Modern Vespa

I haven't been riding my GTS much over the last 3 years. And, I think my battery's suffered for it. It's been on a tender but...
Anyway I'm seeing battery technology has changed since my last battery purchase, 5 years ago.
So, what's a decent battery at a decent price? Or, should I just go with the typical Yusa?

The last one I bought was this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XF98TZ9

Excellent value for money at $34 for a 180 CCA AGM.

My yuasa is going to be 10 soon. Still good. It's the only brand I will sell to customers. Anything else, they can order it themselves, I'll install it, and then when it's dead two years later they'll know it wasn't my fault.

Yuasa is good. Odyssey is good. I'm using an X2Power lithium iron and so far it's been great. AGM and lithium iron offer advantages, but at a cost.

I just replaced the battery in my 2006 GTS 250 with another YUSA. It's a YB10L-B.

I get about 3 years out of one of them. Probably because I never check the fluid level in the battery.

When I picked up the new battery from the battery store the owner asked me about the low levels and I confessed my inattention and laziness. He said to me, "You keep in on a Battery Tender all the time don't you."

"Yes I do," I said with knowing pride. "But only in the winter."

He went on to ask if I had a Battery Tender trickle charger or a Battery Tender battery maintainer.

I have the trickle charger version which I thought charged and turned off. Turns out it doesn't unless I'm using the maintainer.

So the battery gets fully charged and the Tender keeps pouring out voltage, the fluid gets hot, and starts to evaporate more quickly. And over time you end up like me and the battery in the image below.

So he said to put it on the charger once a week for a few hours. More work I think. And I'm not sure if he's right. He rides and says he gets more life out of his batteries that way.

I'm thinking why he would care. He owns a damn battery store.

Any wisdom from the informed masses here?

Don't use an old-school flooded battery like that! Get an AGM, as above. Zero maintenance required unless you leave it unattended for six months or more, in which case a few hours on a maintainer will sort it.

Steve that was a funny post. I hesitate to unconditionally recommend a LiFePo4 battery because they're expensive and I've only used one for a couple years, but there are some compelling advantages. They should last a long time, they're maintenance free, really lightweight, and the discharge rate is nil. My bike with this battery isn't kept on a tender and I can park it for months and it fires right up. So maybe think about it for next time.

LiFePO4 is definitely the way to go. My aux battery in the van is a 320Ah LFP - homebuilt and it's brilliant. 13.2V all the way from 100% to 20% charge, and it's still 12V when it shuts itself off with eff-all left in the tank.

No lead-acid can compete.

The charging regime in our scooters isn't ideal for this chemistry, but it's good enough, as to keep them long-lasting these batteries love to live in the 20% to 80% charge range, rather than the 80% to 100% needed for lead-acid.

The only disadvantage is that they will refuse to deliver any charge under 0C - 32F as that would damage them. However this can easily be worked around by using a small heating pad. They have such high capacity for their size that heating themselves up is no problem at all.

In a road vehicle for most cars or trucks I buy Walmart and the biggest, most CCA's they sell and let them install it. The price point is unbeatable as a rule. There's only a handful of battery companies in the entire USA and those ones come from one of them, plus the warranty is easily serviceable at them all.
For two wheels, Jims spot-on with the AGM choice. You don't want to check acid that can spill as well.
I like www.Chromebattery.com who also sells on Amazon but has deals and more choices on their web site from Indiana.
I tried several of the popular yellow Motobat brand (China) but had poor service from them. Odyssey is VG but also very pricey.

I've considered it but shied away because of how much I ride in sub-freezing weather. As I understand things they don't perform great in cold weather. Is that true?

For now, I'll check the battery once a month for fluid. Charge it infrequently. And be happy to get three years of service from my $61 battery.

So far I've not chosen a battery like that because of how much I ride in sub-freezing weather. I've heard they don't do well in that environment. Have you had any experience with that situation?

For now I'll probably just burn up another battery!

AGM is no worse than flooded in cold weather - just ensure it's fully charged when the temps are low.

It's the LiFePO4 batteries that can't be used when they're below freezing - but as above, a heating mat avoids that.

I went lithium iron since I moved from the Centre region. Happy Valley really is a microclimate. My temps in Camp Hill this week range from the 40s to near 60 and we've had no snow and lots of sun. Thus, I've had no issues.
I do think the Yuasa, though low tech, is a great value. I did have an Odyssey in my Buell for a decade (in State College) and that bike is notoriously hard on batteries.