Hi Southpaw (I'm a southpaw too BTW ) ... bought my Bike new in Aug. '03 and I'm still on the original battery ... pull it for the winter every year, top up the cells with distilled water and charge it up once a month during the off-season ... still works fine (so far).

3 years in the heat of the desert, your results may vary.

Southpaw, its a good time to change your battery! Last year I was gonna ride across the states and back and decided to have my battery checked cause the fluid was low. Took it to a battery shop and they tested it under load and told me it was fine. 2nd morning on my ride from oregon, the darn bike wouldnt start and for the next 4 days till I ended up in Souix City Iowa, I had to push start or jump it every morning. Set there for 3 days while the suzuki dealer ordered me one. I could not find one in any Walmart, Bimart or even the rare suzuki  dealer that i ran into had one. Just casue this battery is retty much made for this bike only. (this is what I was told) because of the drain tube  being on the right side. It might start in warm weather but if the battery is weak,at all in cold weather, good luck on starting it. If i remeber right Greg D lengthened his battery cable by reorganizing the cable route so most batteries of its size will work.