5 years for the origional Yuasa aint bad.They are overated,IMO.
Be careful fitting a differant sized battery to the SS,there is'nt a lot of room under the tank.We wouldnt want the terminals shorting out under there now would we?!?:o

I'd recommend staying with a replacement battery having an equal or greater capacity than the stock battery.

Here's the specs on the stock battery:

Yuasa YB16AL-A2 (16 AH, 200 CCA, 11.5 lbs.) - Dimensions: 8.125" x 2.8125" x 6.4375"

So I'd consider the following maintenance-free batteries:

Fiamm-GS F19-12B (19 AH, 200 CCA) - Dimensions: 7.13" x 3" x 6.6"
Odyssey PC680MJ (19 AH, 280 CCA, 14.7 lbs.) - Dimensions: 7.27" x 3.12" x 6.67" (my personal choice)

Many thanks as always Shazzam - you are always on the money!

I did wonder what the CCA was for the OEM battery, cheers.

Unless the 'MJ' series is different the Odyssey battery is the Gel one I have (as mentioned above) that is still sat useless in my garage.

The search continues.......................

The Fiam battery that came with my bike 4 years ago was getting a bit sluggish. For a replacement I got a Europa sealed lead-acid battery at 18AH and 250CCA from Rapid Electronics for £28.85 +vat, including free next day delivery. The battery is about 20mm than the OEM, a couple of mm wider and maybe 5mm lower with M5 threaded posts and it works a treat. Rapid's order code is 18-1198 and their telephone mumber is 01206-751160.

The beauty of gel batteries is they dont mind which way up they stand! Fit it in parallel with your existing lead acid battery and mount it on its side under your saddle. Double the cranking power, same voltage! :D

Excellent contact sir !!!

http://www.rapidelectronics.co.uk/rk...1910&XPAGENO=1

The Varta Rep, found a huge 20Ahr one for me which is used on Harley's of all things (couldnt help but laugh after the HD April fools joke on here).
But its 20mm wider than the OEM and almost touches the rocker box cover.

However, if its of use to anyone the Yuasa Code is Y50-N18L-A

Its a done deal with Rapid electronics...

Just over £30 is worth it for a sealed battery with a few more Amp/Hr kick I hope.

Thanx for another good contact.

[Edited on 17-5-2004 by Iconic944ss]

Derek YOU RULE !!!

£33.90 later and a lovely new battery arrived in my grubby little hands this dinnertime, roughly 20 hours after I ordered it.

It fitted a treat with very little persuasion and came with stainless fitting as well, even better the bike fired on the button so I am a happy bunny once more. Battery layout is the same and it is a sealed unit, so even fewer worries.

Summer is here :)