That said...the battery will last EVEN LONGER with a float charger.

I also believe that the bike will bump or kick start (if it has a kick-starter) with a dead battery...but, that MIGHT not be all models/years; I'm just not sure.

I would love to hear from someone making this experiment: With a running/idleing XT225 (not XT250) momentarily remove the battery's ground wire, and see if the bike keeps running or not. If it keeps running, voltage goes up without the battery, so do this only for a few seconds.

I had planned to do this myself, but never got around to it...

Alexd

Tye, I know I'm a couple years late, but thanks for the ever start Walmart recommendation and model number, really helped me out

The XTREME 12V AGM battery, from Ascent Battery Supply LLC, Hartland, Wi, Model XTAX 7L BS 12V 6AH was on my 92 XT 225 when I bought it a year and half ago. I haven't had tIme to ride the bike, so this battery has been connected to my DURA BOOST automatic Battery Maintainer 750, AKA battery tender.

When first connected, it mostly displayed green, charged, with only a brief flash of red, charging. Recently it started flashing green and red and its now just flashing red.

I haven't done any volt meter checking.

Can anyone comment on what's going on here? Is this battery of decent quality, but now toast? Is YUSA still the battery of choice?

Most likely cooked the battery after just sitting in a charged state for so long without any usage. Disconnect the charger, pull the battery, check standing voltage with a decent multimeter. Should be at least 12.3vdc, anything lower and its really not usable. An agm battery's standing voltage should be as follows:

[img]https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/1600991794644-png.2445241/[/img]

Why do I say under 12.3vdc is not usable? The battery is obviously damaged at this point and will continue to go downhill with continued use. Nothing like going for a quick ride, park bike at store for a few minutes, come out and battery won't start the bike.

Yuasa batteries are still being made, I have one for my other bike that works quite well, but you will most likely need to fill the battery with acid, as it comes with dry with an included acid pack. For agm, there are lots of choices, I've got one of these in my quad and its still going strong with very little use since purchasing in March of '21:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V6X1BOE/

I'm sure they have the correct size for your bike, just need to search for it. I also had one of these in the xt225, its garbage and didn't last much more than 1 year, plus the lcd screen fell off the thing!

https://www.amazon.com//dp/B01DOIULOO/

I'd also suggest a good maintainer small enough to not cook motorcycle batteries:

https://www.amazon.com//dp/B07W46BX31/

I have 2 of these, plus a 2A for my old truck and a 5A for my new truck, they have been great in keeping every battery charged and maintained without cooking them. I use the 1A on my lawn mower and supra too, so far, so good.

I only buy Yuasa batteries, the one on my Serow 225 is over 7 yrs old. The one on my T800 is similar, both are holding 12.7v after a couple of weeks not charged. My T1050 was holding 12.7v but seemed to be losing its grunt so I replaced it at over 9 yrs old last June, now holding 12.8v for a couple of weeks. I never leave mine on a tender, I check them every couple of weeks & if below 12.7v I give them a few hrs boost. Works for me. I wouldn't press the starter if any were below 12.6v.

I would 2nd Paul's choice on Yuasa batteries being top quality which we've always used. We'd store our bikes for the winter in rented space with no power. The bikes would sit dormant for 5+ months no tender. They would start in the Spring without problems. Yuasa batteries are Japanese. There are a lot of cheap knockoffs out there. If you shop online be careful to watch out for deceptive battery ads. Should you choose Yuasa, just make sure you see genuine Yuasa battery or their name on the battery. As for floating a small gel cell battery, 500 ma is a safe current level. A couple of hours will top off a good battery that isn't heavily depleted. I haven't needed to "tend" any Yuasa batteries, however. As for gel cells, good ones settle out at 2.1V/cell X 6 = 12.6V. This can vary slightly with temperature. A good battery should hold that voltage against a load like your headlamp (engine not running). If voltage drops off significantly, the battery is dubious and should be replaced. Ride safely.