[Dirtglide]

I have issues with the OEM battery. 💩

I have recharged the fecker several times now and yet after not being used for a couple of weeks and doing accessory testing - it failed to start the bike. It did after being on charge, but feck me, it's borderline capable OEM 💩

I got looking at lithiium feckers and ended up going with a Noco Lithium NLP30 700A, bastid. NOCO - 700A Lithium Powersport Battery - NLP30

Cost me £100. More on this story, later. 🆒

 

[mrkihn]

yours should still be under warranty

 

[Dirtglide]

Confessions time... The correct battery is a YTX14L-BS, or equivalent lithium. The lithium battery I bought, I must keep away from eBay when drinking, is the way, I say WAY too big. It's also amazingly lightweight for its size, but would be more suited to a lawn tractor, than a motorbike.

I refitted the original H-D battery and tightened the terminals down tight and this seems to have improved the starting of the bike and for some reason, the battery seems to retain a charge better when idle. It still needs a top-up charge more frequently than previous, not keyless, motos. I guess I just need to ride it more! 👍

 

[Sasquatch]

I’m holding out for H-D to replace these weak batteries under warranty with one better suited to the higher compression of this engine. I’d say mine take 2 try’s 50% of the time, and its fully charged before every ride, “will it start roulette”

 

[iDavid]

I’m holding out for H-D to replace these weak batteries under warranty with one better suited to the higher compression of this engine. I’d say mine take 2 try’s 50% of the time, and its fully charged before every ride, “will it start roulette”

Did you know that there is a software upgrade available to fix the bug that stops the bike starting first time? Got a call from my dealership.

 

[Sasquatch]

I’ll check with them the next time I go in, I’m sure they’re as frustrated as I am about asking for software updates.

 

[Dirtglide]

I've bought a Motobatt MBYZ16HD AGM. £63.00 delivered.
MBYZ16HD
Voltage : 12v
CCA : 240
Capacity (10HR) : 16Ah
Weight : 5.05kg
Dimensions
Length : 151mm
Width : 87mm
Height : 145mm

Standard battery is
CCA : 200
Capacity : 12Ah

MORE POWER! ☮

 

[tman2010]

I've bought a Motobatt MBYZ16HD AGM. £63.00 delivered.
MBYZ16HD
Voltage : 12v
CCA : 240
Capacity (10HR) : 16Ah
Weight : 5.05kg
Dimensions
Length : 151mm
Width : 87mm
Height : 145mm

Standard battery is
CCA : 200
Capacity : 12Ah

MORE POWER! ☮

Dirtglide,

Did you have any issues getting the positive cable connected to the battery? I just tried to install a Motobatt MHTX16 battery and I ran into an issue trying to connect the positive cable. I just posted a new thread about my issue.

Thanks!!

 

[Dirtglide]

Dirtglide,

Did you have any issues getting the positive cable connected to the battery? I just tried to install a Motobatt MHTX16 battery and I ran into an issue trying to connect the positive cable. I just posted a new thread about my issue.

Thanks!!

Haven't received it yet. This is the original battery - Harley Davidson 65958-04c battery

Harley Davidson 65958-04 04a 04b 04c battery replacement

Harley Davidson 65958-04 04a 04b 04c battery replacement. Replacement Harley Davidson 65958-04 65958-04a 65958-04b 65958-04c compatible battery pack, rechargeable engine starter batteries at low p...

www.batterytrader.com

 

[tman2010]

Haven't received it yet. This is the original battery - Harley Davidson 65958-04c battery

Harley Davidson 65958-04 04a 04b 04c battery replacement

Harley Davidson 65958-04 04a 04b 04c battery replacement. Replacement Harley Davidson 65958-04 65958-04a 65958-04b 65958-04c compatible battery pack, rechargeable engine starter batteries at low p...

www.batterytrader.com

I tried a new HD battery (65958-04C) before I purchased the Motobatt MHTX16 but it was no better than the battery that came in my bike. I have a voltmeter that has a MAX/MIN feature and I measured voltage drops below 8v while starting the bike. This was on a fully charged battery (I always keep my bike plugged into a battery tender). When the voltage dropped that low (8v or less) the bike would not start and it would sometimes throw error codes. This tells me the battery HD is using in the Pan America is crap.

I would think you may have the same challenge (i.e. positive cable not lining up) with the Motobatt battery that you ordered. I am curious to hear your experience once you receive it. I have not tried removing the positive cable from the track it is in on the battery bracket but I’m not thrilled abut having to do that.

I have seen a lot of posts where folks indicated they are using an Antigravity battery but I have not seen anyone provide any information regarding challenges they may have had. I would think they might have run into a similar issue with attaching the positive cable.

 

[Dirtglide]

I tried a new HD battery (65958-04C) before I purchased the Motobatt MHTX16 but it was no better than the battery that came in my bike. I have a voltmeter that has a MAX/MIN feature and I measured voltage drops below 8v while starting the bike. This was on a fully charged battery (I always keep my bike plugged into a battery tender). When the voltage dropped that low (8v or less) the bike would not start and it would sometimes throw error codes. This tells me the battery HD is using in the Pan America is crap.

I would think you may have the same challenge (i.e. positive cable not lining up) with the Motobatt battery that you ordered. I am curious to hear your experience once you receive it. I have not tried removing the positive cable from the track it is in on the battery bracket but I’m not thrilled abut having to do that.

