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Best current Lithium battery deals


XXBirdSlapper

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What say the forum? Looking at replacing the battery in my CBR1000RR. Considering a lithium as a quick search shows them at about the same price as a Yuasa lead acid type. Of course that will likely mean a charger capable of charging this type of battery. If you have charger input throw it in the thread. I have vaguely followed these the past few years but wasn't buying. I figure the weight loss may be a good thing for a litre bike. The prices and varieties have changed rapidly.

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Best deal ? I have no clue. FYI I have 4-5 years old Shorai, and it is on my second race bike. I don`t have special charger and IIRC I never had to charge or jump it, not even after my 2 years long break from the race track. 

It is a track bike so I only ride it for 5-7 weekends in the summer.

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I can +1 on Shorai for one of them I have, mixed reviews on another, and a thumbs-down on the third.  But the prices are getting better, the weight savings on a race bike or something that needs light weight (dual-sport with a battery up high) can be worth the extra.  

 

I'd cruise Rocky Mountain ATV, Revzilla, and the other usual suspects - sign up for their emails, there will be an "amazing deal" in short order.  Mine have come from Kurt and Martha at Black Dog Cycle Works, they're acquaintences from the adventure bike world and their prices are competitive or better - good folks who go out of their way to make sure things are right, and they're just genuine decent people trying to make their dream come true with a mom and pop motorcycle store. 

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23 minutes ago, Aunt Zero said:

What would be the benefit?

...over lead acid? Weight savings and life span to start off with.

 

I switched to acid glass mat up here. They survive the winters pretty darn well, frozen not being charged for months.

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15 minutes ago, XXitanium said:

...over lead acid? Weight savings and life span to start off with.

 

I switched to acid glass mat up here. They survive the winters pretty darn well, frozen not being charged for months.

And they don't leak.

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Have you looked into Gel batteries?

 

After playing the battery game of them only lasting a couple years even with trickle chargers I moved to gel batteries. My Triumph is a lay on side battery and hasn't fazed it at all in past couple years. Even in my XX the only battery to ever last any length of time was my OEM Yuasa. 

 

Lithium will be my next choice to install, by then all bikes will be electric and we will be left with nothing more than tire threads as batteries, spark plugs and oil posts will be long gone.. 

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I have bought from and would recommend "Battery Stuff"

They carry Shorai, Scorpion and other brands.

I think Scorpion is their own house brand and is usually slightly cheaper than the known

name brands like Shorai, hence my cheapness decided on the Scorpion and have not been disappointed with the choice.
https://www.batterystuff.com/

They carry a full line of Lithium Battery products as well as chargers.

I personally have 2 of the Scorpion brand Lithium batteries. 1 has been in my BlackBird for 5 years so far.

I like the Cranking Amps of the Lithium batteries and the almost zero voltage loss over time while bike is in winter storage. Or in the case of my Bird that sits for long periods of time with little or no use. 
When I bought my first one, from Battery Stuff, it was delivered in a Priority Mail flat rate box and left on my front porch while I was at work. When I got home I was excited to see the new battery had arrived but when I went to pick up the box, I was mad because I realized that they sent me a box with no battery inside. Couldn't believe that it was a real battery inside when I opened the box. Thought it had to be a hollow plastic fake display of a battery due to its lack of weight. Seemed to weight about the same as 1 "D"-cell flashlight battery!
Love the high rating for CCA's. Has a push button on top to tell you if it is fully charged just like a Duracell battery!

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1 hour ago, Aunt Zero said:

What would be the benefit?

Smaller (tho some use a space wasting case to fill your bike's hole), WAY lighter (thought they sent me an empty box), no liquid so it's beyond spill proof, more cranking amps, virtually 0 self-discharge, no hazmat for shipping.

 

Edit: Faster recharge rate.  I'm sure more will come to mind.  When I installed mine the starter spun the motor so fast it sounded almost like idle speed.  I'm sure that's exaggerated, but it's about how it sounded.  The compression pulses were nearly gone, just a nearly seamless spin.

Edited by superhawk996
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Recommendations; the only one I've used is the Battery Tender brand from Amazon.  Compare it to whatever else is out there.

 

Charger, I just used a normal charger when I killed mine.  There may be special chargers for them, but since my bike doesn't have a special stator or R/R I just sent it some normal amps.  And forgot about it so I'm pretty sure it overcharged.  If I were planning to let the bike sit I'd just disconnect it if it has any parasitic loads.  Maintenance charging/maintainer shouldn't be needed for seasonal parking.  Unless your off season is a prison sentence.

