Debating on buying a new battery , have a Yuasa GYZ32HL that going into it's 7th year , thinking about pro-actively replacing it , still seems fine , multi meter check bike off 13.1vdc ,always been on a tender in a heated garage when parked, but my experience is they just go all the sudden without warning , don't want to be stranded somewhere with a dead battery. Am I gambling if I don't replace it?

 

I just proactively replaced a 6 year battery on my Wide Glide same conditions. I didn’t want to take a chance being out in the boonies and it not crank.

 

If you leave it on a tender all time you have no clue what the state is. 13.1 off a tender means nothing. A battery that old will be around 12.3ish. Leave it off for a few days, and listen to how it starts. Or buy a new one it is 7 years old.

But get it off the tender before your first stop and you find out it is junk. Put on a tender over night and then take it off, if it has been awhile since you ran it.

7 is my typical, with I think 8 riding season once.

 

Time for a new battery, get the same one as my son is a mechanical engineer employed at the Reading, PA Yuasa plant, keep him employed - lol.

Of course you could load test the battery to see how many cold cranking amps it has verses what it had originally and decide from there.

Or you could use this method:

 

Loading test a battery towards the end of it's could speed up that process. This is why at work we test each cell, not something you can for or batteries. But why we do it. It takes longer.

A jump pack provides a feeling of security.

get it off the tender, and see how it sounds when starting.

 

Well you all helped me over the edge ,I knew in the back of my head I should just do it. I'm on vaca all week go back to work Tues 29th for a breakfast send off ,then turn in my company property and enjoy retirement , maybe semi retirement will see, doing some solo trips this summer don't want to get stranded a long ways from home.

I put this one in when the factory one was 5 years old proactively , I think 7 years is a good run for a battery these days, I though it was maybe 5 years old till I ran across the recipe Friday. Also seems that first crank over hesitation is getting tougher to over come than when it was new. I unplugged the tender when I checked the voltage , just used the tender plug on the bike to check the voltage vs pulling the seat off , went out and unplugged the tender just now and will check it again Monday , start it up as well and hopefully have decent weather to ride.

Just ordered the same Yuasa battery again , Cool Breeze 3646 , tell your son they put out a good product, it's why I'm buying same one again.

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

You need to let it sit longer off tender before checking voltage if getting 13.1. I bet that battery 12.1-12.3.
As you say you can hear it slowing down. Often there is signs, and you know when its coming. Year before I rode one all summer I knew was dying, not sure why. That December moving it around in and starting a few times just died. I had some issues with the bike and it wasn't get rode a lot that year.

Put that battery in a lawn mower and will get a few more years. Unfortunately my newer mower takes fancy batteries and harley won't fit.

 

I've had 4 cars and one bike where they seemingly had no issue then just went limp , the bike I had just stopped by home for 20min went back out and click click dead. I put a meter on it and it read 12.2 , turned the key and it dropped to 10.3. My battery policy is if it needs jumped and it's 3 plus year's old it gets replaced. Was pretty fortunate with the bike giving up in the driveway , the cars not so much.

I'll leave it unhooked from the tender , new battery is supposed to be here Thurs or Fri ,will see how it holds up , wish I had something else to put it in , maybe enough to start the old Dodge I'm planning to get rid of , don't really want to buy a battery just to prove it runs.

 

I replaced a 6 yr old Yuasa GYZ32HL battery in my bagger, prior to leaving on a two week trip. Parts of which was going through 100°+ heat. It's always better to change a battery in your garage, than on the side of the road...

After popping in a new one, I decided to check the old one with a battery checker... I fully charged the battery out of the bike. Let it sit for 48 hrs, then tested it. I was surprised at how good it tested... But I was still glad I replaced it before the trip.

I kept it in my shop as a portable 12V source for about another two years... But I was glad to get 5 years out of a battery here in SoCal heat.

 

I replaced an almost 6 year old battery in my bike today. The bike had been doing some weird electrical stuff lately. The radio display went out, cruise just turned and the check engine light came on momentarily on a recent trip. The dash voltmeter dropped then showed 14.5 to 15 volts. This morning simaliar stuff happened. The check engine and battery lights came on. The voltmeter voltage dropped then went back up and the check engine and battery lights went out. It did this a couple of times.

i had Advance load test it and it tested good.

But I replaced it anyway. I hope that was the issue.