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New Batteries?

2K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  Kevhunts 
#1 ·
I'm hoping someone will share their experience with the new LiPo and LiFePo batteries designed specifically for motorcycles. Has anyone used one with their water cooled twin?

These new batteries weigh somewhere between 1/2 and 1/4 of what lead-acid batteries do, and have better cranking amperage. Their voltage discharge curve is much flatter, too, and float chargers are no longer needed.

I recently installed a LiFePo battery on my light aircraft, a 1943 Piper Cub. The new battery weighs 4.4 lbs, and replaces a lead-acid battery that weighed over 18 lbs. Reducing weight improves performance, which is noticeable when you only have 65 HP to start with!

With a LiFePo battery, there's no chance of a thermal runaway.
 
#2 ·
No experience with them in motorcycle applications, but there is no way I'd run an actual LiPo on a bike.

The only thing that keeps me from running a LiFePo is the reserve capacity of the battery. The cranking amps are there, but it will run out of energy much faster than the equivalent lead-acid battery, say if you leave your lights on or the charging system fails.

They also don't have the instantaneous cold cranking amps of a lead-acid battery at low temperatures, but the the act of cranking warms the battery up and soon gives the power needed.
 
#5 ·
Some did have 65 HP Franklin engines, but mine has a Continental, as did all of the ones ordered by the US Army. It's really a pretty advanced little engine for 1938 technology, including the hydraulic lifters that never need adjustment. The magnetos have never lost their timing in the 20 years that I've owned it.

Here's the airplane:
 

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#4 · (Edited)
I'm hoping someone will share their experience with the new LiPo and LiFePo batteries designed specifically for motorcycles. Has anyone used one with their water cooled twin?
I currently have Shorai LiFe batteries installed in 4 of my bikes.

So far I'm very happy with them. The one downside to LiFe I know of is they don't perform as well as lead based batteries when the temps drop way down, say into the 30s or so. They still work as I found out last weekend starting my Husky in mid to high 30's temps in the morning up in the high Sierras. But I think a lead battery will crank harder at those low temps. The rest of the time the LiFe cranks harder and longer.

Much hype surrounds the charging of LiFe batteries. They don't need super fancy chargers, your bike is not a super fancy charger. But they do prefer a higher charge voltage, around 14.1 - 14.4v which some of the older Regulators don't do. Some of older diode shunt types are set to 13.5 - 13.9v or so which still works but the battery never sees it's full charge. I've converted several bikes over from diode shunt to MOSFET R/Rs and they do work much better, both in general and with the LiFe batteries.

For garage charging you can use a std Battery Tender but don't let it float, pull it off after it's reached full charge. I recently purchased Battery Tenders LiFe specific charger which floats at the higher voltage. I still pull it off after it's reached full charge. As said, your bike does NOT have any special charging so that duplicates what the battery sees in the bike.

They will hold a charge longer than lead types, either wet or AGM absorbed mat. I also found they seem to hold a charger longer after swapping to MOSFET R/R units which I believe have a lower parasitic draw than the shunt type.

Without a doubt they are far lighter and usually smaller with greater cranking capacity than lead batteries. They also have a very linear discharge rate so they will continue to crank hard till the very end, then drop off quick. But that happens far later than with lead batteries.

The other thing I really like about LiFe batteries is they are totally dry, no acid at all so they never leak, and they don't build nasty fuzz around the terminals either.

Here's a photo comparing the stock Yuasa and the replacement Shorai for my Moto Guzzi Stelvio. You can note the Yuasa has 270 CCA and the Shorai has 315 CCA but is smaller and almost 8 lbs lighter. This battery has been in the Stelvio for 2 years now.

 
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#7 ·
You won't feel that where it's located. From Ducatis you should know that these work OK in CA but less so vs a well-maintained Yuasa in four seasons locales. ;)

Of course..., if you just MUST spend... :)
 
#9 ·
I put a Ballistics LiFePo battery in my BMW, and it mostly worked fine. The first one I had died after about 9 months, and was replaced under warranty. The second one worked fine until I sold the bike, after about two years with it. It saved lots of high mounted weight.

Other than when the first was failing, I never had a problem with cold starts. I'd occasionally start the bike when it was under 40F in the mornings. It would spin slow and start on the first try, and every so often would take a second try. That was on an oil cooled 1150.

In 5 years or whenever my Street Twin needs a new battery I'll consider a Li based one. I don't feel a need to replace a functioning battery.
 
#11 ·
Put a Scorpion brand LifePo (w/ 380 cca) in my Yamaha which had an anemic cranking system to begin with (210 cca battery) and after a year of service, the bike continued to crank over like I was getting a jump start. I even went the entire off season with out a trickle charge.
I swapped it out when I sold the bike and as a bonus, found it will fit in my 2017 T120 although I haven't made the change yet.
 
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