Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech How EFI Bikes Treat Batteries Differently

I'll start off by saying that I did not do all this work by myself. I have perused some websites, and gathered up this information to put in one place. As with anything, your mileage may vary, but from my research, this is what I've gathered:

For bikes with carbs, battery care is minimal. Clean the terminals, keep the connectors tight, and if you're type-A like me, use some dielectric grease. Never keep them discharged, and they will treat you well. Batteries in these bikes can last for many years with recent reports up to 9 years. Some folks don't even bother keeping them on a battery tender while in storage.

The standard battery in the carburetted America and Speedmaster is a Yuasa YTX12-BS. The EFI America and Speedmaster has a Yuasa YT12B-BS. This battery is about a 0.7 inches narrower as it shares the battery tray with the EFI ECU. One of the confusing things out there, is that many cross reference charts still list the wrong fitment for the EFI bikes, still quoting the YTX12-BS that won't physically fit. Yuasa themselves have the wrong fitments listed on their site, and the only Triumph they currently list for the YT12B-BS battery is for the 2007-2011 Tiger. Don't be fooled!

YTX12-BS Specs (from www.yuasabatteries.com) Use for carb bikes
Battery Family: Maintenance Free
Battery Type: YTX12-BS
Voltage: 12
Capacity: 10
Dimensions: 6" x 3.4375" x 5.125"
Weight: 7.5 lbs.
Metric Dimensions: 150mm x 87mm x 130mm
Metric Weight: 3.4 kg
Polarity:
Acid Volume: 0.6
Amps: 1.2
C.C.A.: 180


YT12B-BS Specs (from www.yuasabatteries.com) Use for EFI bikes
Battery Family: Maintenance Free
Battery Type: YT12B-BS
Voltage: 12
Capacity: 10
Dimensions: 6" x 2.75" x 5.125"
Weight: 7.6 lbs.
Metric Dimensions: 150mm x 69.0mm x 130.0mm
Metric Weight: 130 kg
Polarity:
Acid Volume: 0.50
Amps: 1.0
C.C.A.: 215



One of the inherent features of the EFI bikes is that there is always a phantom load being drawn from the battery. This load has been known to drain the batteries down in under three weeks of storage. There is also a low voltage cutoff programmed into the ECU of approximately 12.6 volts. Also, the ECU does not turn itself off when you stop the engine. There is a delay. On early EFI models the ECU would be on for up to 20 minutes drawing about 0.265 amps. There was a fix for this by Triumph to reduce that time to one minute after the key is turned off. Again, this fix was for the early EFI bikes. The headlight being on while starting doesn't help the situation, either. There is an 8.5 amp load on the system with the ignition on, and fuel pump priming. The load is reduced to 5.64 amps when the fuel pump stops. This initial load on the battery will also reduce its standing voltage.


So, what does this all mean?

1. If you're not using your bike regularly, or using it for short trips, keep it on a battery tender. I typically put it on a tender if it's been sitting for a week or so. My minimum ride is 30 minutes of mixed highway/city.

2. Be aware of the low battery cutoff. The battery will need to be at more than 12.6 volts to successfully start the engine. Some folks have had to go to 13.0 volts before the bike would start. Keep in mind that 12.6 volts is the normal reading for a charged battery. The battery is over 80% charged at 12.5 volts.

3. Idle speed. If the engine idle is less than 1000 RPM, the battery will not charge. This is important for those that do short trips around town.

4. Forget your old ways of not doing anything for the battery in an EFI bike. You have been informed!

5. I don't know if the batteries in these bikes will last as long as the ones in the carb bikes. I suspect that they won't as they are at a constant state of discarge while at rest unless on a battery tender.

Why did Triumph do this to us?

