Direct fit battery

mickyt · Post by **mickyt** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:13 am

Hi All

With all the recent battery posting of late I was prompted to replace my slow cranking stock Exide. This battery was installed when original failed 2 weeks after delivery and that was 22 months ago.

I decided to use a Deka ETX14 and it's dimentions are almost the same as the stock battery, give or take a millimeter and has 200cca. It's the same battery I used in my old V Rod. My bike now starts much faster and of course it can be obtained for a good price for you guys in the US.

Regards Mick

Post by **deilenberger** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:36 am

Mick,

Price is quite attractive: http://www.remybattery.com/Products/Per ... ETX12.aspx

In Googling it - it appears to be popular with the modified car crowd - being used as a car battery..

Price with shipping to NJ would be around $75.00...

TAL2GK · Post by **TAL2GK** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 11:41 am

Doesn't Odyssey make a battery that's a direct fit yet? I put one in my '99 R1100R a couple months ago and MAN - what a difference!

Post by **ShinySideUp** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 3:17 pm

deilenberger wrote:Mick,

Price is quite attractive: http://www.remybattery.com/Products/Per ... ETX12.aspx

In Googling it - it appears to be popular with the modified car crowd - being used as a car battery..

Price with shipping to NJ would be around $75.00...

Don, I think that should be "ETX14" in the address, not "ETX12" to match the OP's data. Only 8 bucks more.

mickyt · Post by **mickyt** » Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:34 pm

Hi Don

Yes the modified car mob like the lightweight and high output. Deka are suppliers of Harley's original equipment batteries and are proven to be of good quality by the HD crowd, many running high compression motors.

Regards Mick

Bilo · Post by **Bilo** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:11 pm

mickyt wrote:Hi All

With all the recent battery posting of late I was prompted to replace my slow cranking stock Exide. This battery was installed when original failed 2 weeks after delivery and that was 22 months ago.

I decided to use a Deka EXT14 and it's dimentions are almost the same as the stock battery, give or take a millimeter and has 200cca. It's the same battery I used in my old V Rod. My bike now starts much faster and of course can be obtained for a good price for you guys in the US.

Regards Mick

8b · Post by 8b » Fri Dec 25, 2009 12:41 pm

I did some searches and recall several batteries being suggested on r1150r.net.
What one or two or thhree do you folks suggest, and any link to buy is helpful. Maybe we should do a group buy?
I think there are LOTS of us with bikes just reaching 3 years. Mine just went OFF warranty at 3 years old last month.

I do own BOTH a Deltran "battery tender plus" AND a bmw "advanced battery charging system" that appears to be the same unit/chassis re-branded as BMW.

The problem is in my (heated- maybe 65-70 degrees in winter) NYC parking garage they don’t have a nearby outlet to my spot, so I can only infrequently Plug in. I have been a bad boy because I knew I was low on power when I used the bike (after a 2 month break) twice last week, and I haven’t plugged in since last cold season in Feb 2009. It had been fine from Mar09 till end of summer before the real cold hit.
The other night, I had just enough juice for a start and made it home from dinner, last night-not as lucky, I tried a few cranks and drew the power down to nothing.
A jump from a car got me home.

Now, I can probably coax more life out of that battery with a 24hr (or less) cycle on the "Battery Tender plus", I hokked it up and it went thru the normal cycles and shows full charge (steady green light).

Given what happened last night in 21 degree weather, am I playing with fire trying to rejuvenate (and use)that 3 year old battery, or think it could last another year?
Worded another way, Is my battery more likely to experience SUDDENBATT DEATH SYNDROME now that I cranked it down to zero once.
I suppose unless suggested otherwise, I have little to lose by re-charging this battery, and then I can order a new battery and put it in at my leisure if the old one is functioning.
Any thoughts, suggestions, recommendations on specifics are ALWAYS appreciated.

Post by **ShinySideUp** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 1:24 pm

I think Sudden Battery Death Syndrome probably stems from other circumstances... BUT, one you've discharged any lead chemistry battery to zero, you are now skating on thin ice.

If it were me, given the age of the battery, given the very cold environment, I would get a replacement, like yesterday.

Nursing a failing battery is a sucker's game. The Dark Angel of Battery Death WILL win!

As to sources, read above about Deka. And do a search on Odyssey batteries in our resource-rich forum.

