2 Strokes Down Under

I don't get out much.
Wife isn't watching, so here goes....

Going to get a new battery for an RZ250, local Battery World has Motobatts but not in the right size for RZ.
Is there an exact match for the RZ on evilbay etc?
Or is it a case of putting in the slightly shorter battery the shop has, with a packer at one end?
The nearest battery I can get from them is dimensionally the same in two directions, but about 15mm narrower (long axis)

Any other comments gladly considered.
Except marital advice, I've come to terms with my hen-pecked state ;-)

I thought the MB5.5U was the one? thats what I have I think...

Good to know. Local shop doesn’t seem to be willing/able. I’ll have a look on evilpay unless there’s a better outlet

Good to know. Local shop doesn’t seem to be willing/able. I’ll have a look on evilpay unless there’s a better outlet

Look at the bricks n mortar sellers in Aus as well using Google, Ive often found these batts go on special at times. Got a couple for $50each + 5 for post about 18mths back.

I have the MB5.5U in my LC and it is a perfect fit but not sure if an RZ uses exactly the same battery?

Watch out for Motobat batteries. They are not always the most reliable. I've had one in the past and it was fine (until I killed it by leaving my ignition on - stupid). However, there have been plenty of reports of them failing prematurely for no good reason. Just my opinion of course - but I avoid them now. Spend the extra and get a good quality battery - its worth it for the reliability and peace of mind.

Many modern battery technologies (Gel, AGM etc) wont like being totally discharged and most chargers cant restart them enough to take a charge as they need to register something to tell the charger to actually start pumping in some power. Using an old school charger on them isnt good either, but it may put enough in to restart them on the trickle, yet its a sledgehammer to crack a nut etc. and will lead to an early death for the unit. I once let a very expensive brand new car Optima unit go flat so it shut down totally... it took a lot of effort and multiple connections to multiple chargers to get that to charge again, but it was possible. phew! Ive been careful ever since.

So, be warned, letting them get low and trying to use only a trickle charger to bring them back will not work. My advice is to leave them in the bike and disconnected until you need them, I do that with my RD and RZs as its only 1 connector to pull out behind the side panel. I recharge about once every 3-6 months and theyve lasted years. Dont buy a LED battery monitor lead for your trickle unit that says connected to the battery, they will consume the power in the battery and flatten it, theyre for cars really... I learnt that the hard way lol.

My 2c is that Ive found motobatts to be a quality battery, and they certainly arent what Id call a budget option imho... but like any product there will always be someone who has had a problem I guess.

FWIW I had a set of exide AGMs prior to these and they died really quickly. Id avoid those, but thats just my 2c on those. Same with bike shop cheapy lead acids...

I’ve had a MB5.5U in a 350LC for a few months now. Still fairly new but holds a charge between uses which have been up to 1 month lately (renovating). Its better than the lead acid that was in it previously, which was not old and no overflow to spew acid.

I have used Motobatt batteries in most of my bikes and generally have no issue with them. I have had one of two that seemed to have crapped out quicker than they should but in general no issues. I've got a fair few bikes so they don't get used often (maybe once every 2-3 weeks) but I do have comfort leads on most of them and work the trickle chargers reasonably hard. I did read somewhere that if you get > 3 years out of a battery you are doing well.

Another thing I was doing for "fair weather" bikes was buying a cheap super start battery (about $50) and just using it until it went bung. If you maintain the fluids they'll get through a couple of seasons on the cheap.