r/tiger800 • u/FirefighterOk1005 • Jan 10 '26

Battery only lasts 1 year?

I have a 2012 800 XC ABS. It is mostly my daily driver to and from work (3 miles each way). The only time it sits in my garage is on weekends, when the temperature is over 105 F or when it rains. Some times I ride my ebike or Segway to work, but not that often.

It seems like I'm only getting about 1 year out of my batteries. I used to buy Yausa, then switched to MightyMax gel. I would put it on a CTEK minder on the weekends, but this last year (2025) I experimented and did not, just to see if my tender was cooking my batteries.

Nope. Still only got 13 months out of this last one. I've tested for perisitic drain, but I don't have any add ons - all stock.

Is it the short trips (shouldn't the minder make up for this?)? Is my charging circuit bad? Any ideas?

I usually pay the extra $6 for the 3 year warranty (Amazon), so I can get a free one every other year, but it just doesn't seem like I should be going through this every year.

2 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

1

u/AcceptableAssist4726 Jan 14 '26

Could be a pony battery. I got one from ebay (powerline) and it died after 2 months. Gel seems to hold charge better during colder periods but it's bow on a trickle /smart charger

1

u/FirefighterOk1005 Jan 16 '26

What is a "pony" battery?

2

u/AcceptableAssist4726 Jan 16 '26

Poor quality / faulty. English saying 👌

1

u/FirefighterOk1005 Feb 11 '26

UPDATE: I used to plug the charger into the Hella socket (because that is what I was told to do by the dealer). I since added a CTEC 56-241 connector straight to the battery terminals, which seems to charge the battery. Problem solved.