S4 Battery-seen better days-new one req £?

[McMONSTRO]

Bummer :mad: After being stranded for 1 hour today till my mate arrived with some jump leads I reckon its time for a new battery! 2 years old (at least) and despite purchase of an optimiser a few months ago the battery seems to be getting worse! Starts fine after its been charged but after a short run I get back on and zilch! It does'nt want to start, and Ive never managed to bump start it yet, show it some jump leads and it fires up straight away! So does anybody know how much Im likely to have to shell out for a new one? No doubt a Ducati dealer will want a fortune for one (if there was one in the E.Midlands!) and its a jap battery on it anyway so hopefully I can pick one up on my travels, a Yuasa or something, anyone got any ideas :confused:

Cheers
McMonstro

[DesmoDom]

Have you checked your voltage regulator ???, used to be really common on the 888 and early 916. Your battery should'nt be giving you trouble yet, one of our S4's is a 2001 model and we've never had any probs with the battery.

Just a thought

Baz

[McMONSTRO]

Just had a service (6k) so I would have hoped that it would have been checked! The bike didnt start when I picked it up, needed a jump start then! It had been with them for a week, so it points to the battery not holding its charge me thinks? is it a big/difficult job to check the regulator? I dont have any meters!

[Pedro]

Get a battery mail order and then get your local bike shop to fill it with acid.

Busters or similar should be able to do something cheapish!

Ped

[berto]

:p About £50 for a pattern one .Mine did the same after a couple of years just got worse... ;)

[HUNTER]

My S4 is about the same age.

Got battery problems - not holding a charge.

Changed batteries still got the same problem !

Now waiting for the AA !

Still waiting for the AA.......

[McMONSTRO]

Well mines been OK since the post, sounded a bit tired but managed to start....then yesterday mmmm, struggled but just caught it, so back on the optimate!!! Think Ill get a new one, been quoted about £60 ish for a Yuasa, which are supposed to be the best, just the wrong time of the year to be buying one really coz I know it'll be sitting around unused for a few weeks.

Hunter, let me know if you find the fault on yours!....voltage regulator maybe?

Cheers and good luck!

McMonstro

[Fosse Foxfight]

Bummer :mad: After being stranded for 1 hour today till my mate arrived with some jump leads I reckon its time for a new battery! 2 years old (at least) and despite purchase of an optimiser a few months ago the battery seems to be getting worse! Starts fine after its been charged but after a short run I get back on and zilch! It does'nt want to start, and Ive never managed to bump start it yet, show it some jump leads and it fires up straight away! So does anybody know how much Im likely to have to shell out for a new one? No doubt a Ducati dealer will want a fortune for one (if there was one in the E.Midlands!) and its a jap battery on it anyway so hopefully I can pick one up on my travels, a Yuasa or something, anyone got any ideas :confused:

Cheers
McMonstro

If its a YB16ALA2, I got a new Varta you can have.....30quid inc the postage.
Youll need to get it filled at you local shop.

ta ra

[Zimbo]

Yuasa are certainly good quality, and it's worth the extra few quid over a cheap one, it'll last a lot longer. Cheap ones won't take the vibration for long!
Try your Ducati dealer though, you may be surprised, they're often not expensive on service parts and more than once I've found original parts from my local dealer to actually be cheaper than pattern parts!
One of our crowd had a rectifier / regulator fail on his 748 on a recent tour in Scotland, taking out the battery at the same time, and Ducati Glasgow sent up a new rectifier/regulator and a new battery, cost £130 delivered for the lot.

[berto]

:D Yeah,we really are a great bunch up here so call Harry on 0141 3330996 or see www.ducatiglasgow.co.uk for all your monster needs.Phew I sound like Victor Kiam(remember him???)

[McMONSTRO]

Cheers for the offer Fosse! But mines a GT12B-4 (GS make) and the Yuasa replacement is a YT12B-BS, so I guess the "12" makes a difference!

No Ducati dealers round here (Notts) nearest ones are Lincoln,Northampton and the other side of Brumingham, so its a case of "when Im passing one" on my travels.

Looking at the weather forecast for this week Id be better off spending the money on waterproofs tho :mad:

McMonstro

PS Berto you must mean Victor " I liked it so much I bought the company" Kiam, Remmington shavers wasn't it?

[Fosse Foxfight]

Cheers for the offer Fosse! But mines a GT12B-4 (GS make) and the Yuasa replacement is a YT12B-BS, so I guess the "12" makes a difference!

Try these guys then.....sorry I didnt realise you had a sealed unit fitted.

http://www.norbsa02.freeuk.com/goffybatteries.htm

or you could dispense with cheapo batteries and fit one of the thin plate batteries...usually round 90 quid, but bloody marvellous for big twins.
http://www.dmstech.co.uk/varleyredtop.htm
http://www.knightbatteries.com/popup.cfm?p_n=91471&p_i=91471

Sean

[Rockhopper]

Try Neil at Cornerspeed in Sutton in Ashfield. www.cornerspeed.co.uk He looks after both my Ducati's, infact he only works on Ducati's. Got a new battery for my ST4 a few weeks ago from him, only cost about £30 i think. Tell him Paul sent you.
Please give him a bell, he's the only person i trust to lay a spanner on my bike.