After deciding to change my 4 1/2 year old Yuasa battery out for a new one I found the hawker odyssey extreme battery's and saw that motor works did a 535 for a GS. After a little research I realized that Odyssey don't
do a specific battery for the GS and that the kit motor works were doing for £110 was a modified 535 with a longer bracket to take the higher battery. As I googled some more I saw that one or two guys around the world
had managed to get a 625 in which is 40% bigger than the 535 and I could get one for £90 delivered and mod it myself.
This is what I ended up doing and I decided to do a bit of a log so others could see that it really isn't a hard mod to do with a few pictures to guide you
If this has been show before then apologies but this is how I did it.
First of all I put the new 625 on charge with my ctek charger as I noticed the birth date of the battery was 10/12 so it had been in storage for a while.
If you read the details on the internet there good for 2 years of storage at 25 degs with more time if its cooler and obviously less if its hotter. These battery's are AGM type (absorbed glass mat) so can be recovered from
extreme discharge many times.
The 625 is much bigger than the yuasa that came out but the yuasa sits on a battery tray extension so once that's out there's loads more room to play with
The first thing I tackled was making the seat clearance as high as possible because with the extra height of the 625 there was no way it was going to fit with the seat height adjusting bar. So 90% of it had to go.....
The way the guy from the states had done this was to drill a pilot hole though the rail as it passes the inside part of the bracket and use wire fed through the pilot hole that was tied to the bracket. Done both sides
and cut the middle section out.... this works but you are now unable to adjust the seat height.
I thought of a better way
I bought extra rubbers that allow you to adjust the seat so instead of 1 either side of the large rail I now have 2 either side off 2 very short rails.
On the new inside rubbers I cut of the top hat piece so that what I have is 2 rubbers fixed to the seat, 1 with a top hat on at the end of the bar..... and 1 with no top hat on the inside of the bracket holding the small piece
of bar in place. I cut the top hat off because on the inside of the bracket there is only room for the bar to pass through where as on the outside it is designed to take bar and top hat. I bought these extra seat adjusting
rubbers from James Sherlock for £1.98 each http://www.james-sherlock.co.uk/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.browse&category_id=856
Now the seats done I moved on to fabricating a new strap to hold my 625 in place. I did this with All Round Band that can be bought from any electrical wholesalers in Britain. All I did was cut a decent piece and bend
10mm off the end back on itself to catch the bottom of the battery tray like the original bracket does.
Then once the battery's in place pull it tight and whatever hole lines up nearest to the battery bracket screw use that one and cut of the rest. doesn't get any simpler and All Round Band is insulated too. win win
I had hoped to drop the battery right in at this point without trimming any side fins...... and it will fit in the hole but this way makes it difficult to route the battery cables and any other cables installed.
So after a few attempts at trying to make it work without giving the 625 a hair cut I decided to get my clippers out
This is what the yuasa looked like fitted
This is what the 625 looks like in place
I opted to trim a little both sides so a had decent space to keep cables well out the way. I did this using my 4" grinder but you could use a hammer and sharp chisel to just ping the fins off. It sounds severe but
this is what any company selling a odyssey GS battery do to make it fit and then charge a premium because of it. The only difference in fitting a 625 other than a 535 is the seat mod which I've just show you how easy
that is (£4 from James Sherlock and a grinder or hacksaw).
Anyway these are my thoughts on changing out the stock battery to a rolling powerhouse not for everybody granted but I'm sure it will be useful to some.
do a specific battery for the GS and that the kit motor works were doing for £110 was a modified 535 with a longer bracket to take the higher battery. As I googled some more I saw that one or two guys around the world
had managed to get a 625 in which is 40% bigger than the 535 and I could get one for £90 delivered and mod it myself.
This is what I ended up doing and I decided to do a bit of a log so others could see that it really isn't a hard mod to do with a few pictures to guide you
If this has been show before then apologies but this is how I did it.
First of all I put the new 625 on charge with my ctek charger as I noticed the birth date of the battery was 10/12 so it had been in storage for a while.
If you read the details on the internet there good for 2 years of storage at 25 degs with more time if its cooler and obviously less if its hotter. These battery's are AGM type (absorbed glass mat) so can be recovered from
extreme discharge many times.
The 625 is much bigger than the yuasa that came out but the yuasa sits on a battery tray extension so once that's out there's loads more room to play with
The first thing I tackled was making the seat clearance as high as possible because with the extra height of the 625 there was no way it was going to fit with the seat height adjusting bar. So 90% of it had to go.....
The way the guy from the states had done this was to drill a pilot hole though the rail as it passes the inside part of the bracket and use wire fed through the pilot hole that was tied to the bracket. Done both sides
and cut the middle section out.... this works but you are now unable to adjust the seat height.
I thought of a better way
I bought extra rubbers that allow you to adjust the seat so instead of 1 either side of the large rail I now have 2 either side off 2 very short rails.
On the new inside rubbers I cut of the top hat piece so that what I have is 2 rubbers fixed to the seat, 1 with a top hat on at the end of the bar..... and 1 with no top hat on the inside of the bracket holding the small piece
of bar in place. I cut the top hat off because on the inside of the bracket there is only room for the bar to pass through where as on the outside it is designed to take bar and top hat. I bought these extra seat adjusting
rubbers from James Sherlock for £1.98 each http://www.james-sherlock.co.uk/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.browse&category_id=856
Now the seats done I moved on to fabricating a new strap to hold my 625 in place. I did this with All Round Band that can be bought from any electrical wholesalers in Britain. All I did was cut a decent piece and bend
10mm off the end back on itself to catch the bottom of the battery tray like the original bracket does.
Then once the battery's in place pull it tight and whatever hole lines up nearest to the battery bracket screw use that one and cut of the rest. doesn't get any simpler and All Round Band is insulated too. win win
I had hoped to drop the battery right in at this point without trimming any side fins...... and it will fit in the hole but this way makes it difficult to route the battery cables and any other cables installed.
So after a few attempts at trying to make it work without giving the 625 a hair cut I decided to get my clippers out
This is what the yuasa looked like fitted
This is what the 625 looks like in place
I opted to trim a little both sides so a had decent space to keep cables well out the way. I did this using my 4" grinder but you could use a hammer and sharp chisel to just ping the fins off. It sounds severe but
this is what any company selling a odyssey GS battery do to make it fit and then charge a premium because of it. The only difference in fitting a 625 other than a 535 is the seat mod which I've just show you how easy
that is (£4 from James Sherlock and a grinder or hacksaw).
Anyway these are my thoughts on changing out the stock battery to a rolling powerhouse not for everybody granted but I'm sure it will be useful to some.
