EX250J / EX250K replacement battery info

[CZroe]

When I parked my 2008 Ninja 250 about a decade ago, I had just purchased a new battery. For the first year or so I would occasionally start the bike or connect a battery tender, but it’s been neglected for about 8 years now so it will definitely need to be replaced… even at 0 miles.

I noticed that a local salvage store recently got a ton of new, unactivated batteries (electrolyte is still separate) including power sports batteries. I saw a couple that might be correct but I haven’t been back since looking up the actual details. Might as well share them here for anyone else doing a search.

The 2008 year model included 6AH Yuasa YTX7A-BS with a foam pad underneath to slightly elevate it but it can easily fit the slightly-taller 8AH Yuasa YTX9-BS or Furukawa Battery FTX9-BS from the later year models (also used in Ninja 300/400)… just ditch the foam pad. It’s obviously a bit heavier with the taller battery which might be why the ZX-25R switched back to Yuasa YTX7A-BS with a foam riser (I checked ).

[Ghostt]

Personally I'd get a new gel battery, in the proper size/part number and skip the salvage store. Yes it might be a little bit cheaper, but in the long run get the right battery, but a gel one and you'll have no battery worries after that.

I get all mine from Amazon, they are not that much more than a regular battery, and zero maintenance, just hook up a tender and you're good to go.

Spend the money right the first time, otherwise you're gonna spend more twice.

[DannoXYZ]

Along those lines, skip gel and go straight to lithium-iron battery! Make sure you get one with over-discharge and over-charge protection. Battery Tender line of batteries are darn good!

Don't need to keep on tender if you ride once a year. Be sure to get "dumb" charger, those "rescue" and de-sulphate cycles with high-voltage and AC will harm lithium battery. Heck just touch up charge with auto-charger every once in while, they can take charge-rates 10x higher than lead-acid batteries!

[InvisiBill]

Originally Posted by DannoXYZ

Along those lines, skip gel and go straight to lithium-iron battery! Make sure you get one with over-discharge and over-charge protection. Battery Tender line of batteries are darn good!

Don't need to keep on tender if you ride once a year. Be sure to get "dumb" charger, those "rescue" and de-sulphate cycles with high-voltage and AC will harm lithium battery. Heck just touch up charge with auto-charger every once in while, they can take charge-rates 10x higher than lead-acid batteries!

Interesting. For the 400, they recommend the BTL09A150CW as the standard option (BTL12A270CW as an upgrade). It's only 2.5Ah vs. 8Ah on the standard YTX9-BS, but it's 150CCA instead of 135CCA. It's also 1.76lb instead of 6.6lb (the BTL14A300CW for the 500 is <3lb vs. >10lb). My biggest concern is actually all the smarts they put into it - more stuff to go wrong with it. They do have a 3-year, 100%/50%/35% warranty too.

I don't need a new battery, but now I want one of those... Anyone wanna buy a used stock 400 battery cheap?

[DannoXYZ]

Actual capacity is not same for lead-acid vs. lithium. You can't run lead-acid down below 50% or else you'll shorten its life-span tremendously. So actual usable capacity is only 1/2 of rating. Lithium can be run all way down.

Until protection-circuit disconnects it. Here's annoying part is you can't re-connect battery by just pushing button. You have to connect charger to it when hitting reset button to reconnect it. That's to make sure that battery will actually be charged rather than someone just sitting there hitting button constantly and continuing to discharge battery with lights, clocks, etc.

Starter only sucks 40-60a anyway, so either type of battery is more than enough. I made my own lithium battery using 4x18650 LiFePO4 cells. for 0.5lbs. Kinda like this:

Link to original page on YouTube.

Note that LiFePO4 Lithium-iron is completely different chemistry than Lithium-ion (really lithium-cobalt) that laptops uses. Those are the ones that gets unstable when overly charged or discharged and overheat and cause fires. Lithium-iron is extremely stable and inert chemistry. You can put one on a fire and when casing is melted away, innards of battery will spill and put out fire!

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by Ghostt

Personally I'd get a new gel battery, in the proper size/part number and skip the salvage store. Yes it might be a little bit cheaper, but in the long run get the right battery, but a gel one and you'll have no battery worries after that.

I get all mine from Amazon, they are not that much more than a regular battery, and zero maintenance, just hook up a tender and you're good to go.

Spend the money right the first time, otherwise you're gonna spend more twice.

