Battery

[Dave]

Hi Guys

Not sure but I think I may have read somewhere on this forum that Varas eat batteries. My VA7 is 2 years old this month and is snuggled up in the garage connected to an Oxford 'Maximiser' charger. I noticed the other day that the charger was indicating that the battery was weak so to check it out I put another Oxford Maximiser on it and sure enough got the same indication.

As a final check I put one on my old Optimates on it and this seems to be telling me that all is well.

The Oxford units both seem to work OK on the 'wing so they can't be faulty but i guess they have a different/lower threshold than the Optimate for indicating a failing battery.

What do you guys think? Do Vara batteries fail early? Do they really cost as much as I think they do? (£120!!) Are there any recommended alternatives? Cheers!

[Boris]

I hope not. My vara is 4 years old and still on the first battery. I must admit I get the feeling on cold mornings that it isn't spinning things over as fast as it once did but it still started the bike even after about 6 weeks of not being used.

As for replacements a very quick search of the web turned up one for £75 at Battery CTX20A-BS Sealed - Motorcycle Products Ltd
You may well get cheaper as I didn't look very far.

[Austin]

I have not heard that vara's eat batteries. Have you tried disconnecting the battery from the bike and seeing if you get the same results with the chargers? It could be the oxford charger is sensing a small discharge that the optimate ignores. Could also be the cold weather. Bring it in the house for a while to warm it up. Otherwise just keep it on the optimate and che k the voltage before and after your next run out. If it's dropped significantly then you've got a problem.

[davsato]

Hi Guys

Not sure but I think I may have read somewhere on this forum that Varas eat batteries. ..............Do Vara batteries fail early? Do they really cost as much as I think they do? (£120!!) Are there any recommended alternatives? Cheers!

first ive heard of it, most service intervals say change the battery at 2 or 3 yrs anyway, but ive always thought that was to screw more cash out us poor shmucks. ive never had a failed battery on any bike including the 11yr old yuasa in my XT that never gets used, usually certain to kill a battery.
all i do occasionally is plug an optimiser into the accessory socket for a couple of days every few months.

£120? top price from a honda dealer perhaps, but you could get an odyssey battery for that! there will be a local battery shop that'll give you a much better deal.

[Mabels Old Man]

Part of the optimate procedure is to discharge the battery and then recharge it I believe. Perhaps you caught it on one of these cycles.

[StumpyFingers]

My TA battery lasted 5 years, I have been lead to believe that a batteries life should be around 3 years, so as mentioned above it could just be the cold weather.

[jasonbc]

Hi Guys

Not sure but I think I may have read somewhere on this forum that Varas eat batteries. My VA7 is 2 years old this month and is snuggled up in the garage connected to an Oxford 'Maximiser' charger. I noticed the other day that the charger was indicating that the battery was weak so to check it out I put another Oxford Maximiser on it and sure enough got the same indication.

As a final check I put one on my old Optimates on it and this seems to be telling me that all is well.

The Oxford units both seem to work OK on the 'wing so they can't be faulty but i guess they have a different/lower threshold than the Optimate for indicating a failing battery.

What do you guys think? Do Vara batteries fail early? Do they really cost as much as I think they do? (£120!!) Are there any recommended alternatives? Cheers!

I've never heard that they eat batteries mines 10 years old and i put the first new one on it october/nov time just over 12mths ago it cost me £43 new. I always leave my optimate on the bike when it's not in use so as soon as the indicator went red i replaced the battery no point fannying about over it, it's had a decent lifespan

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Same here. Never heard of widespread battery problems with Varas. Perhaps you're thinking of Africa Twins where the battery might get fried when the Reg/rec fails?

[saitek]

. Perhaps you're thinking of Africa Twins where the battery might get fried when the Reg/rec fails?

Exactly the same thing happens with Vara's when the reg/rec fails. Mine ate two batteries that way, before I worked out what the problem was.