What price should a new battery be for a 'big bike?' Phuket prices seem silly

[speedtripler]

I bought a new Yuasa for my Honda late last year, the Thai battery prices for a Chinese / Thai brand were about 450-600 Baht, but were just a little short of the recommended power for the Honda, the Yuasa came with bottles of acid mix that you had to pour in and activate then charge, it was 4 times the cost of the local batteries.

The original Yuasa had only lasted 2 years, gave absolutely no warning it was on the way out, worked fine Tuesday, completely dead Wednesday, 10 volts!

Saying that though, my Toyota Tiger goes through new batteries every 2-3 years, must be the heat as in the UK I never changed a battery in a car even after 10 years, here it seems to be normal. The best warranty even on a 4500 Baht battery is just about 2 years.

The acid is shipped in a separate container, even on the cheap generic Thai batteries

This is to ensure that no matter if the batteries don't get sold for a year after leaving the factory, they should still start.... Saying that I've seen kawasaki having to put electric jump leads on "someone's new" battery so even that may not be 100% if the batteries have been stored for ages etc...

[Dellboy218]

Before you fork out all that money for a new battery, get one of these.

http://www.optimate.co.uk/cg020001.htm

I work away and every time I came home my bike battery was flat and wouldn't take a charge. Since I started using this optimate over 3 years ago I've never had to buy a new battery.

They condition your battery, de-sulphate it, charge it and tests it all in one. This is the one I have and they're available in Thailand. Got mine from Kawasaki Pattaya. Think it was about 3,500 baht.

http://www.optimate.co.uk/optimate%204%20dual.htm

Can you get one for a car or are they only for motorcycles?

They are for batteries up to 50A/h. Most of these battery tenders deliver about 0.8 to 1A as they are a slow charge and maintainer of a charge. They have a twin under the brand name Accumate. Ctek is another 'smart' charger.

If you are talking sealed maintenance free batteries then never ever use a'normal' charger on them, you will shorten the life or destroy them. Only use chargers that specifically state they are for sealed batteries such as the Optimate.

In my BMW is a 2 year old 1500B Leoch battery designed for Golf carts. I will be disappointed if I do not get at least one more year. Its predecessor lasted 5.

[illy]

I found a Thai made battery for 1400bht. direct copy of the Yuasa..but in the end it was not the actual problem on my bike.. have started another thread about it.

[eisfeld]

Bought a new battery from Bigwing in Phuket for my CBR5000R. 6000THB. Very steep imho considering that other parts are usually not expensive there. Like the bar ends that I bought at the same time, 80 THB a piece...

[illy]

what brand was it? if it was a Yuasa there is a shop in Chalong that sells them for 2500bht

Bought a new battery from Bigwing in Phuket for my CBR5000R. 6000THB. Very steep imho considering that other parts are usually not expensive there. Like the bar ends that I bought at the same time, 80 THB a piece...

[speedtripler]

Bought a new battery from Bigwing in Phuket for my CBR5000R. 6000THB. Very steep imho considering that other parts are usually not expensive there. Like the bar ends that I bought at the same time, 80 THB a piece...

That sounds outrageous for a honda battery, I would call bkk bigwing and compare prices to check if someone is stealing....

[paz]

An average big bike quality battery, Yuasa or GS can cost USD 50 at most - worldwide. Anything more than that is fraud, sanctioned by the manufacturer.

By the way there are also specialized batteries with low discharge, or light weight for racing, etc. These can be very expensive too.

[silverado]

2.700 ??? 3.500 ??? 4.000 ???

1.000/1.200 thb in province surin . thai price...