Superior Battery

[Gregg]

Bought a battery (12N9-3A) from Rusty riders (AKA MrsSuperDeals on E-bay). Battery is identified as "Superior". Filled battery with acid, trickle charged per directions and can only get 9.2 volts. What a waste of $18..Beware.

[piecutter]

Yes, all batteries are NOT created equal! As with anything, the old standard "ya get what ya pay for" applies. Although most battery companies tend to supply a reasonably good battery for the money, you do run into the occasional quality control issue, which tends to increase with the lower priced units. I'm not saying Yuasa never makes mistake, but after 13 years of selling batteries, you tend to notice trends. It might suprise you to know that many of the "off brand" batteries are actually produced by Yuasa Exide, which is the OEM supplier to virtually all the motorcycle manufacturers. By keeping the higher quality contolled production lines under the "home" banner they make quite a name in reliability for themselves. This might seem like a monopoly, but there are other players in the game, many making very high quality batteries. They just don't have the name recognition and OEM supplier contracts to stand on. And sadly, most don't make batteries for 1960's motorcycles.
In this day and age where some of the modern bikes require batteries that may run as high as $125 or more, you can rest assured that your decision to purchase an OEM Yuasa 12N9-3A (which, thankfully, Yuasa still produces!) is a sound investment. It's still relatively cheap as batteries go, at around $37, but check with your local "Battery Warehouse" or other supplier,(most motorcycle shops haven't got the vaguest notion of where to get one, or the desire to, for such a low demand item) as you may find better pricing. But make sure it says "Yuasa" even at the clerks insistance that "blank" is made by Yuasa, or you'll be back where we started.
I know, I probably sound like a paid Yuasa rep, but I'm not. I could be, though, maybe if YUASA happens to be reading this! (hint, hint!$!$) I sell several brands at my shop, and I do have choices.(No, I don't sell over the internet!) But my CB77 gets a YUASA, cuz that's what Pop's Honda says it takes. (thank you for everything Soichiro-RIP) And Thats good enough for me.