Anyone run Lithium Ion batteries over Lead Acid?

[notbike]

Anyone run a Lithium Ion battery all year round? If so, encounter any issues in the cold?

I'm looking at making the switch from my stock battery to Lithium Ion but I've heard they can have issues in cold temps and can become irreparably damaged if they drop below 11v.

Looked at a lot of reviews and explanations but want to know if anyone here runs one and what their experience with them is.

I ride throughout winter, snow, -5, etc so I wouldn't be leaving it for more than a few days in cold temps at a time through winter.

[NeverAgain]

Genuine question: Why would you want to?

[MarJay]

[notbike]

What MarJay said, and my current battery is gunked up to high heaven.

The lean angle sensor display on the dash disappears intermittently too when I start the bike and this has been attributed to a dodgy battery or battery connection by a lot of s1k owners before, so going to replace the battery and see if that sorts it out (a lot of s1k owners say this fixes the issue).

[bugeye_bob]

A light smearing of Vaseline used to stop that, any petroleum jelly should work,
But you could use https://www.rapidonline.com/Liqui-Moly-3139-Battery-Terminal-Grease-10g-55-1893?IncVat=1&pdg=pla-338298165771:kwd-338298165771:cmp-757438067:adg-44804851896:crv-207912323492:pid-55-1893:dev-c&gclid=CjwKCAiAgrfhBRA3EiwAnfF4tlGF8EApYLyR3bZBOmc0Yvy9Pt3822w1RrJ2Pn7GFJJnppYoBJv2QRoCVtIQAvD_BwE

[Fizzer Thou]

I fitted one to my enduro bike the last time that the standard puny lead/acid battery packed up.The price was almost the same but weight for weight the difference is substantial.But in use I could not tell one from the other,being as how the bike is quite light already.

KTM has issued a video on youtoob advising people that lithium-ion batteries do not work correctly in temperatures under 20c.Luckily I have a kickstarter on my KTM,so I can start the bike okay in colder temperatures and once the engine has been running for a while,use the button from there onwards.

But I would not bother to buy one for my R1 or any other bike.
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Just talk bikes.What else is there?

Always have a 'Plan B'

[Fisty]

[Nobby the Bastard]

With lead acid, your day is ruined by the battery being flat.

With lithium, your day is ruined by a ball of flame (lithium ion) or an explosion (lithium polymer). Typically on a bike, this will be happening right where your balls and cock/vagina are (other genders are available.)

Choose your poison. Personally I can't see an AA man being much use where ruined testes are concerned.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Sprint ST 1050

[G]

[pepperami]

[Sister Sledge]

Not a bike but entertaining none the less:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDi1haA71Q
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CCM 404 DS

[NeverAgain]

Are any modifications required to the charging circuit of the bike for Lithium batteries? How do you trickle charge them? I don't ride in freezing temperatures. Google is providing my a lot of sales bollocks and not much in the way of balanced facts.

[yen_powell]

[B5234FT]

From the little research I did a while back, the cells themselves are fairly fragile, and require some circuitry (battery management system) in order to prevent deep discharge or overcharging, keeping them in their stable range (it effectively isolates the cells below 11v ish and behaves like a full lead acid battery when fully charged.

The battery is a series of these cells and the BMS in a case, however, for much cheapness, some of the less expensive ones either have no BMS at all (just a box full of cells) or they have one which prevents discharge and simply use the cell voltage and quantity to ensure your (normally functioning) charging system cant overcharge them, which is wonderful until your regulator fails.

I concluded that you either bought a brand name battery (£££), a couple of cheap ones to open up and confirm what's in them (££) or just stick with lead acid.

[G]

[Sister Sledge]

The batteries are fairly stable in everyday use. It's when they're pushed hard that problems can happen - winter for example.
Winter brings extra strain on a battery due to extra cranking to start an engine, extra lighting etc. It's at those times I'd be nervous.

I do understand the lightness and moving with the times but for me I think sometimes I'd rather stick with proven technology. Sure a lead acid battery can get hot and pop but they take some serious punishment to get there. I wouldn't want to punish a LiFeP04 battery..
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CCM 404 DS

[Hong Kong Phooey]

Two or more years running a JMT LiFePO4 on a cbr6, all weather, no probs whatsoever. I ordered one with a slightly higher capacity than was recommended for an extra fiver.

Shaved 3kg minimum off the weight, as the bike is already fairly light I did notice a very slight improvement, but it's an easy way to save some high up and centralized weight.

If it's cold, you can turn the headlights on for 30 secs or so to warm the battery.
It's sat for weeks of late without cranking over and fires right up even at 2 degrees.

These things pack a mighty punch for cranking, but if you have any parasitic drain like alarms, I would not recommend as the true capacity is not as high as lead acid.

Recovering them from the dead is nigh on impossible, this can also be said for lead acid if they're far enough discharged, but that can be harder to get a lead acid that low unless it's died from old age.

You also need to be careful with which type of charger you use, but mine only ever charges on the bike through use.

If it died tomorrow I'd order another without even thinking about it.
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'81 CG125, '97 FZS600 : '99 CBR600F4, '09 KTM RC8

[kramdra]

Do any jap production bikes use them as standard yet, and if so:
- have they adapted the regulator or is it a bog standard one? proper balance charging?
- Are these aftermarket cells suitable replacements for a bike that has lifepo4 as standard?

If I were buying a new bike, I would want it having lifepo4 and other new tech. When my 2012 motobatt needs replacing I might swap one.

[Polarbear]

[kramdra]

They would get a good weight reduction for far less $ than other type of changes, frame, engine... I expect Yuasa have there fingers in some Li pie if they are not stupid. I'd even say it'd be more profitable as much less battery capacity is required, cheaper to make. LA requires quite a bit of expensive lead, where as you can start a bike from 4 cells from poundland, if you needed to. Massive economy of scale makes Li technology very cheap.

The difficult part is the regulator/battery charging system, which is the part I intend to buy used if I decide to retro fit Li to the cbr6. I do not trust aftermarket Li batterys to be designed safely.

[G]

[Alex A]

I've used JMT Li-Ion batteries in several bikes now. Usually drops 2-3kg vs the Lead-Acid equivalent No issues, and barely more expensive than a good Lead-Acid battery.

The other benefit is that Li-Ion batteries have significantly higher CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) ratings than Lead-Acid batteries of the same physical size. That's really noticeable with a big, high compression V-twin (Ducati Streetfighter S in my case), where smaller Lead-Acid batteries can struggle to fire it up cold.
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Current: Ducati Panigale R / Ducati Streetfighter S / Suzuki GSX-R1000 L5

[garth]

I've got one in my 450 and I left it for six months, it still fired up and that's when it's about 2 degrees outside.

They're pricey but great.

Don't use a trickle charger though...
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You ain't a has been if you never was