Well, I’m interested because these ARE new batteries. All the ones I can find with dates on them are from this year except one from December of last year. Of course, those are the inventory maintenance dates from Wal-Mart but they are clearly recent. The ones in the box that haven’t even had the electrolyte added should be good as new (most have shrink wrap).

It’s hard to beat $35 for a new AGM battery at any auto parts store or power sports dealer. I’m in the store right now, wondering if I should pick up some extras. Maybe keep one on the tender and just swap them out once a month or so. They have several new in box unactivated EverStart ES9BS batteries that should be a perfect replacement for any EX250J/K/L/M EX300 or EX400. Now I’m looking up the EX250F battery to see if they have some compatibles for that too.

Edit: Looks like that EverStart ES-TX7L with the 12/21 date sticker is compatible. Sealed AGM maint free but not as cheap.

[DannoXYZ]

Those are good deals!

EX250F uses YTX7L-BS battery.

Length 4.45
Width 2.76
Height 5.12

This one's going for $18 on Amazon

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by DannoXYZ

Those are good deals!

EX250F uses YTX7L-BS battery.

Length 4.45
Width 2.76
Height 5.12

This one's going for $18 on Amazon

Thanks. Yeah, that’s less than half the price they want for the only EX250F-compatible battery they have (EverStart ES-TX7). That might be one for Amazon Prime.

The “L” seems to indicate reverse polarity of the YTX7A-BS.

They had a couple Kawasaki tune up kits with Kawasaki-brand oil, oil filter, air filter element, spark plugs, etc… but none for Ninjettes. Clearly, they bought up another power sport dealer’s inventory (wouldn’t be the first time). I did pick up a couple $4 FRAM filters that fit EX300/400 and EX250L/M. I may not have any of those bikes but I plan to get a ZX-4R and I want to be ready for the break-in oil change.

[InvisiBill]

Originally Posted by https://www.batteriesplus.com/blog/power/lithium-batteries-cold

Lithium iron phosphate batteries do face one major disadvantage in cold weather; they can't be charged at freezing temperatures. You should never attempt to charge a LiFePO4 battery if the temperature is below 32°F. Doing so can cause lithium plating, a process that lowers your battery's capacity and can cause short circuits, damaging it irreparably.

In order to charge a LiFePO4 battery in below-freezing conditions, you need to raise its temperature first. The easiest way to do this is to simply move the battery to a warmer environment. You can also try wrapping the battery in a thermal blanket, or placing it near a small space heater.

This is something to keep in mind for the people that ride year-round. The way our electrical systems are set up, it's essentially charging any time the engine is running.

A good LiFePO4 with a smart battery management system would probably account for that and prevent charging the actual cells, but even if it blocks charging to prevent damage, you'd still end up not charging your battery (which could be an unwelcome surprise a bit later).


Just saw in the BT manual that their BMS does indeed monitor the temperature, so you won't damage the battery in cold temps.

Originally Posted by https://www.batterytender.com/core/media/media.nl?id=773035&c=3854271&h=YYeJxnxdIvAx12LFYv13GF2gNmATsklRF0WiVrnNrpLsIDgZ

The battery BMS will turn the battery off when temperatures approach freezing to protect the battery from damage. To activate the battery simply press the RESET button located at the end of the Quick Disconnect (QDC) charging harness for ONE second, then if the engine fails to start on the first try, a load such as the headlights can be used to warm the battery. The length of time it takes to warm the battery depends on its temperature. The colder the weather, the longer it will take to warm the battery sufficiently. Five minutes is a good rule of thumb when the temperature is below freezing. Keeping the battery fully charged will improve cold weather starting.

It sounds like it completely cuts the battery off when it gets too cold. Might have to reset the bike's clock if it gets too cold sitting over the winter...

[InvisiBill]

If anyone needs a battery, Amazon currently has the BTL12A270CW for $125 minus a $45 coupon. That's the "upgraded" YTX9-BS replacement, and should work in place of the YTX7-BS in many cases too (based on Battery Tender's Application Guide and CZroe's info in the first post). It's $140 on BT's site. The bigger models ($165-$200) have 45% off coupons instead, if you need something for a different bike.

I assume these are Black Friday sales, so you probably want to get it sooner rather than later if you're interested.

[Triple Jim]

For a more conventional sealed lead-acid battery, here's the one I bought 5 years ago, and it's still working fine. They're currently $25 from Amazon, and I'm sure there are other suppliers.

https://www.amazon.com/SigmasTek-STX.../dp/B00KAV82OU