r1limited Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Not sure if this is actually a tech tip or review, so I am putting them here. Batteries and replacements come in all sizes, all makes and all types. Acid, Gel and Lithium, and there are variations in Lithium (See Below) zero in ACID as this has been the defacto standard for like ever Gel or AGM or Lithium Or really really long power cords what do I do? YUASA the most noted and known brand comes with literally every motorcycle OEM (Great Gig for YUASA), Lithium's I have yet to see come on any standard or custom bike. So what is the purpose why am I reading this? If you are like me and budget conscious (Well Cheep) you look for the best bang for the buck, performance and weight I guess that is what I am talking about. Many of you will face the choice what Battery, maybe this can help. What I suggest and what I look for is the application of the battery to which it will be installed. As example, is this a Race Bike or a Cruiser that gets ridden in the summer months only and stored the rest of the time. Is it a Adventure bike or a Dual Sport and are these bikes in the mud, muck and crude or just a commuter? All of these questions will need to be answered as well as what is your budget. I stay away from No Name Chinese knock offs period that $30 Jing Jiang is garbage steer clear PERIOD END OF STORY. So lets get started Educate yourself on the following, CCA, CA, AH and RC these are standards to which the battery makers set to. The OEMs will establish these requirements n the owners manual of your bike or validate this by the make and model of the stock bike you have. What are your needs, as stated above what is your application dirt, street, race etc this will drive the type of battery you will want to use Environment the bike is normally in, do you ride in cold, warm, hot or all three? Very important especially if your opting to a Lithium based battery Budget well some batteries are more equal than others. A Battery, is a Battery is a Battery right? wrong, Lithiums have a tendancy to e very, very finicky in cold weather as these batteries need to warm up before reaching the full CCA potential, Shorai is one of these in my Experience, even in 50 degree it takes a few minutes with switch on and lights on before the bike would fire up. Plus IMO this places more load on the starter as cranking the bike over several times not just warms up the battery from the draw it puts over needed wear and tear on the starter. Gel, AGM aka ACID base are heavy batteries. As example a stock YUASA battery for my R1 is 13 lbs, the Gel I use is 11 the Shoria is 2lbs (HUGE DIFF) So it is my opinion either Gel or AGM makes no difference other than cost. I have replaced my stock OEM battery twice on the R1, the YUASA died at 2 years, the BikeMastsr TruGel lasted almost 6, I just replced it with another TruGel. Almost half the cost, and matches the OEM requiremnts (Remember CCA, CA, AH and RC) I will stick with BikeMaster TruGel on my bikes. Less Weight is a good thing, running a race bike weight is everything, outside of total loss running a Lithium is the thing to do with savings above 10 lbs this reduces the top weight and increases the HP to Weight ratio. Is a lithium good for a Street bike? Sure is if you want to pay the money and believe you wont have issues in the cold. Again its application + Budget My Personal experience most all lithium battery's are very costly and need to use have there own version of a battery tender. Shoria is one they do say you can use a battery tender if meeting the requirements but I have seen two shorias melt down using anything other than there costly battery charger, I resold Shoria and they kick ass just very expensive and they do stand by the product. Expect to spend up to 250 plus for a good Shoria Setup. Motoblatt I do not like for personal reasons, owners are schmucks well at least the two goons I met. YUASA expensive, the defacto go to standard if you are a OEM nut and must have what was replaced. There are many many other makes that are extremely costly but the go to I use is simple enough Bike Master TruGel, it is a cost benefit work horse. To Summarize: Cost, Application and just simply what do you want? and it is this simple Match the OEM requirements from the original and buy what the heck you want, it is rocket science and again it is not, it is complicated and again it is not don't make it an WHAT OIL SHOULD I USE issue, just don't buy that jing jiang $30 cheap crapola of a battery and then post here complaining Hope it helps Oh Ya one last thing About Maintenance: Always Always Always pull the Positive and Ground side if you are not using a battery tender when storing I suggest to spend the money on a good battery tender that is FOR THE BATTERY Type and keep it on at anytime the bike is not carving canyons Lithium Cobalt Oxide(LiCoO2) Lithium Manganese Oxide (LiMn2O4) Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2 or NMC) Lithium Iron Phosphate(LiFePO4) Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (LiNiCoAlO2) Lithium Titanate (Li4Ti5O12)Source “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes.” --Thomas Jefferson quoting Cesare Beccaria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstertt Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I've seen a couple of the Shorais die an early death and found pricy with recommended charger. They weren't mine but relatives. From experience, I've been running a Mr. Battery lithium ion phos. in a TTR-125 for about 4 yrs., sits in a cabin garage over the winter for 5-6 months at below freezing and so far has always cranked right up and I don't disconnect or charge it. The bike is it's charger. My DRZ 440 has a Deltran lithium ion phos and although I bought a multi purpose charger for just in case (also Deltran)I haven't needed it but that bike doesn't over winter in a cabin and usually only sits 3-4 months at which time it also hasn't failed to crank...3 or 4 yr. old battery now. Hordpower was show casing an interesting battery for our -07's but don't know if he decided to carry them or not. There are definitely a bunch of different brands out there. I'll have no qualms about installing a lithium in my -07 when this oem fails and if price is an issue I'm pretty sure I can find a decent lithium at around, if not below Yuasa prices. You just can't beat the wt. savings, just don't go crazy and opt for the smallest physically as it will also have the least AH, CCA etc. I'd suggest the largest that fits the battery box, you're still going to save a lot of wt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
level41 Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 Jing bang whatever batteries are ok for the city, and usually last a good 2 years, in the Florida heat! If you're riding them regularly, I would actually recommend them over here. If you're only riding your bike once a week, I found even their $25 batteries with LED and low voltage beeper, are pretty good! If you're riding your bike once a month, I think Li Ion is the way to go. They stay well, well over 1/2 year without charge! The weather over here never gets below 35F, so it's performance would never lack to kickstart the bike! In the past, I used to put a ~0.5Farad cap in parallel with the battery. Helps with cold starts a bit, and evens out electric signal noise on the harness. Li Ion doesn't need it, as currencies can get really high on those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregjet Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 Been using Shorai's for years. original recommendations were too small. Later size recommendations are gtood. Only problem have been with the under sized ones. What's cold? Yours, a Queenslander Go forth and modify my son...go forth and modify... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstertt Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 Been using Shorai's for years. original recommendations were too small. Later size recommendations are gtood. Only problem have been with the under sized ones. What's cold? Yours, a Queenslander Thinking back that's exactly the problem my buddy had with a Shorai, the first recommendation was to small...good call and may be what led to my unconscious recommendation to go big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Global Moderator sorkyah Posted July 16, 2017 Global Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2017 Definitely recommend the shorai Bought one back at the beginning of 2015 for my bike, no charger other than the bike. Still going strong... bike has been sittimg for the past 4 months, checked voltage before starting... 12.2v I think i went with the next size up in ca/ah rating vs the suggested battery from shorai Either way... dropped a few pounds over the stocker and seemed to start much faster... much higher amperage in the LiPo4 vs the PbS ATGATT... ATTATT, two acronyms I live by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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