I seem to recall hearing that some F4 owner's have had problems with OEM battery leaking fluids. How prevalent is the problem with the current crop of bikes? Is it worth replacing the OEM item with a sealed battery unit or is that just a waste of money and time. If worth the effort, who makes a good battery that both fits and works? The cost of a sealed battery seems miniscule compared to the down time and expense of acid cleanup. Opinions, thoughts? dm

-- dm (i8foie@msn.com), January 14, 2003

Answers

The OEM while being a good battery is inadequate for the application. The main reason being that while it is a "sealed" battery it is not a factory sealed unit. What that means is that there is a cap that is installed after the battery is filled with acid. WestCo Batteries, makes an incredible Gel cell battery that is completely sealed, holds its charge extremely well and above all is cheap. Send us an email as we usually have these in stock.

-- Mototrends (sales@mototrends.com), January 14, 2003.

This is the first time I've ever mentioned it publicly.

This problem is not limited to the stock battery. I had an EXIDE BATTERY (that's EXIDE BATTERY) explode and ruin lots and lots of parts on my bike 2 weeks after I got it (the stock battery was dead beyond recourse). The dealer installed it so ultimately it was his responsibility. EXIDE did not deal with him/us very fairly at all throughout. Did I mention it was an EXIDE BATTERY?

If anyone sees an EXIDE BATTERY anywhere, do me a favor and pee on it.

-- Andy Ruhl (quadreverb@yahoo.com), January 14, 2003.

Andy- I get the feeling we should not put an EXIDE BATTERY in our MV's.

-- John (jmilotzky@wi.rr.com), January 15, 2003.