Lithium batteries, you get what you pay for?

[Snowdonia Rider]

So, I've finally had enough of the Dynavolt in my bike and I want a new battery. The Motobatt gel seems highly rated and at £44 it's only a tenner more than a standard battery for peace of mind. But whilst trawling eGay, I've come across a JMT Lithium battery for £54, so is it worth the extra tenner or is it like standard batteries where you get what you pay for? £54 seems a bit cheap for a lithium battery, the cheapest I'd previously seen Lithium batteries for was £75. Thought I'd ask incase I end up getting angry with another battery!
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I want your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.
Suzuki GP125 Suzuki GSX600F Suzuki SV650S KTM EXC250F SkyTeam Bongo 125
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SnowdoniaRider

[wr6133]

No idea about lithium, I thought they were for fairly specialist uses, not day to day bikes. Motobatt though are worth every penny, I used to get plagued with batteries dying in cold weather (bikes live outside), never had the issue with motobatt.

[Commuter_Tim]

Can rate the AGM motobatts quite highly too.
However I learned recently if you use a charger, you best be sure its suited to AGM batteries (a lot arent, as far as what happens if you use a non-compatible charger, I'm struggling to find any actual documentation on it, but who wants to risk their bike not starting?)
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The above post is most likely nonsensical.

I ride a Bandit 600... badly.

[CaNsA]

I'm probably wrong... but...

Aren't Lithium batteries/cells meant to drain to 20% before charging them again.

Hence why they are used in a Total Loss system.

They are not meant for use in a system that continuously keeps it topped up.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Didn't N3O have one in his GSXR?
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[CaNsA]

I'll ask him.

[CaNsA]

I asked him.

CaNsA
you're input is required
https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=4057033#4057033

N30
Cba to log in lol
https://www.ebay.com/itm/200908348213
That was more than enough to Crank my k7 1000 though mate

CaNsA
how well did it handle being on a continuous charge though?

N30
I never trickle charged it. I think they need a special charger for that.

CaNsA
ta for the info
if you can be arsed.... let them know

N30
Np fat head. You could make your own battery out of A123 cells. But that's exactly what that Chinese one is made from. So saves you the bother lol

[Aff]

There is no issue with discharging small amounts and topping up again with Li-Ion.

I assume they have a BMS built into the battery, as the procedure for charging Lithium is very different from charging Lead.

The down side of Lithiums is they don't like being stored at full charge. At 25C they loose something like 20% capacity a year when at full charge.

But I hope the BMS they put in the batteries would be smart enough to sort this out. Unfortunately most of the stuff from China isn't.
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Current Bikes:Honda 929RR Fireblade, Honda CD200 Benly (Project), Stomp Z2 140
Electric Bike Project

[wr6133]

[defblade]

Lithiums are supposed to be brilliant for power v weight... ntil they get cold, then they just don't want to know. If you ride all year round, stick to normal stuff.
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Honda Varadero 125cc => Suzuki Bandit 650 33bhp => 77bhp =>
BMW K1200R Sport 163bhp => Aprilia Shiver GT 750 95bhp

[Aff]

[The Artist]

Complete waste of money for a bike IMO. A well maintained bog standard lead acid will do the job just fine.

[Snowdonia Rider]

Thanks for the input guys The battery in my bike is well and truly shagged. I'll let you know what I go with and how it does.
____________________
I want your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.
Suzuki GP125 Suzuki GSX600F Suzuki SV650S KTM EXC250F SkyTeam Bongo 125
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SnowdoniaRider

[Pie-Roe]

Motobatt was fine to turn over TLR, even in the cold and with a cig lighter socket charging my phone while left.
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Previous: GSF600, FZR600 x2, ZXR750, XT600 Tenere, CB125, CZ125, ETZ 250, ER5, CCM R30, DRZ400, RF600x4, RF900x2, GS500, VTR1000F, 640 SMC, CB250 NIGHTHAWK, GT550x3, GPX750 TE610, CB500, X11x2, SV650, ZING 125, TL1000R,CB250 Superdream, CBR1100XX

[Scootaloo]

Another Vote for MotoBatt

My CB-1 is a turdy sh*t f**k the MotoBatt allowed it to start correctly at any temperature.
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(CBF125 - 09) (CBF125 - 11) (CB-1 - 89) (CBF500 - 06) (Push Bike) (CB-1 - 90) (XL125 - 01) (VF500 - 83) (GPZ500 - 94) (GPZ500 - 95) (GPZ500 - 87) (XV535 - 94) (XV535 - 94) (GPZ500 - 87)

[reed]

Been running a motto bat since before last summer, it has never let me down, and since passing my driving test over a month ago, i've only started the bike twice, and both times it turned over spot on, no loss of charge whatsoever.

and you get funky allen key bolts, although be careful, i lost one instantly as i was putting the battery in.
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Generic XOR 50, Gilera SMT 50, GSXR 400 GK73A, Ducati Monster 600, Honda Hornet 600.
Sold. Stolen. Written off. Sold. Current.

[G]

Riding the bike should be equivalent to a trickle charger as far as charging goes - the circuitry in any decent lithium battery should sort it out, I expect.

Presuming they're running 4 cell lithium batteries, they shouldn't over charge anyway, because their peak voltage is higher than a 6 cell lead acid.

However, do still want to be careful with lithium regardless.

[CaNsA]

Overcharging is a bad thing, that's pretty much obvious and is bad news on most things I can think of.

What I'm getting at is, unless a lithium cell gets drained to 20% (i think) before being charged back up then the total capacity of that battery decreases over a pretty short amount of time.

[G]

[Aff]

[CaNsA]

Learn something new every day

[moonzoomer]

Bought an expensive Lithium -Iron battery for the SV650, it lasted 3 months only being capable of running the lights etc but not starting the bike, frankly a waste of money as a few lead /acid batteries cost the same as one Lithium -Iron and will last a hell of a lot longer.

[G]

Probably should have bought a lithium-ion battery instead .

Got details of the make?
Did you return it?

Despite the saying, I often find that 'what you pay for' is often a smaller bank balance, rather than better kit .

[moonzoomer]

[G]

First off - - I forgot that of course LiFePo4 chemistry is Lithium Iron.
However, to save some face I should note that typically I believe they are heavier than Lithium Ion, but should have a significantly longer shelf life.

Not sure what's up with yours. For a while now I've been using a LiPo (lithium polymer) RC plane helicopter style battery to start my van (have got some replacement lead acid batteries for van, but want to set them up to also be used as leisure batteries.)
It's a little bit taller than a coke can, but under half the cross section and starts my 2.2td van fine.