i have a 2006 Arctic Cat 500 4x4. I cant keep the battery charged at all. it is the stock battery and is alot smaller than the compartment on the bike. Does anyone know if there is a better battery than OEM?

 

The battery on my wifes 07 AC H1 is a lot smaller than the compartment also. If I were you I would replace it with an AGM type battery. I don't know why AC still uses wet cell batteries any more. BTW I have never had much luck with Wal-Mart motorcycle batteries.

 

i just bought an everstart agm battery i cant reply much on it other than so far in the 2 weeks that ive had it its held up with all the plowing. odyssey batteries are highly recomended. but you can do is measure the battery compartment area and buy the biggest battery that will fit.

 

this is great info. Thanks! i will get a new battery this weekend. (and not from Wal-Mart)

 

I also have a 07 650 H-1. Hey man, My batt. is very small for the compartment but when necessary I will get a larger one. Been doing some research on them
and living in N.E. Arkansas, about 450ft. above sealevel many people told me that a better muffler/air filter along with a couple of jets and it should increase H-P by about 4.5 mostly on the low to mid range which is where it helps in mud and climbing hills. I don't race, Its just a TOY.. Everyone says most bikes are setup to pass Calif. emisions, and test are done in Mo. they told me about 2000ft. above sealevel. If anyone knows more, let me know...

 

ive only got a 400 which i always found to be a pretty strong atv. but then i was offered a great price on a speedwerx pipe for it so i jumped on the deal and i installed it and had to rejet and my atv went from not wheelieing at all to pulling a wheelie with little to no effort on my part. the pipe was a huge difference. a new air filter will also help. with both of those mods you will have to rejet do to allowing more air into the engine. and due to allowing the atv to breathe alot easier. they will make a great difference in your machine. but a pipe will come with added sound levels. i think it sounds good others hate it. to each his own you can also do the carb slide and spring mod that is free and will make a nice difference to your atv.

 

I have the right bit to drill the slide and new jets but what about the spring? And found a HMF utility pipe for 239.00 that is suppose to work good. whats the speedwerks pipe run?

 

I went to my local interstate battery warhouse and cross referenced the battery for my 2003 400 and ive had it for a litle over a year and its way better than the stock battery

 

I have an 07 H1 had nothing but trouble with the stock battery. I bought an Oddessy PC680 to replace it and it works great. They're kinda expensive ($125) but it was well it worth knowing my bike was going to start evertime not leaving me stranded. They're a perfect fit for the compartment the battery sits in.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: dislbc

i have a 2006 Arctic Cat 500 4x4. I cant keep the battery charged at all. it is the stock battery and is alot smaller than the compartment on the bike. Does anyone know if there is a better battery than OEM?</end quote></div>

Batteries only last two or three years. Your electrics run on a magneto so that means that any RPM's under 2000 the battery is not charging - the magneto may not even be supplying enough to run the engine and the required electricity may also be pulling off of the battery, thus discharging it. If you run slow a lot with the lights on you are DIS-charging the battery. You can help by using low range more often while riding slow (even though you may not need the low gearing) so that the RPM's get over 2000 and start to charge the battery.

I put my battery on a charger after every ride and slow charge it at least overnight.

By the way, once the stock battery expired it's life span I have installed an inexpensive Wal-Mart battery - having great luck with it - but I keep it charged all the time too. I shut my lights off when running really slow and I use low range often to make sure the RPM's are over 2000 most of the time. You can buy an expensive battery or you can save some money and keep your battery charged and use lower gearing to help maintain the charge....