[GWTrike]

My GL1500 would run out of juice lately if I muffed up the starting... I might get 2 sometimes 3 tries and after that, I'd need a jump.

So I checked the battery with a DVM; read 12'ish at a standstill. Dipped to 6-7V upon starting and then hung around 13.5 when running.

Obviously, it was a problem with the battery - at least. So, i replaced it with a Batteries+ sealed AGM (?) battery and all is well; dips to 11.5 for starting and pushes up and past 14v when running. Man, she starts right up now! Whew, sure glad it wasn't a stator problem.

I wondered about the age of the Yuasa that was in there. It was not a sealed battery and had a breather tube. The only code I saw etched in was on the front and was RC19EA. I found a doc of Yuasa date codes and if this is the Korean version (the only one that made sense given the letters in the code), the third digit, "1" indicates the year, but all the codes are supposed to be 7 digits, not 6.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=y50-n18l-a3&gs_upl=1515l7212l0l7339l11l10l0l3l3l1l1718l5935l2-1.0.1.1.0.2.1l6l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1024&bih=551&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=16696974187832286840&sa=X&ei=6S1gTocY54CyAuS09fYP&ved=0CEYQ8wIwAA

Anybody have an idea how old this battery was before it gave up the ghost?

 

[trike lady]

On the GL1500 you have an automotive type alternator so if it ever went south all you'd have to do is replace it and not have to pull the engine like on early model GL's to replace the stator.

 

[LarryinSeattle]

Good job on getting a battery right away. When you fool around with a bad battery, you put additional stress on the alternator and end up have alternator problems.

A new battery solves a lot of electrical problems, for sure. The gel battery is good for 3 or 4 years.... so it is a cheap fix... at less than $1.50 per month.

 

[GWTrike]

On the GL1500 you have an automotive type alternator so if it ever went south all you'd have to do is replace it and not have to pull the engine like on early model GL's to replace the stator.

Duh! I shoulda known that having seen the alternator when I had the side panels off. Thanks for letting me know!

 

[budoka]

I just checked with my parts manager and he said that while there may be a date code or production date stamp somewhere on the battery case, it is 'not' included in that 7 character part number you mention. I'll go over a couple new ones if I get time and see if I can spot a date (I'm guessing that there are no other readable stamps on your old one).

 

[joe in calif]

Most of the times, unless your running a bunch of lights on your 1500 the stock alternator will work fine, but you do need to replace the brushes at about 70,000 miles, they will wear and not make contact. A volt meter is a must on a 1500 Gold Wing

 

[GWTrike]

I just checked with my parts manager and he said that while there may be a date code or production date stamp somewhere on the battery case, it is 'not' included in that 7 character part number you mention. I'll go over a couple new ones if I get time and see if I can spot a date (I'm guessing that there are no other readable stamps on your old one).

Budoka,

Thanks for looking into that. The only number etched into the battery was on the front and it was a 6-digit number, not 7. I'll look to see what else is on the batt.

thanks,
greg