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When I started out with my first motorcycle in Ohio, I got accustomed to buying a battery every spring. I thought it was normal. After attending a seminar held by Yuasa, I now have a battery in my bike that has lasted five years. There are some things to know whether your trying to prolong your batteries life, or shopping for a new one.
Probably the most helpful thing that I learned to do was to disconnect, if not removed the battery from the bike al together, and place it in a warmer environment for the winter. Never never remove your battery and place it on a concrete floor for an extended period of time. There is something about placing a battery on concrete that will drain it and make it useless. If you must keep it in the garage or on a concrete floor, place a piece of wood or something underneath it to insulate it from the concrete.
If the battery is not the maintenance free type, top off the fluid with DISTILLED water. Standard batteries and no maintenance batteries have different kinds of acid. The contaminants and chemicals in tap water will shorten the life of the standard battery. If your garage isn't heated, find a place safe from the freezing temperatures and within reach of an electrical outlet to store your battery for the winter. Buy a 'Battery Tender' or other similar device that will maintain the charge through-out the winter without cooking it. You can not just leave a regular battery charger, no matter what the amperage, hooked to your battery all winter long. This will start a fire! If you want to rely on a regular type charger, use it to top off the charge every other week, or once a month.
If you need to buy a new battery, ask your dealer about a lifetime warranty. The place I work offers a lifetime warranty for $20 per battery. If the battery goes bad, you get a new one. You may then buy a warranty for the replacement battery . Its another $20 for another warranty but doing that here will get you $20 batteries for life.
Use caution when working with your battery. Working at a dealership has lent me the opportunity to see and hear a couple of the explode. Another situation to watch for is the space between your tools and anything they may come close to during the course of the work. If they are touching live current and get grounded somehow they often will get stuck there, welded so to speak. Be careful! This is why the first step of any major and sometimes minor job is to disconnect the battery.
Inspect your battery when its on the bike at least every couple of months. Take note of the vent and the hose if the battery has one. Cover the lugs with di-electric grease to keep the metal nice and clean up any acid you may spill by neutralizing it with baking soda before you touch it with anything. Use common sense. Keep a comfy distance between the battery and yourself. Be aware of your eyes and face. Its not going to kill you to touch it with your hands but the dirty residue on a battery will eat holes in your jeans if you wipe your hands on them. Using gloves is not a bad idea.
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