I have seen a lot of posts where folks indicated they are using an Antigravity battery but I have not seen anyone provide any information regarding challenges they may have had. I would think they might have run into a similar issue with attaching the positive cable.

Thanks, this is helpful. Mine is due to arrive on Tuesday. I will report back on how that goes.

 

[CrewDawg]

I have a Antigravity battery I am planning on installing tomorrow. Will report any findings afterwards.

 

[tman2010]

CrewDawg - I am curious to hear your results with the Antigravity battery.

I was able to figure out my issue with the Motobatt MHTX16 battery. It comes with two of the following foam spacers, you have to attach one of them to the bottom of the battery when installing into a Pan America.

In order to attach the positive cable to the positive terminal I had to remove the three foam strips that are in the bottom of the battery compartment.

I asked the folks where I purchased the MHTX16 battery (Impact Battery) if they had any recommendation on torque values on the M6 screws (used to attach cables to battery) & the M5 screws (used to attach terminals to battery) and they said “I just tighten by hand until I notice resistance change and maybe go a quarter turn more”. I checked with the Motobatt folks and they said they did not have any recommendations on torque values.

After all of this it doesn’t look like the Motobatt MHTX16 battery is going to resolve the issues (i.e. start & fault codes) that I have been having with my PAS. After installing a fully charged MHTX16 battery I attempted to start my bike eight times. My results were:

• Five times the bike started OK, no fault codes.
• One time a very slow start, two fault codes (BCM=C181664C, ECM=U228700P), measured voltage dropped to 8.25v when starting.
• One no start, no fault codes, measured voltage dropped to 8.24v when starting.
• One slow start, no fault codes, measured voltage dropped to 9.30v when starting.

The MHTX16 battery is supposed to have a CCA rating of 350. I find it a little odd that I am seeing the same results that I am having with the HD battery (65958-04C) which has a CCA rating of 225. Or maybe there is something else wrong with my bike causing the voltage to drop too low when starting. Anybody have any ideas?

 

[Dirtglide]

The MBYZ16HD AGM arrived today which is amazingly quick delivery. It was too hot here today to be spannering, so it went straight on a bench charge and will be fitted one evening this coming week. ☮

 

[CrewDawg]

Installed the Antigravity ATX12-HD-RS battery this morning. It was 101 degrees yesterday, didn't feel like fooling with it. Battery replacement on the Pan Am is a kind of a pain. No issues starting, really spins the motor on start up compared to the stock battery. For the record, I did not have any start problems prior with the factory battery, just wanted a battery with more power. This battery is advertised with 480CCA. Didn't measure with a multi-meter, but on the dash with the ignition turned on, showed 13.4v which dropped to 13.2 volts during start up. At idle, showing 14.1v and goes to 14.2v above idle. Started multiple times with no issues noted.

 

[Dirtglide]

MBYZ16HD AGM, out of the box read 12.3v. After charge 12.9v. Should be fitting it tomorrow night.

 

[tman2010]

Installed the Antigravity ATX12-HD-RS battery this morning. It was 101 degrees yesterday, didn't feel like fooling with it. Battery replacement on the Pan Am is a kind of a pain. No issues starting, really spins the motor on start up compared to the stock battery. For the record, I did not have any start problems prior with the factory battery, just wanted a battery with more power. This battery is advertised with 480CCA. Didn't measure with a multi-meter, but on the dash with the ignition turned on, showed 13.4v which dropped to 13.2 volts during start up. At idle, showing 14.1v and goes to 14.2v above idle. Started multiple times with no issues noted.

Did you run into any issues installing the ATX12-HD-RS battery? For example:

• Did you have to remove the three foam strips in the bottom of the battery compartment?
• Did the battery come with foam spacers that had to be used to make it fit or did the battery fit as is out of the box?

Just curious, did you also purchase the remote start option for the battery?
Restart Remote, Powersport Batts

Thanks!

 

[CrewDawg]

Left the original foam in the tray, no spacers. Battery did not come with any foam. It is pretty firm without any movement after everything reinstalled. I did purchase the remote restart. I won't be taking it out for a ride until this weekend, thunderstorms rolling in.

 

[tman2010]

Installed the Antigravity ATX12-HD-RS battery this morning. It was 101 degrees yesterday, didn't feel like fooling with it. Battery replacement on the Pan Am is a kind of a pain. No issues starting, really spins the motor on start up compared to the stock battery. For the record, I did not have any start problems prior with the factory battery, just wanted a battery with more power. This battery is advertised with 480CCA. Didn't measure with a multi-meter, but on the dash with the ignition turned on, showed 13.4v which dropped to 13.2 volts during start up. At idle, showing 14.1v and goes to 14.2v above idle. Started multiple times with no issues noted.

That's impressive if you are seeing the voltage only drop to 13.2v during startup. Obviously, voltage readings can vary depending on the charge level of the battery. When starting I used the MAX/MIN feature on my voltmeter to capture the minimum voltage. On fairly fresh (i.e. charged) batteries I have measured below 8v with the stock battery and below 9v with the Motobatt MHTX16 battery when starting. Right before I captured the lowest voltage (i.e. before hitting the start button) I captured the voltage reading on the batteries with the ignition on. The average voltage on the stock battery before hitting the start button was around 12.5v and the average voltage on the Motobatt MHTX16 was around 13.1v. I should have tried the Antigravity ATX12-HD-RS battery.

 

[CrewDawg]

I did measure the voltage with a multimeter prior to installing it. Battery was fully charged on a tender prior. Voltage showed 13.65v.