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Shorai chargers have the ability to monitor individual cell health, and you can also electronically put them into a long-term storage mode.  I believe the cell-health data is used to balance charging internally.  I would guess other brands offer the same features.  

 

The Shorai charger I had quit after a couple/few years, so I can't say great things about that other than it did keep them topped off while it worked.  On the other hand, I called Shorai last spring (long after the warranty had run out) and they said if I sent the broken charger back they would send me a new one for around $50.  I haven't taken them up on the offer as I have been totally ignoring them and even when flat a couple times, hooking them up to the pickup truck's charging system has brought them back to life every time thus far (except for the one that died on the XX, haven't given that a try yet).

 

As for all the other comments - "crap, they sent me a goddamn inert display battery!", the speed at which it spins a motor, the size/CCA (equivalent) factor.  A downside is the reluctance to start cold - some folks run their headlight for a minute to warm the battery up, I tried it and it works.  Somebody reported connecting a grip heater to a switch and wrapping it around the battery, hit the switch for 20 seconds and it warms the battery both through discharge and the heat from the grip.  Another downside: reportedly, they work like a banshee right up until they don't - as in, they start like brand-new on their last start, then the next time you push the starter the battery is simply no more.  I haven't experienced this, but I do carry one of those pocket-sized jump starters with me when I am going somewhere that a dead battery would be more than an inconvenience.

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20 minutes ago, IcePrick said:

Shorai chargers have the ability to monitor individual cell health, and you can also electronically put them into a long-term storage mode.  I believe the cell-health data is used to balance charging internally.  I would guess other brands offer the same features.  

 

The Shorai charger I had quit after a couple/few years, so I can't say great things about that other than it did keep them topped off while it worked.  On the other hand, I called Shorai last spring (long after the warranty had run out) and they said if I sent the broken charger back they would send me a new one for around $50.  I haven't taken them up on the offer as I have been totally ignoring them and even when flat a couple times, hooking them up to the pickup truck's charging system has brought them back to life every time thus far (except for the one that died on the XX, haven't given that a try yet).

 

As for all the other comments - "crap, they sent me a goddamn inert display battery!", the speed at which it spins a motor, the size/CCA (equivalent) factor.  A downside is the reluctance to start cold - some folks run their headlight for a minute to warm the battery up, I tried it and it works.  Somebody reported connecting a grip heater to a switch and wrapping it around the battery, hit the switch for 20 seconds and it warms the battery both through discharge and the heat from the grip.  Another downside: reportedly, they work like a banshee right up until they don't - as in, they start like brand-new on their last start, then the next time you push the starter the battery is simply no more.  I haven't experienced this, but I do carry one of those pocket-sized jump starters with me when I am going somewhere that a dead battery would be more than an inconvenience.

Yeah, I read your old thread about the charger breaking. The last lead acid battery that died on me was in the bird. Literally the week before Zero was posting about testing battery health. I replied to load test it. Which I did right before leaving on a road trip. It died with no warning right in the middle of nowhere....

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2 hours ago, John01XX said:

I have bought from and would recommend "Battery Stuff"

They carry Shorai, Scorpion and other brands.

I think Scorpion is their own house brand and is usually slightly cheaper than the known

name brands like Shorai, hence my cheapness decided on the Scorpion and have not been disappointed with the choice.
https://www.batterystuff.com/

They carry a full line of Lithium Battery products as well as chargers.

I personally have 2 of the Scorpion brand Lithium batteries. 1 has been in my BlackBird for 5 years so far.

I like the Cranking Amps of the Lithium batteries and the almost zero voltage loss over time while bike is in winter storage. Or in the case of my Bird that sits for long periods of time with little or no use. 
When I bought my first one, from Battery Stuff, it was delivered in a Priority Mail flat rate box and left on my front porch while I was at work. When I got home I was excited to see the new battery had arrived but when I went to pick up the box, I was mad because I realized that they sent me a box with no battery inside. Couldn't believe that it was a real battery inside when I opened the box. Thought it had to be a hollow plastic fake display of a battery due to its lack of weight. Seemed to weight about the same as 1 "D"-cell flashlight battery!
Love the high rating for CCA's. Has a push button on top to tell you if it is fully charged just like a Duracell battery!

Thanks John, I'll check the link.

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4 hours ago, XXitanium said:

...over lead acid? Weight savings and life span to start off with.

 

I switched to acid glass mat up here. They survive the winters pretty darn well, frozen not being charged for months.

I see the AGM batteries at the link John provided. Years ago I considered them for my power boat. Back then they were really expensive. These are super affordable. How long of a life span have you experienced?

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3 hours ago, The Krypt Keeper said:

Have you looked into Gel batteries?

