Modern Vespa

The person we bought my son's scooter from had replaced the battery after two or three years simply because of the time elapsed. He didn't even ride the scooter much. (Incidentally, the original battery is back in because the replacement was having trouble.)

I'm still using the original battery in my GTV, so it's going on ten years now. The only time it has trouble is in sub-freezing temperatures when I haven't ridden the scooter for a few weeks.

I've never, in my forty years of driving, replaced a battery until it was dead. I'm wondering if I should change my ways and go ahead and put a new battery in soon. Ten years seems like a pretty good run for a battery.

Does anyone, like the prior owner of my son's scooter, replace scooter batteries by timetable, or is that guy just a little OCD?

No timetable for me - but I do have a friend who changes his bike battery every four years. (Excessive if you ask me...)
If it were me, I'd go ahead and change it now. They can go kaput with zero warning. Learned that the hard way more than once.
I also know folks who make it a personal challenge and go all the way to the end of the line before popping for a new one. Just depends on how much inconvenience you're willing to put up with, I suppose. JMHO

I'd vote for OCD. If there was a predictable lifespan, it might make sense, but, say, if you're only 70% through a lifespan, you really want to toss it? I guess that hinges a bit on usage..if you're puttering around town it's different than, say, a Cannonball.

I'd, er, be a bit nervous 10 years out, however.

Some folks don't like to suffer the inconvenience of sudden battery problems out on the road. But I'm with you, use the battery until it starts giving problems. Use it all up. I get many years out of batteries.

Bill

I replace every three years in a car or a bike , but I usually change bikes before the battery needs replacing

I think of pro-active battery replacement sort of the same as pro-active anything.
Think about all the things we do to our scooters that are running just fine.
Oil change, brake fluid, coolant, hub oil, tires, belts, etc....
If you're doing anything maintenance wise, and nothing has gone wrong yet, you're doing it "pro-actively".

I've actually gone with Lithium batteries in all but one of my bikes. The starting performance difference is very noticeable, especially in colder weather.

I have a Motobatt in my Chinese bike, one from Banshee in our Buddy 170, and I don't remember the brand in the Aprillia, but they all start better and hold their charge for a long time. I haven't had to hook one to the charger yet.

Incidentally, you need a different charger for them. Apparently they don't like pulse charging.

You don't have to guess, there is an inexpensive tool for making the diagnosis. We talked about it in another topic ...

My motto: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I used to say that. Until I had to replace a belt. Alongside the road. In the rain.

I'm proactive about belts now.

Good point. I agree 100%. My belt is getting changed at 6,000 miles. Maybe I should rethink my motto for the battery as well, but at least a failed battery has no potential for wrecking you.

It is possible to get batteries load tested, which will give you a good idea of whether their capacity has degraded. In the case of a 10 year old scooter battery, I think I would change it out and be happy I got my money's worth.

I hope that you are not in charge of maintenance at an airline...

Remember not to use it below freezing - you can discharge them but never, ever, charge them if their temperature is at or below freezing. Buggers them up straight away.
So you're good as long as you have some auto-disconnect between the regulator and the battery. However, then you're powering all the bike just from the battery...

That's good to know. I am - after all - in Michigan, and I ride in the cold. Bikes are always inside, but the garage isn't heated.

Perhaps it should be ...

On a hat I saw at a BBQ in the Tri-Cities (E. Washington near Hanford). - Exxon Nuclear Maintenance - we'll fix it later -

I do my own load testing. I listen to the starter. When it starts to drag a bit, it is time to change the battery. If your headlight comes on before the starter, you can watch the headlight, and when it dims excessively when you hit the starter, time to buy. Ideally the well-behaved battery fails gradually, but I've had a couple that, from the first sign of trouble to no-start, only took a couple of months. So at the first sign of trouble, I'm off to the battery store.

I have a sneaking suspicion that a well-charged battery is easier on your starter (with the new batteries the scooters start almost immediately, when they'd grind for a little while with the old batteries) and probably your charging system as well.

On a per-year basis, batteries are so cheap that it pays very little to squeeze the very last month of life out of them. I'd hate to miss a ride just because I was trying to save a couple of dollars. And I'd rather pay the couple of dollars extra it costs to change a battery slightly early than go through the headaches of having the scooter fail to start when I'm 30 miles from home.

And if Mr. Murphy has his way, it'll be in a pouring rain, on a day when I'm on a tight schedule. And all the local battery stores will be out of the size I need.

...he can get off and push the plane ...

