Triumphrat

Dickie Doyle

My customers at the modern bike dealership really went crazy for these for a while. In my experience when they fail, they REALLY fail. It's not like a lead acid battery where they slow down with age and hold less and less of a charge, they just stop working all together leaving you stranded. I've also recently seen 2 that have melted themselves into a giant toxic mess when regulators have failed and bikes were overcharging, not the batteries fault, but the failures were much more drastic than anything else. I don't recommend them to my beloved customers and don't run them myself. JMHO

mach1970

Well, one of us posted about the fears of Lithium Ion batteries being a thing of the past. That isn't entirely true. I work for a company as an electrical engineer, and we recently (earlier this year) released a product that used LiO batteries and had to recall them all due to heating and melting issues that we never experienced with more traditional batteries. I don't know what was causing it, but the company that made them for us is looking into it.

And when they fail, they fail very badly!

Just my 2 cents.

Rob

Old Cafe Racer

Well.. I replaced two of my lead acids with LiPo4's because the lead ones just simply died.. no start, cells failed... so no big change there.
And be aware that there is a big difference between LiPo batteries and the newer LiPo4 type, mainly to do with the heat/melting thing just like what happened with laptop batteries so you can't just lump all lithium batteries into the one same pile.
I belong to other bike forums and have only heard the rare one or two bad reports of the new Lipo4 ones in service so I'm still a believer and mine are still working just fine and if that changes.. you'll all be the first to know

Snakeoil

I'm pretty anal about taking care of my batteries. With a boat (dual batteries) a 12v powered boat lift, two garden tractors, a sports car and too many motorcycles, my basement looks like a battery dealership in the winter. I put a Battery Tender on each battery separately until fully charged and then remove it. I cycle around the batteries and basically they are left alone for about 30 or so days and then the charging process begins again. I got this process from a battery expert (worked for our Global Research and Develpment Center and then was the battery consultant in our Fuel Cell business) who has forgotten more about batteries than most of us will ever know. So far, the process has worked extremely well. Only batteries that seem to not hold up are my boat lift and boat. That was because they sat partially discharged for long periods during the summer and that is the worst thing you can do to a lead acid battery. I have since installed a solar charger on the lift and those batteries are now doing well.

Even my cheapo Walmart tractor batteries hold up well. Both of my tractors are 1997 machines and both are only on their first replacement battery.

So, after reading about the LiPO's, given that and SLA is basically a leakproof battery and costs about 1/5 the cost of a LiPO, I guess I'll go with an SLA and see how the LiPOs progress.

I do have a street tracker project that has been collecting dust in my basement for too many years that will probably get revitalized now that I'm retiring. I initially bought a small 12 nicad since it will be a kick only engine. I'm sure that battery is dead by now so I may go with a LiPO and keep the electric start if I can fit it into the design.

regards,
Rob

Emanthehorse

I'm using a (Made in the USA) Antigravity Lithium in my 82 T140ES. With the lead acid, I found the charging system couldn't keep up enough to use the electric starter unless i ran with the lights off all the time. I'll admit, I only ride this bike maybe once a week for a few miles to work and back.
The Lithium spins that engine right over.. again and again. I can run with the lights on if I want! It's way lighter and I don't have to worry about acid drips. Plus it can sit in the bike all winter and still be good to go in the spring.

Cold starting is a little different, if it's chilly out, the first hit of the button will sound slow. There's stuff on youtube about this, but basically the battery needs to be 'woke up' when it's cold, one or two stabs and it's back to normal.

The bike is super easy to kickstart, but I found myself using the button a LOT this summer... just because I could.

DerryUK

<if it's chilly out>
What do you guys call chilly?

__________________
DerryUK

'69 T100S being rebuilt - very s-l-o-w-l-y
VFR800 VTEC

Snakeoil

Well let's see, Eman is in the Motor City and I'm in upstate NY. Probaby about the same for both of us. If your snot freezes to your moustache, it's chilly out. I worked with a guy that rode an R90S 12 months a year. He never seemed to watch or listen to the weather reports either because more than once I saw him paddling his feet while trying to get thru a parking lot with a foot of snow in it. Crazy mutha. But then again, I shot long range silhouettes for years in the dead of winter and there were days that I would have to look at my fingers to make sure I had a cartridge in them because I could not feel it. That was very chilly.

Eman, if you check out that link I posted, they mentioned the "waking up" you refer to in your post. What they said was if you turn on the lights while you put on your helmet and other gear, it apparently gets current flowing thru the battery and warms it up so it can give full power to crank the engine. Your first push of the starter button and a slow turn over does pretty much the same thing, I would assume.

regards,
Rob

Old Cafe Racer

What I like about them is they fit anywhere and weigh nothing

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BirdoPrey

In February, 2012, I bought a LIFE battery for my '06 Thruxton track bike. I was primarily looking for something that I did not have to keep on a maintenance charge. I bought the one recommended for it and it starts the bike crisply each time. I did not charge it but just installed it and it worked correctly from the beginning being charged only by the system on the bike.

After my last track day in March I removed the battery and placed it in a zip lock bag. I then stored it in the refrigerator per the manufacture's recommendations. This October I removed it from the fridge, placed it in the sun to warm, and, after a couple of hours, reinstalled it in the bike. It started crisply and repeatedly. After my trackday, I left it in the bike where it will remain until next summer when it gets too hot to ride.

I am so pleased with the storage aspects that I just bought another one for my '71 Bonneville that I am restoring. It too will face periods of non-use so this will work out perfect for it.

Of course, only time will tell if the cost of these batteries will be justified by their longevity. If they only last a couple of years that will be a notable down side.

One additional point. For me the main advantage of these batteries is that they do not require a maintenance charge. I have a friend with a Street Triple. He was, in fact, the one who introduced me to this idea. What he has found is that if he lets his bike sit for an extended period the battery will go dead and the bike will not start. It won't even push start because it is a computer bike and once the voltage is drug down below a certain level by the on-board electronics, they will not function due to low voltage.

So, if you have a computer bike that you do no ride regularly you may find that you have to keep it on trickle charge anyway which, for me, kind'a defeats the purpose of the whole thing.

Art.

Emanthehorse

I was led to understand that trickle charging the Lithium batteries is not a good idea, it will damage the cells. Since the battery can sit around for a year and only lose a couple % of its charge, it seems as if a battery going dead sitting in the bike would mean there is a 'draw' on the battery all the time. Something as dumb as an onboard clock that constantly needs power can probably do it.