Man...you paid 200 for that green turd. My tokio was 90.

That starting issue is a weird one. Notice if the crank speed is lower than previously? On my ytx9, it cranks slow, then fails to crank at all. Like not pushing enough amps.

I paid ~700 for a Lithium (label says Lifepo4), so far 2nd year but it's a low usage bike. once it was left there for 6 months, and still able to start the bike

Now I'm just gonna get RC LiPo 4S and connect them to my bike and use as is

Yea, after I witnessed how easy it was to replace the battery, I instantly regretted it, and I actually replaced the battery in my EX5 before which was even more difficult to access.

By the way, how difficult is it to DIY a voltmeter / USB charger? I looked around on YouTube and it seemed as if everyone had a different way of doing it, some said there's cable where you can directly access at the handle, others have to source the power from the battery.

Just got myself a 1/2 and 1/4 ratchet set, gonna start working on my bike more.

Not difficult at all. The easiest way (but not the best) is just to wire up direct to battery.

The proper way, is to use a relay, to a switched power, so the charger is only on when the bike is running. I personally use a relay/aux fusebox on my bikes, either custom, or bought from shopee. A few of us here are running this compact little unit. Good enough for accessories and smaller fog lights. Under 50rm usually with discounts.



For switched power source, usually i will tap a less important circuit like the tail light. Some bikes may have a switched fuse, or an accessories power port somewhere in the fairing. Depends on the bike.


I prefer a switched source, in case some itchy finger turns on your USB charger and you end up with a flat battery. I also prefer the aux fusebox route, for the fact, all my accesories are running on an independent circuit and easy to trouble shoot. I do my own wiring loom for my accesories and all terminated with waterproof automotive connecters so everything is plug and play if i needed to replace anything.

FWIW, dont charge a big phone or anything big, without the bike running. a big device like my 13200mah phone can drain a moto battery real quick.

This post has been edited by jaycee1: Jun 21 2025, 11:25 AM

Your 13200mah phone looks like a good candidate to reverse charge bike battery too using a 2 way USB charger

btw, what phone is that?

its one of those big battery china ruggud phone. Mine is the ulefone Power armour 13. And yes, it does reverse charging, both wired and wireless. unbreakable. coming up to 4 years now.

guess like engine oil... there are many fake batt our there ? am a noob when comes to battery... saw some yuasa made in japan , any super diff compare to normal yuasa. wish all these batt will have official site in shopee/lazada, so ppl dont get con buying fake, if any.

Not say fake la.. just a abysmal products sold as premium product. XD

Update: My bike couldn't start again after I rode a short distance. When I push the starter, I can only hear the fuel pump and relay clicks but no cranking, similar to the symptoms when my stock battery died. I have narrowed it down to the battery because I could push start my bike running down a slope. I would advise everyone to avoid the green Tokiohama batteries widely available on Shopee, it's a big piece of crap. When I was doing my research for batteries to buy, quite a few riders on FB mentioned they swapped to this and the battery died within 5 ~ 6 months. In fact, my bike would intermittently not start if I didn't have rides longer than 15 minutes each time.

Did some research and narrowed it down to a few choices I found on Shopee:

Thai-X (RM150) - A lot of recommendations in FB groups.

Nippon G.R.P. (RM150) - MForce batteries that came with the RT3 scooters. Reviews seem a mix bag though.

Dynavolt (RM188) - Somewhat reputable Chinese battery.

Most likely getting the Thai-X.

you gotta figure out the output voltage that the battery is getting before deciding which battery type to get
if 14.4V then cannot use Gel battery

AGM < 15V
Normal < 14.7V or 13.8V (when full)
Gel < 14.4V or 13.8V (when full) - very sensitive to overcharging

JustForFun
this is from manual, 14.5~14.9V. you should try to measure it. if this is the case, the bike cannot use Gel battery, the charging system will over-volt it and kill it within weeks

Its not brand problem is but online shop problem Why dont buy at shop. You expect online stuff have same quality as those in shop

I got the E-YT12A-BS, which does not mention anything about whether it's gel or AGM, all it says is it's maintenance free (MF) type.

Checking with the seller though, thanks for the advice.

If it doesnt say its either GEL or AGM, most likely it isn't. Those AGMs can cost twice as much or more than a normal battery...even so called "MF" ones, especially for a big bike battery like your YTX12.

Update:

So I swapped the battery and my bike still couldn't start. Apparently someone faced a similar issue in the Ninja 400 forum but no one came up with the solution, and a video of the exactly same scenario was posted:



ChatGPT is saying it's either a weak new battery or a starter on it's way out (which won't start unless the battery is perfectly charged). The latter seems a possibility given my circumstances. I will try to start my bike again and if it still fails, I will push start my bike and bring it to a mechanic.

Edit: Seems like there's a common issue about push starter for Ninja/Z400, where the contact gets rusty and requires cleaning. I might also look into that.

This post has been edited by JustForFun: Sep 30 2025, 07:37 PM

Maybe try to knock your starter relay? Replace if needed.

This post has been edited by RoofTopPrince: Oct 1 2025, 09:05 AM

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This post has been edited by alexei: Oct 2 2025, 09:00 AM

Starts with the fuel pump priming sound as usual, and buzzes when you press the starter without cranking. I thought about doing the relay bypass to see if it really is the relay, but it is not easily reachable. Maybe this coming weekend if I can find the space to work on my bike (sucks to be living in a condo) ... if not I will just send it to the mechanic.

I have so far:
- Cleaned the starter: no use
- Rode the bike 20 minutes on highway to charge up the battery: no use as well

Strangely I managed to start the bike after 5 to 6 attempts this afternoon, and in the evening when I tried again it started without issue.

I will try it again on the weekend, if it still starts on first try, I will try to ride it around to fully charge up the battery and see how it goes. The only fear is actually riding all the way to the mechanic, only for the bike to behave perfectly again.

sounds like an intermittent starter relay issue

does the bike have voltmeter? for me, that would be the first thing I install on my bike with electric starter
- I've had stator recoiled on two of my bikes, so it's something I am religious about

I don't have it installed, as it requires removing the fairing, which I am not so comfortable with yet. I have however purchased a multimeter off Shopee which should be arriving tomorrow, then I can test the battery voltage.