On the L Ion battery bandwagon now

[TallTom]

I was disappointed when I went to start my bike and found it was almost a dead battery. I kept it on a Battery Tender religiously and it wasn't but maybe 2 years old. Somewhat exasperated I thought heck if the standard battery isn't lasting, why spend more money on anything else?

But the the LIon technology has been good to batteries for my tools etc I decided to take a chance. Its 3 times as much $$.

So I poked around on Amazon and E-Bay and picked the Firepower Featherweight. It was cheap and I had some PayPal money on account that was just sitting there.

Purchased it from Parts Giant. 2 year no questions asked warranty. Told me schedule delivery was 01/31.

So I never expected to see a box at my front door yesterday. I literally didn't expect it to be a battery. I picked up the box and again never thought it was a battery. I thought it was like a filter or a piece of clothing. I just set the box down with the rest of my mail and sort of forgot about it.

Then I was going through my mail and picked it up. It couldn't be a battery. It weighed NOTHING.

I opened it up and yes it was!

These things are CRAZY CRAZY light.

It comes with plastic spacers to make it fit. Mine needed one pair.

I then install it my bike and its hard to believe how much better they are. Super fast cranking even though the CCA are the same.

Hard to believe the difference these things make.

So it may cost 3 times the regular price, but they certainly save you some pounds and they crank like crazy. Next will be how long they last me. It says it requires no special charger. When you think about it, the bike just puts out its charging current. So it shouldn't require any new type of charging.

 

[c10]

I'll add a bit later by computer

 

[GAmedic]

I probably wont ever buy another lithium ion battery again in all honesty. After the last one I had in my old Gen1, it didn't like cold weather. It always started but didn't always start on the first try.

 

[greg3852]

Going to watch this thread.

 

[Mr Brown]

Going to watch this thread.

Me too.

 

[Tetsuo1000]

Watching closely as I need a new battery too. I was looking at Antigravity. The new ones always save enough energy to start your bike. If you have a drain after shutdown (leaving an accessory on). The battery will cut itself off before critical level. Then you can can reactivate it with a button located on the top of the battery and it will start. I do some cold weather riding tho, have to research more.

 

[c10]

There is a wake up procedure in COLD with Lithium batteries . Going on year 7 , and never been left high n dry by one . I work in a industry that has me replacing batteries constantly . 15 years ago we were still getting good lead acid models or AGM's now we hardly see a battery make the NFPA 5 year replacement code .

 

[greg3852]

Can't see the pics in the op....

 

[ali123]

I'll add a bit later by computer

with 720 CCA.... wake up procedure is smash the start button.

 

[captain]

Several years ago I went to Lithium Ion and it was incredible, I thought they shipped me an empty box when I picked it up. Then when I opened the box I thought they forgot to put the guts inside the battery. I put it in the bike and BAM it fired up, I was shocked.

It wasn't that long into it and the battery started to swell, they refunded it and I figured it might be too soon for L Ion for bikes as they had just come out but I bet now they are awesome!

cap

 

[greg3852]

I keep thinking I could save quite a few pounds by switching out both batteries, then I remember I have at least 20lbs I could lose. Lol

 

[mabupa]

Several years ago I went to Lithium Ion and it was incredible, I thought they shipped me an empty box when I picked it up. Then when I opened the box I thought they forgot to put the guts inside the battery. I put it in the bike and BAM it fired up, I was shocked.

It wasn't that long into it and the battery started to swell, they refunded it and I figured it might be too soon for L Ion for bikes as they had just come out but I bet now they are awesome!

cap

View attachment 1593392

I have one of those shorais on the busa and it’s been working fine. The only issue I had was that I killed the first one in 6 weeks, becasue I didn’t start the bike throughout that time. Called them and the nice girl on the other side of the phone asked if I had electronics added to the bike. I told her about my alarm and other things and she said these batteries can’t maintain a charge with added electronics as long as a regular battery. She was more than happy to exchange it for me and sell me the special charger for it at a discount. If my bike is going sit for more than a week, I just plug it in.

 

[WuzzaCBXRider]

My Z has the OEM battery, an AGM but I got a lithium battery for the Busa and they’re always on tenders when not being ridden. They always start, hot or cold. A charger is fine if you want to charge a battery but a tender is made to keep it charged all the time and not over charge it. There’s no reason to ‘occaionally’ use a battery tender.

 

[mabupa]

My Z has the OEM battery, an AGM but I got a lithium battery for the Busa and they’re always on tenders when not being ridden. They always start, hot or cold. A charger is fine if you want to charge a battery but a tender is made to keep it charged all the time and not over charge it. There’s no reason to ‘occaionally’ use a battery tender.

Agree! My concours lives on tender when not riding. Being a 2016 model with the original battery, I’m starting to worry a bit, so today I bought one of those mini jump starter pack at Costco to keep with just to be safe. I never had a motorcycle battery last 5plus years, like some here have.

 

[WuzzaCBXRider]

I’ve had a battery failure only once, at the end of the first day of a tour. Luckily I found a shop nearby, push started my 79 CBX and rode in for a new one. Only lost a few hours. Some of the places I’ve been to, if my battery would’ve failed might have been a problem.

 

[Nastee]

Think it does matter which manufacture's battery you chose to purchase. Can't speak about a lot of add on electronics as I don't have many. I went with MOTY after my regular battery died again then put in the spare and that was also bad. I was done with regular and spent the money. This Lithium cranks harder, is much stronger, I leave it connected the entire season & may not ride it for weeks or months no need to charge or have a tender it just works and works.

 

[Nastee]

Will take a pic tomorrow of battery. I do know if you have a V twin you have to buy the biggest size Lithium battery you can fit/shoe horn into the bikes battery box.

 

[c10]

I'm going to make a video soon

 

[Nastee]

Had this about 4 or 5 years now saved me a lot of frustration. Money well spent.

 

[RedBull]