year it didn't have enough cajones to crank the bikle on cold mornings...
The last one I bought was the "L" version, this time I bought the other. Posts are reversed but I think for $30 difference I can either stretch enough slack or make me a 3" pigtail to extend the wires a tad... For some reason the "L" version went up over $30 since the last one I bought.
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I'm seeing it listed at that link for 92.65!
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The UBX20L is but the UBX20 is $52 and the only difference I could see was the posts were reversed. I ordered one and we'll see what happens... The UBX20L was about $50 a year ago...
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I just checked the link and you're right! I just ordered one right before I started the thread and they were $52!! I'm going to e-mail them and see what is going on...
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A rep. from Gruber e-mailed me back and explained the pricing on these had been creeping up lately but they had the feeling it was a short-term spike and had not raised the selling price. He said that after I bought mine they were compelled to raise the selling price. The YTX20L-BS (http://YTX20L-BS) is $81 and change and has the terminals in the correct location. This is the one I have "aging" in the Junkyard LS on the back porch. $82 is still $30-$40 less than an Odyssey (although a few amps less power), a stock BMW, and only a little more than a standard wet cell battery.
I have proposed the idea of an "R65 Group" to them so we'll see what happens...
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Thanks Justin. looks like you timed your purchase well! Can I use my battery tender jr on one of these AGM batteries or do they require something different.
rich
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I just bought a two-station battery tender (http://batterytender.com/product_info.php?products_id=55) and I believe it indicated it was OK to use (confirmed on their web site), but I think these batteries come with a 500 milliamp trickle charger - at least the last one I bought did. I have used a "Junior" on three Odyssys over the past few years...
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Odesseys need atleast two amps to bring the battery up. But if the battery is fully charged or close to fully charged then a regular Battery tender will be OK.
4 years and 4 months and counting on my PC680.
I am getting an uprated version of the Battery Tender to keep my PC680 in top form.
http://www.batterymart.com/p-battery-tender-plus-12v-5a-wp-battery-charger.html
TTFN,
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Looks like a great charger. I don't use the battery tenders to charge a depleted battery, just to maintain. If I have a dead 'un then I have a switchable 2/6/10 amp charger for those situations...
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Just got my new Gruber battery today, tomorrow it goes into the R65RS "Garage Ornament". I will be sprucing it up a bit this winter and I think next spring will be a good time for it to find a new home.