Battery questions, AH vs CCA

[rphillips]

What would be the best choice? 12V AH 12 & CCA 210 or a 12V AH 14 & CCA 190 ? For Stock GS 1100E & CB 1100F engines

[tkent02]

Agm .

[almarconi]

For starting purposes (vs. deep cycle use) I would opt for the battery with higher CCA.

[rphillips]

I've found myself confused, again. I've always thought the # on the battery, as in "YB 14 L-A2" the 14 meant 14AH or on a CB 16 L-B2, the 16 meant 16 AH. Now I'm seeing the YB 14 L-A2 with only 12 AH, what exactly does this mean, pro's & con's ????

[tom203]

They want you confused! On some batteries, the "L" designates where the positive terminal on battery is. Unless you want to muck with cables, stick with terminal layout that you have now. Get an AGM battery with an AH rating that your owner manual calls for- they last longer,hold charge longer.. No messing with acid!

[trippivot]

cca is important if you have more compression and your starter is struggling - the amp hour is the rating of the battery which is relative to the total loads you will be running with it. The actual battery number is more about the physical dimension of the battery. a flodded -14 can be replaced by 9 or 12 agm - but they wont fit into the stock battery box.

a 70's , 80's and some 90's. motorcycle charging system is not designed to charge the battery to a full state of charge - it is only for recovering the load draw. the voltage detection is designed for flodded batteries - and lithium/agm will trick your system to over charge / undercharge.

b2 a2 aa la2 lb2 it is about left/right /front/back / side / top = terminal position used for stock main wire matrix and length. and the combination associated to the number is the physical size - Length/Width /Height -skinny fat tall etc your Honda uses the number 16 but is not 16amp hour . having the correct physical size to prevent excessive vibration is important for long service life, almost more important than having excessive energy


agm or maintenance free also have (or don't have) an extra "H" for heavy duty - in the alphanumeric id # if you need more energy from a specific battery size.

agm batteries are not better -nor do they last longer. don't get pressured into the hype. - I read that crap and it is like teenagers pushing cigarettes .

[eil]

Respectfully disagree with these points.

and lithium/agm will trick your system to over charge / undercharge.

It's true that you can't just connect any old lithium battery up to a motorcycle designed for a flooded-cell lead-acid battery without having it burst into flames under your butt. But if you buy a lithium battery that was designed for use in a vehicle with a primitive charging system, it will have circuitry inside it to manage the charging of the cells themselves and everything will be just fine.

As for AGMs, they work just fine on regular motorcycle charging systems. Its the battery structure that has changed, not the battery chemistry. AGMs make far more efficient use of the electrolyte by embedding it into a substrate instead of just having it sloshing around the plates.

agm batteries are not better -nor do they last longer. don't get pressured into the hype. - I read that crap and it is like teenagers pushing cigarettes .

I guess it depends on your definition of "better". They have lower maintenance (i.e. none), a much lower self-discharge rate (in the low single digits per month rather than 15%-20%), and don't spill if you tip them over. This is not anecdotal evidence, it's science. Regular batteries are cheaper, but not by much, so in that sense they might be better.

[rphillips]

Done decided "AGM" just cause it's such a pain to get to the battery in the "83" GS1100E to check the water. While shopping for a YB14L-A2 "AGM" battery for my GS1100E & CB1100F, I find most are 14AH & 190CCA, I also found several with the 12 AH & 210 CCA. I know both more CCA is good, but more AH is also good, They are both on the shelf, for the same price. Should I pick the 14 AH & give up 20 CCA , or would I be better off with the extra 20 CCA & give up 2 AH. What would be the best choice???

[tkent02]

If your bike is well tuned and starts right up in a second or so as it should it doesn't matter.