Mostly irrelevant to the original topic, sorry for that, but can't resist making a comment. Or actually two

To make up, I'll also comment the original question: I too try to change batteries based on the first symptons of failing. Sometimes there aren't any and I'll get stranded. IF I were about to take a long trip, say a vacation with no interest for maintenance pit stops AND my battery would be on the old side, I'd change it. 10 years - yes, I'd change it.

The first irrelevant comment - a few years back I was involved in a project about industrial maintenance development. There was a guy responsible of jet fighter maintenance operations. What took a bit of digesting is that their key maintenance philosophy was 'run to fail'

Ok, there's a catch - the criticial parts are mostly backed up in various ways. As this is the design principle they require from the plane suppliers, they've found out that the most cost effective AND reliable way is really to run these components until they fail. Makes sense, even if sounds a bit scary for a layman.

The other point - many years back I met a nice Australian fellow. Drank like a sailor, always ready to have good time. Never slept. Always forgot things somewhere, forgot to where we the gang was supposed to meet etc. When I asked what he did for living, he answered that he was a maintenance engineer for Boeing...

No apology needed. This is MV. The only place derailment is unwelcome is in the train thread.

And what was the thread in this case? I'm lost...

Thanks for this piece of information. I guess I should be okay because I am in the habit of removing the battery bringing it inside I'm charging it at room temperature in the winter.

I'm surprised those who have fitted Lithium batteries haven't even investigated their specifications!

As an FYI, when it comes to aircraft maintenance, the most hazardous time to fly is immediately after they are serviced. Due to 'infant mortality' in new parts as well as mechanic screw-ups. Probably true of most mechanical devices. So I try to schedule any maintenance at least a month before I'm going on the road, to give any 'fixes' a chance to fail.

FWIW, one of the two 'new' batteries I bought this spring failed almost immediately. So I learned to have the sales person put the 'new' battery on the load tester to verify capacity before leaving the store. Even better if they'll sell you the battery 'dry' and allow you to add the acid and charge it yourself, but most battery stores won't.

After nearly getting stranded by a seriously-weak battery, I became a big believer in keeping close tabs on battery condition, and happily found a crazy- easy means of doing so: Antigravity Batteries' Battery Tracker, which connects to the battery terminals and communicates via phone app, giving real-time info on general battery health, and even allowing testing under load/cranking and charge rate.

That's an intriguing device. I assume, since you bring it up, that there is room in the battery compartment of a modern Vespa for it.

It also brings up the question of whether batteries show a measurable decline that reaches a clear indication point -that would be indicated by this device -that they should be replaced, or if they work fine until they fail.

At any rate, replacing the battery this summer is on my list of things to do for the Vespa. I just have to decide if I should order one from Scooterwest, or if I suspect my big box motorcycle store would actually sell me a replacement battery that would fit and do the job. Murphy's Law always seems to come into play when I walk into the Motorsports store. Are most motorcycle batteries the same dimensions? Or would it be better to get a battery for a Vespa from a store that knows what a Vespa is?

Many times Auto Zone, NAPA or even Batteries+ will carry motorcycle batteries. My Stella battery was purchased at Batteries+.

Just did this. Motorsport batteries definitely come in a multitude of flavors.

My dealership had three batteries in stock but they were all bad. (They were kind enough to actually test them before I walked out the door. That seems to be rare these days!) I don't know if it was autozone or advanced auto - I can't keep those two separate in my brain, but their equivalent of the yuasa ytx12-bs didn't work. The duralast battery has all the right specs, dimensions, and terminal placement. But, our terminals are square, and theirs are rectangular so our terminal cables won't fit.

Ended up going to BatteriesPlusBulbs and their equivalent is actually equivalent. For my GTS 300 from 2012 this was the perfect match https://www.batteriesplus.com/productdetails/cyla12bsxta

I'm not completely sure, but I think your GTV would use the same battery.

Thanks KimPossible; I'll give that one a shot - and I hope your Cannonball ride goes well.

There is, but only just: The device comes with a hook-and-loop (neé Velcro) kit to attach it to the side of the battery, but the opening for the battery compartment (at least on my GTS) is a bit too narrow for that combo to fit; I dropped the device into through the opening first, keeping the terminal wires hanging outside, then dropped the battery in, after which I attached all he usual wires, plus the new doohickey. A tad annoying, but totally worth it, to me at least.

I also bought the Battery Tracker, and I really like it. Under $30. I really questioned whether it would fit on my LX150 but it just barely did.

I'm now thinking about getting a second for my sporadically used convertible (car).