650cc Sand Spider Battery Replacement

Posts: 33

What is a good battery to replace the original? I think mine is dead.

Thanks

Posts: 33

Joyner dealer in Dallas says they use Interstate MT51.

Posts: 33

MT51 does not fit in my '07 sand spider. Its an inch wider than the stock battery and will not fit in the tray. Still hunting for a solution.

Posts: 423

Get the battery dimensions and contact your local battery supply house. They will know the battery range from the overall size. For example "U1-R32". Here is another example:

http://www.powerstridebattery.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=5 9&idproduct=947

Check your local yellow pages for the supplier nearest you.

Does your current battery have any specs printed on it? ie. cranking amps etc? This information will also be helpful when finding a replacement. However, any large displacement motorcycle battery that fits in your tray should do just fine.

good luck,
mick

Posts: 33

OK, I have some updates now. I talked with a parts guy at Thunder, Inc today and told him that the Dallas dealer told me to use an Interstate MT-51, but it does not fit the tray. He said yes, that would have been his recommendation. I said well, the Dallas guy has not done any battery replacements on '07 or '08 sand spiders and maybe the battery tray changed. He said well that might explain why they have alot of MT-51 sitting around collecting dust. He said Interstate is working on a new battery configuration, but could offer no additional help.

I called Interstate myself and gave them the dimensions. They said it sounds like a U1 series battery and that they have one that fits the dimensions with automotive post terminals. Its a part number MT-MX5. I can't get one for like three weeks. I called the closest Interstate distributer and they said they have them in San Antonio (2 hours drive for me). They also said the MT-MX5 application is Mazda Miata 1992-2007. I called Carquest to see if they could cross reference it. They had U1 series batteries in stock but they are all lawn and garden batteries (like the link that you supplied MA0990). None of theirs have automotive posts. They looked up the Mazda Miata battery and ordered it. It's supposed to be here in the morning. I'll let everyone know how this ends.

Posts: 33

OK, my battery problem is resolved. Carquest ordered a battery but when it came in it had lawn and garden tab-type terminals instead of posts. So, I took off the post type adapter that was on the leads on the buggy. On mine, I've got 3 positive and 2 negative leads that were ganged together using the post adapters, so I had to thread a screw thru these and the battery terminals which was a little awkward, especially on the positive side where I had three leads. I may go back and try to clean this up later.

Bottom line is you need a U1 series battery to fit in the battery tray. The battery I got from Carquest is a 8AMU-1R. This battery is probably way overkill for my buggy since it is a gel cell with 320cca. The same battery is available with automotive posts from carquest and is used in the Mazda Miata. I think the Interstate MT-MX5 would have been the ideal battery, but it is expensive and I could not get one in time. Interstate also has an SP-40 that has the tab-type terminals with 340cca. Its a lot cheaper than the MY-MX5 since it is not gel cell and I think it would have been a good battery also. Note that I tried to get a U1 series Miata battery from Napa and the dimensions were not the same as the Interstate and would have been too large for the battery tray. I hope this info eliminates some headaches for someone else who needs to replace the battery in their Sand Spider.

Posts: 11

thanks for the good insight