Battery

Battery

Stock battery - YT14-B4 12 Amp Hours and was 135 Cold Cranking Amps - I believe the newer aftermarket versions are around 200 CCA 6"L x 2 3/4"W x 5 3/4" H

Replacement Battery: - XTAX14-BS or equivalent (key info: TX14-BS) 12 amp Hours and 200 Cold Cranking Amps - 6"L x 3 7/16"W x 5 3/4" H (11/16" fatter).

    • Even though it is a little fatter, it fits the V Star 1100 just fine. Best of all it's usually less expensive and has more CCA than the stock size battery. Please note that the larger battery may interfere with getting the cover back on if you have extra large diameter aftermarket pipes. There is no problem if you have stock pipes,2-1 or small diameter aftermarket 2-2.
    • Note that these numbers will change a little between manufacturers. Just use the "key info" listed above as the root number and you should be able to cross it into any other manufacturers battery number.

Note: The larger battery may interfere with getting the cover back on if you have large diameter aftermarket pipes. There is no problem if you have stock pipes,2-1 or small diameter aftermarket 2-2.

More Battery Technical Information

Yuasa 2012 Battery Application and Specification Guide

Yuasa Technical Manual - Battery Best Practices

Battery Ground Cable

First step in solving problems, make sure it is clean and tight. Follow the ground from the battery to the engine case with a good flashlight. It is on the right side of the bike down low. You will see #18 on the case, the ground is attached there with a 5MM hex. You can get to it two ways: 1) with a 5MM socket and extension with a swivel; or 2) with a long, T-handled Allen wrench. It would probably be easier with the chrome cover below the battery box removed but it looked like the mufflers would have to be removed to get it out of the way.

Battery Tenders

Question: onionfmr - want to install a Battery Tender Junior on my 2005 V-Star 1100 Classic. Would like to use ring terminals connected to battery terminals in a semi-permanent installation so that I can just plug charger in to quick connector to charge the battery. Have done this on other bikes w/o problem. Yamaha owner's manual and service manual talk about using a special "constant" voltage battery charger or damage will result to the diodes in the rectifier. Talked to Battery Tender personnel, they said just do it, shouldn't be a problem. Not comfortable with the shouldn't be a problem comment! For the winter, I've pulled the battery and am charging it off the bike. When I reinstall it this spring, I would like to use the ring terminals. Would be nice to be able to plug the charger in, if the bike will being sitting for awhile unused, w/o having to pull battery cover and disconnect battery leads.

Does anyone have any experience (couple of years usage) installing a battery tender as I suggest? Don't want to cause damage to electrical components over the long haul. Thanks in advance for input and feedback

Answer: daddoCFL - The Battery Tender Plus and Jr. battery chargers deliver 1.25 amperes during bulk charge mode, holds the battery charge voltage constant at 14.4 VDC during absorption charge mode until the battery charge current drops to 0.1 amperes at which time it then automatically switches to a float charge mode. During float charge mode, the output voltage of the Battery Tender Plus battery charger is 13.2 VDC, which is well below the gassing voltage of a lead acid battery. This keeps the battery topped off, while minimizing any detrimental effects to do gassing. The Battery Tender Plus battery charger is able to perform these complex switching functions because its electronic circuitry is controlled by an on board microprocessor.

There are a lot of Yamaha (and other) motorcycle owners who have used either of these Float chargers for years with absolutely no ill effects.

(Caution) Although they often appear to be a better economic choice for the typical consumer, trickle chargers do not have the advantage of sophisticated electronic control. Therefore, as they allow the value of charge current to trickle down to what appears to be safe levels, the output voltage of the charger rises well above 15 VDC, sometimes even going higher that 16 VDC depending on the charger type and the battery that is connected to it. Either voltage is well above the gassing voltage of a lead acid battery. If the battery remains connected to this high level of voltage for an extended period of time, even less than 1 day, extreme damage can be done to the battery. What appears to be a cost savings for the charger may actually cost several times the charger price in replacement batteries.


Jumper Cables

This is a set of MC jumpers I bought at my local Honda dealer - $8 or $9 - in a case about 6 inches in diameter and 1.5 inches tall - 8 feet long 10 gauge wire.

My Battery Tender came with a fused cord to attach to the battery and then leave exposed outside the battery cover - I tuck mine up under the front of the Ultimate seat on one bike and under the hanging-downside-seat-flap on my Mustang seat on the other. I ordered a second cord from (??? Phat I think) for the second bike.

The cord came with 3.5 amp fuse, which I changed to 15 amp - GRIN - after I blew the 3.5 fuse the first time I had to jump my bike.

My battery tender also came with a plug in set of jumper clamps (like on the end of my MC jumpers) and I made my special jump-the-bike-via-the-battery-tender-cable cable from that.

I cut off the clamps, attached circular connector to each of the exposed ends, being careful to label the correct positive end (it is the reverse of what the cut-off-clamps showed - due change in direction of jump flow) - and then installed a bolt with several washers through each of the circular connectors (the bolt and washers give me something substantial to attach the jumper clamps to when I need to jump my bike - or use my bike to jump another bike (which is more often than I need a jump). From SilverBack: