'83 GS550ES Battery Options

[BigD_83]

Those of you with the siamesed 550s, what are you doing for batteries?

The Yuasa (lead acid, not sealed) model is the YB10L-B. The battery location and battery box doesn't lend itself to too many options as there doesn't appear to be much room in any direction for even a slightly larger battery.

Seems to be this particular battery size is an issue, as I discovered on an old thread in a Vespa forum:

http://modernvespa.com/forum/topic83958

I've been looking for AGM options, and I have found relatively few. Battery Mart has one from Motobatt:

http://www.batterymart.com/p-mb10u-motobatt-agm-battery.html

Does anybody have any experience with the seller and/or the battery? Is anybody aware of other options?

[JEEPRUSTY]

I use and Odyssey battery.
2 years old and still at almost 14 volts.
Cranks like a mother ****er

[BigD_83]

Jeep...is that Odyssey as in the Honda Odyssey, or a brand with which I am not familiar?

[BigD_83]

IS this the one you have?

http://www.odysseybatteries.com/batteries/pc310.htm

[JEEPRUSTY]

Yup thats the one
expensive but I got my Compufire reg\rect at the same time so I wanted a good new battery to go with it.

I think I only paid 140 so it pays to shop around.

batterymom5 a seller on ebay is where I got mine.

[jabcb]

Have a Scorpion AGM battery in my 82 GS550L that I got from BatteryStuff:
http://www.batterystuff.com/powerspo...sYT10L-A2.html

Have purchased a few batteries from them.
They were also easy to deal with when I inadvertently purchased the wrong battery -- hadn't used the battery so they let me exchange it with the correct one.

[cowboyup3371]

I bought my MotoBatt from Impact Battery - great company

[BigD_83]

Yup thats the one
expensive but I got my Compufire reg\rect at the same time so I wanted a good new battery to go with it.

I think I only paid 140 so it pays to shop around.

batterymom5 a seller on ebay is where I got mine.

Other than a space filler under the battery, did you have to modify the posts and/or leads to make the Odyssey battery work?

[JEEPRUSTY]

Other than a space filler under the battery, did you have to modify the posts and/or leads to make the Odyssey battery work?

I hooked mine up fine without mods. Used cork gasket sheets to make spacers as it was the only thing I had lying around.

[BigD_83]

I use and Odyssey battery.
2 years old and still at almost 14 volts.
Cranks like a mother ****er

coming back to this thread, I don't understand the CCA rating on the Odyssey battery. How can it be rated 100 and crank like you say? Do they use a different measure of performance?

The other AGM batteries on the market are between 175 and 210, although the "perfect fit" is the YB10L...CCA rating 175

[BigD_83]

Answering my own question: more than you ever wanted to know about Odyssey batteries.

http://www.odysseybatteriesonline.co.uk/odyssey/other/faqs.php#1

The reason their battery cranks so hard, even though it is rated 100 CCA, is that the PHCA (or pulsed CA) is 310 (hence the 310 in the name). When starting the 550, you are giving it an ever so brief (pulse) crank, and effectively you are delivering 310 amps to the starter. No wonder it fires up like nobody's business.

[JEEPRUSTY]

It is quite mind boggling really.