loosing power

[Guerrero]

Oh,and one stupid question-what is the easy,home, way to chek starter?is it working properly?and with what should i start to find the starting problem?(i mean the easiest ways first,what that i can do at home)

[fret not]

Guererro, it appears you are making good progress.  The battery must be well charged or the ignition will fail to fire.  Making the starter turn the engine over for a long time can cause the battery to lose charge, this makes the ignition more difficult to fire.  It is good to have a strong healthy battery.

[Guerrero]

Yes.i know about that.i charged my battery full.and started my bike,but still it was kind of hardbor.it to start.i dont know exactly,but about 20 to 30 sec probably to start.i checked spark plgus,they seems to be good.now i dont know,do i need to buy new battery,or the problem is somwhere else.and what battery should i buy?what capacity and what size it should be?(height,depth etc)

Xz550 is like a girl,she needs everithing to be on high level:):) my dodge gc last year,when his battery was dead,ithink could start from 12 v finger battery.just hard half turn of the engine,and ready:) with Vision,it is so difficult :laugh:

[pinholenz]

Before racing off and buying a new battery, I suggest that you use some good battery jump leads to start the bike from a 12 volt car battery with your existing battery in place. Does it start any easier?. If it does, maybe it is time for a new battery. If it doesn't, the problem is elsewhere.

[67GTO]

Don't have the car running though!

[Guerrero]

nah.atually the car is running pretty good.will try that

[fret not]

To clarify the point, DO NOT RUN THE MOTOR OF THE CAR when boosting (jumping) the battery of the XZ.  It can damage the electronics of the bike.

[Guerrero]

ofcourse.im not as stupid as you could think ) i understand some things in cars. but still,if i will choose to buy new battery,what capacity should be it?the size,as i found,i guess should be 5 5/16 x 3 1/2 x 6 9/16 .but how many apm/hr? 14?

[pinholenz]

Huh! I didn't know that. When I am boosting my car from another car, I have often run the donor engine to get enough power. Whenever I have had to boost a  a bike battery it has been from a spare car battery that wasn't fitted. Just lucky not to have done damage I guess. More stuff to remember!

[Guerrero]

for older cars it is fine.u can run both cars,and there wont be any damage.but with more power comes more responsobility.newer cars,have more electricity things.so you can just damage brains of car

[Rikugun]

Huh! I didn't know that. When I am boosting my car from another car, I have often run the donor engine to get enough power. Whenever I have had to boost a  a bike battery it has been from a spare car battery that wasn't fitted. Just lucky not to have done damage I guess. More stuff to remember!

From one car to another car they will presumbly both have large (amp/hr) battery that can withstand the charging current (voltage isn't the issue) from the donor car's alternator. Jumping a bike on the other hand, you would not run the car to avoid a high amp rate charge from the car's alternator that may damage the bikes smaller battery.

[Doc Nielsen]

Agreed. That would be like trying to charge a handful of AA batteries with your laptops charger. They will charge really really fast, and then... explode.

Believe me, I tried. Blew up my 100$ RC tank with a 14 volt IBM charger.

[Guerrero]

Hello again.finally got to my bike.tried to start with a car battery,and indeed took much less time.just some few turns.well,that is good.anyway my battery is some 2-3 years old.so im gonna buy new one.so,can you please tell me what exactly capacity and everithing should be in battery?
Thanks for all help :angel:

[pinholenz]

Generally a 14 Amp/hour battery is regarded as a minimum.  Other contributors to this forum have used lighter and smaller gel and lithium ion batteries with great success and swear by the reliability and long life of these units.

[The Prophet of Doom]

Pinhole is right 14amp hour
Yuasa YB14L-A2 or equivalent

Make sure the +ve -ve are in the right place.  There is not enough cable to cross over.

[Guerrero]

ok.thank you.hmm found so many   YB14L-A2 .but different companies,i guess.price from 40 to 80 usd :o ofc course i would like to buy more expencive one,but will it be better?

[pinholenz]

When it comes to batteries, more expensive is generally better. But the cost benefits of lighter weight, reliability, long life and ability to cope with extreme demands do eventually  get smaller.

A lot depends on personal circumstances, the expectations of your ride and your personal attitude. For me I want maximum fun and at minimum cost; for others they want to have  the very best, regardless of cost and effort. I suspect that most people who take on an XZ550 fall somewhere in the middle of those extremes - with some very notable exceptions.

[Guerrero]

yeah.i just now understood,that the price difference was just of different shops-same battery but different cost. :)hope,will be good ::)

[pinholenz]

No brainer.  ???  Good luck.

[The Prophet of Doom]

I have bought the following brands with no complaints Yuasa, GS, Motobatt, Shorai but there are many many others.
People tend to either love or hate the brand that they bought, but no-one buys so many batteries that they can make a decent comparison.

There are three main battery types in increasing cost and desirability... Within each type, more expensive may be better, but that won't always be the case - shop around and prices vary a lot for the same item. 

Normal Lead acid - Standard OEM - Can leak if bike dropped, requires regular topping up
Sealed Lead Acid / Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) / Gel - Safer, Maintenance Free, Higher Cold cranking amperes (CCA)
Lithium Iron - Smaller, Lighter, Higher CCA, Longer life, May require special charger