level41 Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 So, it appears that my stock battery went bad. It was 2 to 3 years old, and I've replaced it with this battery: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AC9PS50/ I'm really happy with it. Lost about 6LBS in the process. The new battery almost feels like a toy compared to the old (weight wise), but the weight difference isn't really felt while riding the bike. My main reason for swapping to Lithium, wasn't the weight; but the fact that my FZ isn't seeing weekly rides. I ride it about every other week. Most of my daily/weekly rides are on my other (smaller) bikes, as they are more fun to ride around town. The FZ is my highway bike. Lead acid batteries really require you to ride them almost weekly. If you let them stand for a month, you might end up with a dead battery over time. A Li-Ion battery should last considerably longer, I hope. The battery instructions read, to never charge over 15V. I don't know how much the alternator/stator of the FZ puts out, but I certainly hope it's not more than 15V. Most alternators or stators put out 14.4-14.7 of charging Volts. Not really sure what else to write about it.. Works fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemer Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Nice battery! Your link isn't working, needs charging? ;-| Ha! I'll let myself out. Beemer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Normal charge voltage for the FZ is right around 14V, so you'll be OK there. . Most external chargers these days will only charge to 14.2V max when the battery is healthy. But I think what you are being warned is to not use a charger with a "desuflating" mode. If you used such a charger on that battery after it had been run down to a low voltage state, the charger might pump in 20V to try and clean the plates. You could have a Li battery fire on your hands. BTW, the stator output from a permanent magnet alternator is AC voltage - up near 60V or so. It's the job of the regulator/rectifier to bring that back to 14V DC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member avanti Posted April 8, 2017 Premium Member Share Posted April 8, 2017 Link works for me; maybe you updated it. However, one odd thing in the description (imho): "No maintenance needed for almost a year." Huh??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 That's assuming no parasitic draw of current - like an old bike with carbs, and no computer. Here's their schtick " If you have a vintage, custom, or off-road vehicle which has NO draw on the battery when key is OFF, then you should only need to charge your lithium battery once a year. Most modern street bikes have a draw even when key is off, to support clock, computer, alarms, or other devices. This draw will eventually drain the battery, which is damaging and could void your warranty. So if you are not riding twice a month, then you should charge the battery every few weeks." Li batteries will hold a charge for a long, long time if they are just sitting about doing nothing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
level41 Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 Well, Link hasn't been changed and works perfectly. So does the battery btw. Fit perfectly in place as is. As far as the 1 year maintenance, yeah, that just means after 1 year, this battery will drop below 50% of charge, which is bad. It still will start the bike though. Despite it having 300cca, this battery only has 60Ah. which is ok for the bike since the parasitic draw is very low less than 25mA (clock). If you were to install a GPS tracker on it, consuming 1watt, your bike will run out of juice at about a month and needs their recommended 50 recharging cycles, every other week. Which kind of sucks! It should look a lot better with a lead acid battery. But unless you have electrical problems, or ride in weather under 32F, this battery will be just fine with over winter storage (4-6 months), without charging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 Well, Link hasn't been changed and works perfectly. So does the battery btw. Fit perfectly in place as is. Despite it having 300cca, this battery only has 60Ah. which is ok for the bike since the parasitic draw is very low less than 25mA (clock). If you were to install a GPS tracker on it, consuming 1watt, your bike will run out of juice at about a month and needs their recommended 50 recharging cycles, every other week. Which kind of sucks! It should look a lot better with a lead acid battery. But unless you have electrical problems, or ride in weather under 32F, this battery will be just fine with over winter storage (4-6 months), without charging. Seriously? 60 Ah? That's huge for a such small battery. Is the stocker even 10 or even 8Ah? Think the group 35 battery in my car is only 50Ah. And 300 cca is also quite good for a small battery - especially for a Li one as they tend to fall flat on their faces when they are cold. The 11 Ah battery in my Aprilia is 310 CCA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
level41 Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 I never really looked at sustained amps on a motorcycle battery. I guess I'm used to car battery values instead. If that's the case, then why would websites say it's not good for when you install a GPS tracker, and you should use a Lead acid battery instead? It appears to have 720Watt capacity, while a lead acid only seems to have 100Watt. Seems to me that a GPS would last a lot longer on a Li Ion battery... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick Posted April 11, 2017 Share Posted April 11, 2017 The Li battery thing is confusing to me as well. They have a much higher capacity as well as efficiency compared to lead acid. So they maintain a higher voltage thru out their, shall we say, rev range from full charge to wheezing. i misspoke above the YTZ14S that's in my Aprilia is only rated to 230 CCA. Shorai has 2 batteries that will fit. On that's 270 CCA and on that's 10 bucks more than expensive that's 285. Shorai doesn't even talk about Ah ratings. Those ratings are also a bit confusing as well, cause it's not how many amps that can be delivered in an hour, but 10 or 20 hours and then converted to 1 hour. So a 10Ah battery will deliver 1 amp for 10 hours or .5 Amps for 20 hours this is from Shorai's Q/A "A. CCA ratings another way that lead-acid makers have tried to convey starting power. Unfortunately, their typical spec is based on a "half-nominal-voltage" delivery. That is, at their CCA spec, you can expect 7.2V delivered, at best; and 7.2V isn't useful, as you won't start a vehicle with it... In any case, CCA ratings aren't about actually drawing that much current from a battery. The typical vehicle which uses a 200A CCA-rated battery, for example, will only draw 45A~80A from the battery. What the CCA rating really intends to convey is how much voltage will be delivered. Higher CCA rated batteries will deliver more voltage at the same actual cranking current. Our LFX are CCA rated to deliver 9V for a 5-second crank at the CCA rated current. (in fact, our average voltage delivered will be even higher during a 30-second crank. But our CCA ratings are intended to indicate not only a measure of voltage at true cranking currents, but also proper usage, which lead-acid do not) At actual cranking currents - which are always well below CCA, LFX deliver up to two volts more than an equivalent-CCA-rated lead acid battery. Current alone won't start anything. It is the current multiplied by voltage that does the work (watts). In reality, this means that you can multiply the LFX CCA rating by 1.5x to compare to a Lead Acid battery CCA. For example, our 270A CCA LFX18 series provides about the same cranking voltage as a 405A-CCA-rated lead acid battery (from a quality lead-acid maker; some CCA specs we've tested on the cheapest lead acid seemed to be plucked from thin air)." Don't know about the GPS tracker. you might just have to find out the hard way and check battery voltage - that battery you bought has an indicator when it's time to charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
level41 Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 lolz, yeah.. Too bad it's stuck under the seat, for no one to see! I have another, lead acid battery, on my other bike; and it will start beeping if it gets empty. Seems like nowadays we get smart batteries for only $25! Long live in China? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kykx Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Would this be a general good upgrade for someone looking to replace their battery even if I'm riding fairly consistently? What sort of temperatures are Li-ion good down to? I definitely get some freezing temps at night late in the season where I'm at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
level41 Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 The problem with Li batteries is charging. you can't charge them below freezing temps; because they will overcharge. more info here:http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_at_high_and_low_temperatures Unless you're performance riding, and every ounce shredded off of your bike matters; Lead Acid is a much more affordable option (1/4th the price, lasts you 1/2 as long as Li Ion). Lead acid works best when you have at least a weekly commute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kykx Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 Perfect, exactly the info I was looking for, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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