(I put in an Odyssey about a year ago and the starting is noticeably better still over the OEM)

Post by **deilenberger** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 1:47 pm

I ended up getting a Yuasa AGM battery - sitting on my Optimate at the moment doing nothing (green light has been on continually since I hooked it up - it had been charged at the dealers..) Went to the going out of business BMW dealer in NJ to pickup the Handy electric lift I bought, and happened to think to ask if there were any leftover batteries. The Yuasa is the one they've been using as a replacement for the Exide (the Exide is made by Yuasa..) Deal breaker was that it was $40... couldn't pass it up at that price.

Will report how the bike starts after I put it in tomorrow or so.. it is a direct fit replacement (and is probably identical to the failing Exides - even though mine never failed..)

R12RnHouston · Post by **R12RnHouston** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 9:48 am

Hi, Don,

Any feed-back on this battery? Is it direct fit and are you happy with it?

Thanks!

David

Post by **deilenberger** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 6:00 pm

R12RnHouston wrote:Hi, Don,

Any feed-back on this battery? Is it direct fit and are you happy with it?

Thanks!

David

David - it goes right in. It is identical to the BMW/Exide (Made in the USA) battery. So far - so good. It starts the bike with vigor, and hasn't given me any problems when I've left the ignition on with the engine off (usually as I'm fiddling with my GPS which is on switched power..)

Post by **BigEasy** » Fri Aug 06, 2010 6:36 am

Here is an interesting battery tid bit for you guys. My OE battery was starting to go (3 years old this month) so I went on the search for the Deka ETX 14. I called Advance Auto and they don't carry Deka but had their private label for $85.00 in stock. Next call to Batteries Plus the guy I talked with said they had the Deka in stock. Upon my arrival at the store the guy that was there tried to sell me their brand then told me they didn't handle Deka. Yeah I'm upset because it's 35 minutes to the store.

I stopped at a couple of auto parts places on the way home and could find no love for the Deka. So out of frustration I said to hell with it, it's a wear part anyway, and went to Advance to get their branded part. AGM, precharged from the factory, dropped right in the bike and cranks like no tomorrow. Sweet!

The point here other than "another" option: before I dropped the new one in I notice that the top caps of the cases of both batteries are molded identically, the case deminsions are also identical, and the terminals are also strangely similar. Huh? neat coincidence. Then as I'm getting ready to throw the box away I just happen to notice the part number: ETX 14.

I have known for years that there are only a few real battery manufacurers in the world and plenty of rebranders out there. I know Exide makes batteries as I have been in three of their plants, I think that Yusa and Deka also manufacture. But from Don's tidbit of Yusa making the Exide that's OE in our bike, the Advance battery having the same part number as the Deka, and the Advance being built quite similarly to the OE out of my bike, I'm getting the impression that there's only one company making this part, and branding it for anyone that wants to sell it.

Post by **famousperson** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 4:34 pm

I must be running on fumes as far as my battery is concerned. The bike is two months past 36 months old and the original cranks as good as it did when new. Murphy's law guarantees that it is going to fail at the most inconvenient time, like late at night when I am miles from home and it's raining up a storm, bu I am superstitious and believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I have a new Yuasu YTX14-BS from Power Sports ready to go, but have no idea if it's a direct fit (although the online chart shows it as that). If it isn't, I am going to go to Wal-Mart and get the $40 replacement I read about on some thread on the forum, which I will look up if the time comes. I think the price of the Odyssey is outrageous and would never even consider it.

Incidentally, I have never used a charger and even though the bike has sat unridden for four months at a time for three successive winters, it has always fired right up in the Spring. Same was true for the three years I had the original battery in my Sportster--never charged, no problems. Again, my superstitious nature tells me to let well enough alone, and I will continue to not use a charger on my bikes' batteries when the bike is sitting.

Peter

sandycruz · Post by **sandycruz** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:06 pm

Got about a year on a Deka EXT14. Just as good as the Odyssey I put in my R11S.
Good battery INMHO.

Post by **thepeacebullgrunt** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 3:55 pm

Hey guy ! I am sorry to bump this thread for what could sound a dumb question
but how do you do when a battery is not what you call a "Direct Fit" ?

and by the way my mechanic usually install Westco battery's...and no one mentioned them in this thread...how reliable are they ?

Don C · Post by **Don C** » Tue Nov 02, 2010 4:53 pm

If you can bolt it in and it fits correctly and the terminals are correct, it's a direct fit. If you have to cut the case and modify the terminals like you must do to fit an odyssey battery, that's not direct fit.

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