Yuasa YB16AL-A2 Battery

Hello to all. Can anyone recommend a sealed, maintenance free replacement for the good 'ol standard YB16AL-A2? I'll begin to check Yuasa's website for dimensions and specs for their other products. I wondered if anyone has personal experience with a replacement. I understand the sealed unit may be a bit smaller than the YB16. I belive as long as the terminals are on the same side and are of the same type, it would be a better product. Thanks in advance for your info.

YT12BBS It's what comes in the newer model 748-998's

The stock battery specification considers how much current is needed for a start, the range of operating temperatures, the reserve needed for repeated starts, and the charging system capacity. A larger capacity battery will be a lot kinder to your charging system.

The principal advantage of using a larger capacity battery is to be able to restart repeatedly. When you don't ride long enough to recharge fully between restarts, a larger capacity battery is an advantage. A lower capacity battery will need to be trickle-charged more often and the chance of a deep discharge (that reduces battery life) is greater with small capacity ones. Further, a battery's capacity drops when it gets cold so when you ride in cool weather, a smaller capacity battery will have an even smaller reserve for starting at low temperatures.

Consider also, that the early pre-1998 bikes have an alternator with a lower charging current output, so they'll take longer to fully recharge the battery. A prolonged 30 amp charging current is one contributing factor to why Ducati voltage regulator/rectifiers and stator wires fail prematurely.

In 2001, the bikes were fited with a revised starter motor gear ratio that drew less current and made it possible to start the bike using a smaller battery. The starter gearing on the early bikes are not well suited to the smaller batteries.

Standard battery 1994 - 2001 model years:

Yuasa YB16AL-A2 (16 AH, 200 CCA, 11.5 lbs.)

Standard battery 2001 - model years:

Yuasa YT12B-BS (10 AH, 125 CCA, 7.6 lbs.)


On the track, weight reduction is more important than these other considerations so the weight-saving battery-of-choice is the sealed and non-spillable AGM maintenance-free Yuasa YTZ7S. It's the same size as the later-year stock battery. The weight saving it offers is probably equivalent to $1000 in carbon fiber replacement parts, and about $3000 in titanium exhaust pipes and fasteners.

Yuasa YTZ7S (6 AH, 130 CCA, 4.6 lbs.)

On the street, reliable operation is of a higher concern to most of us, so consider the following maintenance-free batteries:

Fiamm-GS F19-12B (19 AH, 200 CCA)
GS Battery GT12B-4 (12 AH, 200 CCA, 10 lbs.)
Yuasa YTZ12S (11 AH, 210 CCA, 10 lbs.)
Power Source WP22-12B-4 (10 AH, 220 CCA, 15.5 lbs.)
Odyssey PC680MJ (19 AH, 280 CCA, 14.7 lbs.) (dry cell technology, my personal choice)

I installed a Odyssey PC680MJ in my 916 in May 2001. Stlll going strong.


Here’s a couple of sources:

http://www.batteryweb.com
http://www.motorcyclebatteriesusa.com

Great Post.

Thanks

Just got the Oddyssey 680 for my BMW....total price was $71 - came in the mail! Nice.

Many thanks to Jason and the guys at Section 8 Superbike, clnwo, Buckalew and especially Shazaam for the valueable information.

Take care to all...think Spring!