Do any of the BEC companies make battery trays for a YTX9-BS size motorcycle battery? Have seen some nice TIG-welded affairs around.

I know I should be making my own, but I don't have the time/skills to make anything respectable ATM.....

It doesnt need to be anything special to look half reasonable and hold it sufficiently, it doesnt even need to be a "tray" as such.
I got some U section ally about 10mm wide, cut it so its about 2cm wider than the battery, then drilled two 4mm holes one at either end. I drilled two holes the same distance apart on the floor, and then sit the ally U section over the top of the battery, then used 4mm threaded bar with nylocs on either end to feed through the holes and clamp the battery down as you tighten it up.

We used the original off of the bike. Bolted the tray into the engine space in front of the engine on a piece of 3mm ally. As the battery on a bike is enclosed we simply made some straps up and bolted the whole lot to the plate... if you get my drift. Click on the picture to get a bigger view. I finally managed it



[Edited on 28-3-05 by Hellfire]

Just a word of warning (I actually know what I'm on about here), don't waste money on a tray that is metallic, it can only corrode through in time. What you need is a tray made of a polymer such as welded/vac-formed polypropylene, or fibreglass. To retain the battery use a strap from synthetic webbing (I have a load of 25mm wide stuff FOC to anybody who wants it). Either make the tray to fit the battery, or ensure there are some lateral locators to stop it sliding ( a battery is fairly heavy, if it is located securely it cannot build up any inertia in crash). If you can box the battery in even better. In the event of a crash you want to retain the battery (and acid) in one place. I have some footage of a battery in a crash test in a Volvo if anybody is interested.

Kissy - r u incinuating Chris doesn't know what he is talking about?




<Run's for cover!>

Good grief no! All I am doing is augmenting his worthy comments with my own experiences (I should have been a politician with c*** like that)
However, I have worked with Major OEMs on battery tray design and their crashworthiness. You would be surprised how much effort goes into the design (some OEMs more than others). Another thing I omitted is the dislike by batteries of extreme of temperature. Batteries boil at circa 85degC, and their performance drops off drastically at temperatire extremes, so any form of shrouding/temp stability is welcome. Ford stipulate a max temp of 75degC, and retention in crash, there's a EuroNorm that covers the latter.

LOL
To be honest the description I gave does make it sound a bit puny, but in reality it was all quite solidly mounted once clamped down, I wouldnt use it to mount a big car battery but it was fine for a little 2kg bike battery.
Ive only ever used sealed batteries so I guess the metal issue isnt really such an issue either.

Chris

[Edited on 30/3/05 by ChrisGamlin]

Tell you what - make me one of each and I'll do some testing

What including the crashing??!!