Mileage: 75,762
Maintenance Summary:
- Activated and Installed Yuasa 53030 Battery
The Odyssey PC680 AGM battery that came with the bike when I bought it was the wrong size, and only about half the size and capacity of this new battery. The PC680 is rated at 16Ah capacity and 170 CA. The new Yuasa fits the battery tray and is rated at 30Ah and 300CAA. The old battery is probably fine, but it wouldn’t start the bike when the garage was 50 degrees without first warming the cylinders with a hot air gun.
I bought the Yuasa as a dry battery, which means that I had to add sulphuric acid to activate the battery before it could be used. I was able to buy the acid at my local auto parts store. Activating the battery involved several steps:
- Fill each cell to the full mark with acid. A lot of bubbles are generated in this step.
- Wait 30 minutes and add more acid to get back to the full mark
- Slow charge (1.5A) for 20 hours
- If necessary — it wasn’t — fill the battery again, this time with distilled water.
- During all of the steps above, periodically give the battery a good shock to dislodge any large bubbles forming on the plates.
The only problem I had installing the battery was getting it into the battery tray. First, the frame was too narrow above the battery to drop in in directly. Part of the problem was interference from the subframe bolts. You can see those bolts above the battery in the picture above. Even with the bolts removed, I couldn’t get the battery in. I ended up removing the upper battery tray bolts to allow the tray to be tipped backwards on the lower rubber mounts, allowing the battery to be slid in at an angle. Even then, it wasn’t easy. I had to force the battery through the frame; it was hanging on the upper part of the battery where the battery is slightly wider than the case.