There are basically two reasons why there is a low voltage no-start programmed into the ECU. ECU's cannot reliably retrieve information from the various sensors. If the voltage is low, the sensors feed back inaccurate information to the ECU, and then the ECU makes some bad decisions based on this. Also, low batteries work the stator/alternator very hard. Stators have been known to overheat while trying to charge a depleted battery. As to why the low voltage threshold is so high is an unknown. As we know, automobiles with EFI can drop down to approximately 11.5 volts and still start the engine.

Motorcyclist Magazine had a question/answer on this very topic in their Oct, 2009 issue:

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/howto/answers/122_0910_ask_the_pro/index.html


Hope this sheds some light for those that are joining the EFI crowd.

H.

Thanks for the info

BTW If you've got an alarm, that will also draw current while in storage, which wont help the situation

You're welcome I keep forgetting about the alarm. In North America, it doesn't seem to be a popular option. I've never seen a Triumph America/Speedmaster with it.

The alarm seems to be popular in Europe, and I've also read about the battery drain issues associated with it. It just makes a mediocre situation worse for the poor battery

Thanks for bringing that up.
H.

Good write up Hyates.

Yuasa got a typo in their weight specs for the YT12B-BS ... 130kg!!! It's got to be about 20% lighter than the carb model, so should read about 2.7kg.

I have to put my bike on trickle charge once a week. I commute to work only 3 kms each way so it gets a lot of starting and little on-road charging. I make a point of warming up the engine every time though.

It will be interesting to see how long our batteries last - mines just hit 2 years. I believe that's about the life of many car batteries these days.

I think the charging system is weak on our bikes - especially for the additional demands of an EFI bike with a small battery. I am upgrading the R/R to a FH012 mosfet regulator and replacement heavy gauge cables and connectors to help. This has proven effective with many Triumph bikes. I have all the components and am about to install - I will do photos as I go.

Another excellent write up!

Hey Frank. When I was running TuneECU last week when I was doing the new tune and TPS reset, I noticed that the voltage output was being reported well over 13 volts. This was just at fast idle and down to idle speed (1000 rpm).

Not sure if Triumph made changes to the EFI bikes charging system, but it looked pretty healthy.

H.

Hey Richard. I wonder if you could do some benchmark charging numbers prior to ugrading the charging system. Voltage output at 1000, 2000, and 3000 rpm should be enough I would imagine.

Yeah, Yuasa has some issues with their specs. Unfortunate. Hopefully their batteries are still OK.

I would hope for 4 or 5 years on the battery if you take care of it. Time will tell, I guess. The battery in my Jetta TDI is 7.5 years old and still no issues. Will change before winter 2011 though! Not bad for a diesel battery

There are some that are starting to use li-po batteries. They are incredibly light, very expensive, and offer a lot of punch. They don't do well in the cold, though.

http://www.carbon-speed.com/prod.htm

H.

Yup, flakey batteries are fairly common. I'm confused as to what this has to do with the charging output of the stator though

H

thanks for all info my battery packed up after 6.5 months no longer under warranty and main dealer would`nt change it.i treated it like std setup (thought it would stay charged for months!!)bought new battery now keep on acumen charger no problems since.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Triumph has a special warranty on the batteries..

Page 3 of my warranty booklet (2010 model / Canada)

The motorcycle battery is warranted for 6 months from the original date of purchase of the motorcycle. After this 6 month period, the battery is is excluded from the terms of this warranty. The battery supplied with the motorcycle must be provided with sufficient charge to replenish that lost by the operation of the starting mechanism and/or the use of electrical equipment whilst the engine is not running.

Smart move on Triumph's part.

H.

Hyates the other point I was trying to make was nobody should spend good money upgrading their charging system untill they know their problem.

The voltage drop problem goes back a long way. From memory the mini was fitted with a voltage stabaliser that regulated the supply to the guages to 10v to overcome the effects of low voltage at the battery and of course many of the ignition coils fitted to cars way back then were actually rated at 9.5 volts to provide the max spark avail due to low battery voltage. With the modern electronics you would have thought they would have been able to run at a far lower value to get past this. Have exhausted the brain cells for one morning so will have to retire!