 

After playing the battery game of them only lasting a couple years even with trickle chargers I moved to gel batteries. My Triumph is a lay on side battery and hasn't fazed it at all in past couple years. Even in my XX the only battery to ever last any length of time was my OEM Yuasa. 

 

Lithium will be my next choice to install, by then all bikes will be electric and we will be left with nothing more than tire threads as batteries, spark plugs and oil posts will be long gone.. 

How long have they lasted for you?

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2 hours ago, superhawk996 said:

Smaller (tho some use a space wasting case to fill your bike's hole), WAY lighter (thought they sent me an empty box), no liquid so it's beyond spill proof, more cranking amps, virtually 0 self-discharge, no hazmat for shipping.

 

Edit: Faster recharge rate.  I'm sure more will come to mind.  When I installed mine the starter spun the motor so fast it sounded almost like idle speed.  I'm sure that's exaggerated, but it's about how it sounded.  The compression pulses were nearly gone, just a nearly seamless spin.

What battery did you buy? At John's link they have a few choices with different CCA ratings. I dont want to under-buy.

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3 hours ago, John01XX said:

I have bought from and would recommend "Battery Stuff"

They carry Shorai, Scorpion and other brands.

I think Scorpion is their own house brand and is usually slightly cheaper than the known

name brands like Shorai, hence my cheapness decided on the Scorpion and have not been disappointed with the choice.
https://www.batterystuff.com/

They carry a full line of Lithium Battery products as well as chargers.

I personally have 2 of the Scorpion brand Lithium batteries. 1 has been in my BlackBird for 5 years so far.

I like the Cranking Amps of the Lithium batteries and the almost zero voltage loss over time while bike is in winter storage. Or in the case of my Bird that sits for long periods of time with little or no use. 
When I bought my first one, from Battery Stuff, it was delivered in a Priority Mail flat rate box and left on my front porch while I was at work. When I got home I was excited to see the new battery had arrived but when I went to pick up the box, I was mad because I realized that they sent me a box with no battery inside. Couldn't believe that it was a real battery inside when I opened the box. Thought it had to be a hollow plastic fake display of a battery due to its lack of weight. Seemed to weight about the same as 1 "D"-cell flashlight battery!
Love the high rating for CCA's. Has a push button on top to tell you if it is fully charged just like a Duracell battery!

I see the Scorpion brand advertises that no special charger is needed.

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Not all lithium batteries are created equal, shorai uses the best technology, they don't catch on fire, alot of the other brands use the lesser tech, like the phones that go up.

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I`ve just checked, I have lfx14 something on track bike. When flywheel had enough and decided to get rid of magnets on the race track I borrowed one from a friend who was on cbr1000rr.

He did not need it because he had just ((un)fortunately wiped out. 😉 His was one or maybe even two sizes smaller. I`ve finished the day ( 4-5 sessions) on it without charging between sessions.

Edited by tomek
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4 hours ago, XXBirdSlapper said:

How long have they lasted for you?

The original gel battery in my triumph trackbike was in there for 3 years. Then about two years ago my xx battery took a crap. Had a planned trip in a couple days so I swapped them, ordered new battery for XX and went on my trip. 

 

Both work great even with lack of use. Bought 1 of them off Amazon for $26. The other was off ebay for $35 same brand chrome pro. 

 

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, XXBirdSlapper said:

I see the AGM batteries at the link John provided. Years ago I considered them for my power boat. Back then they were really expensive. These are super affordable. How long of a life span have you experienced?

 

My X sat since 2010 with a bent con rod - long story....

 

It had been unused since then. Memory tells me I nstalled it in 2005. It still had some crank, but we replaced it last year in 2017.

 

The other three bikes have had them for years. I park them with thebatteries in and start them up months later in the spring. ...haven't replaced any. I put the trickle charger  on the X because it's a cold blooded bitch. The Hurrican', 900F and bird all started up without a tickle.

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1 hour ago, paul99xx said:

Here's an example of what happens with the cheaper technology lithium battery.

 

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/56-superbikes/665361-had-fricking-bike.html

That's lithium ion, the one I have from BatteryTender is lithium iron something....Lifepo4 I think is the abbreviation.

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11 hours ago, XXBirdSlapper said:

What battery did you buy? At John's link they have a few choices with different CCA ratings. I dont want to under-buy.

I bought the Battery Tender brand from Amazon, #BTL14A240C.  $120 on 7/14/14.

 

Oddly punching that number in produced nothing so I did a quick search,  https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-Lithium-Phosphate-Replaces/dp/B00XWYGAUK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1525579618&sr=8-3&keywords=battery+tender+lifepo4

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