Replacement Battery for 05 FJR

Hi all

Can you please tell me which battery i should be putting back in the FJR. I'm guessing that here in New Zealand we can't get the OEM GS GT14B4 but i know that wesco batteries are around.Do they make a replacement??. Apparently the CCA of the OEM is 210.Please advise.

Regards

Gazza

According to the Owners Manual --

Battery:

Model:

GT14B-4

Voltage, capacity:

12V, 12.0 Ah

According to the Factory Service Manual --

Battery

Battery type (manufacturer) GT14B-4 (GS)

Battery voltage/capacity 12 V/12 AH

Specific gravity 1.320

Ten hour rate amperage 1.2 A

Westco does make a replacement battery for the FJR, P/N 12V14B-4 Most people buy a Westco battery through another distributor for 25% cost savings and sometimes free shipping.

When you look up a standard GT14B-4 battery it is specified as 135 CCA. Other batteries in the GT14B-4 style offer 210 CCA. IMO, the 210 CCA rating is probably not going to be realized in actual use. The FJR starter draws <70 amps.

An alternative to a standard AGM battery is a Shorai LFX14A1-BS12 which is a 12V; 14 Ah; 210 CCA battery that weighs just 1.8 lbs. This battery is being successfully used by a number of people on this Forum.

+1 on the shorai. Great battery, nice and light, extremely powerful, and no real need for trickle charging. Expensive but may be in the feej long after I'm into my gen III! :lol:

I recently installed a Shorai battery it's much lighter and seems to turn the motor over a little quicker. They claim it doesn't need much charging if left in storage however you need to be aware that you cannot use a battery tender because it's a lithium battery. It takes a special charger and that cost $80.00 + shipping. Motorcycle Consumer News had a good write up on it in their April edition. This could be the way all batteries are going in the future.

Wow! 9.3 lbs lighter than the lead acid, for the standard and 9.1 for the heavy duty. I wonder if the bike will veer to the left if you take your hands off the bars after installing one of these?! Hmmm, should wheelie a little easier too..on a closed course with a professional rider...

+2 on the Shorai. You CAN use a standard charger, as long as you leave it on there only until you have full charge; the manufacturer does not want you to use any desulphate feature of continuing slow trickle once it's already full. My point is that the battery does not show a lot of loss even after leaving it standing for several weeks, which I had the chance to try out this year thanks to multiple surgeries, so there really is no need to keep hooking up.

I've put mine in, checked that it had fully charged after a nice long run with the bike, checked it a couple of times later where it showed the exact same voltage and then forgot about it. The hope is that I won't think about it again for another 10 years if in fact I still have the bike at that time.

About the veering - mine used to veer to the right, after the battery it was pretty much straight. After my fork rebuild it veers to the left... go figure!

I just installed a Shorai LFX18A1-BS12 battery. This has an amazing 18 amp-hour 270 cca rating. As said by others, extremely light and easy to install. The first thing you notice is that the battery has a stabilized resting voltage of 13.5 volts or more. With the bike running, voltage is running 14.1 to 14.4 even with the Krista lights on. I have not run with the heated gear yet.

I think one of the main advantages of this battery is for someone who takes quick trips and frequent starts, it is not going to run down. Also, these batteries should hold charge for the owners that live in cold climates and can't get out for long periods of time. Also in the event the battery is accidentally discharged, it does not sulfanate and self-destruct. On the other hand it is roughly 2X the price of a good lead-acid AGM battery.