Battery

['Red]

Hey all,

I've had to leave my bike since I took it to get the rectifier fixed from the recall that was put out; GSXR 75 K8, and new tyres, standing in the garage for about two months. Due to being away from home got about a month of that, and severe flooding in my area, I've just not had time to get to the bike. So as a result, the battery is totally dead and won't charge. While this doesn't surprise me, I was wondering what exactly is a rough guideline of time that a battery will stand before this happens? And now I need a battery replacement, should I just replace with standard battery or are there any recommended ones to get? And what is the best storage method for a battery when I need the alarm to stay running and when I'm unsure of what time might be spent in storage? I rarely leave the bike for longer than a week so this is a rare occurrence for me and I was just wondering how others look after their batteries.

Thanks,
Red







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[Nero Diablo]

4 years out of a factory battery depending on how hard your winters are how often you ride and if it has been run down dead flat in its lifetime before this can be considered a fair and reasonable run. A quality Lead acid or AGM lead acid battery will be fine some will swear by Li ion but you really need a special trickle charger to keep them alive and their only real benefit is lack of weight.

As you have a constant drain int he form of an alarm try and get the one with the highest amp/hr rating that will fit in the space. Riding once a week providing its simply not a run around the block should be plenty to keep a battery alive, depending on your alarm if its going to be a couple of weeks then you might need to come to some trickle and float charger arrangement. The other thing you could do although its a bit of messing around is pick up a security/UPS battery 15-20$ buys you one (these will not start your bike in a blue fit). Put that in while your away and leave your start battery inside the good thing about these batteries is they are designed to be run down and then put it on charge when you are back for next time they need a trickle charger and not your car battery charger.

Without an alarm I regularly left my bike for 2-3weeks and its never a problem.

[PJFZ1]

If you are in the habit of routinely being away from the bike for long periods, you either need to keep a trickle Chrager on it when parked, or go with a good Quality Lithium battery.

[stnkbg1]

Originally Posted by PJFZ1

..... or go with a good Quality Lithium battery.

I'm gonna go ahead and completely disagree with you there. Everyone I have known that has switched to lithium batteries has had problems with them, and not just from storage. My best friend went through at least 3 of them in his R1 because none of them would even start the bike, even when he used it daily. After being sent various replacements by the manufacturer he gave up, got his money back and got a standard lead acid battery.

After that I would never ever recommend one to anybody unless they were racing and needed the absolute lightest weight solution, and didn't mind push starting their bike.

[rgbeard]

Originally Posted by stnkbg1

I'm gonna go ahead and completely disagree with you there. Everyone I have known that has switched to lithium batteries has had problems with them, and not just from storage. My best friend went through at least 3 of them in his R1 because none of them would even start the bike, even when he used it daily. After being sent various replacements by the manufacturer he gave up, got his money back and got a standard lead acid battery.

After that I would never ever recommend one to anybody unless they were racing and needed the absolute lightest weight solution, and didn't mind push starting their bike.

Okay. I'm glad it's not just me. I watched a YouTube video of a bike starting with a Lithium-ion battery and the voltage drop during starting was far deeper than my bike with a standard lead-acid.

That made me think they're not quite ready for the unwashed masses.

[PJFZ1]

Originally Posted by stnkbg1

I'm gonna go ahead and completely disagree with you there. Everyone I have known that has switched to lithium batteries has had problems with them, and not just from storage. My best friend went through at least 3 of them in his R1 because none of them would even start the bike, even when he used it daily. After being sent various replacements by the manufacturer he gave up, got his money back and got a standard lead acid battery.

After that I would never ever recommend one to anybody unless they were racing and needed the absolute lightest weight solution, and didn't mind push starting their bike.

I completely understand what you've witnessed and believe - but I said a "good Quality" Lithium battery. In the rush to market and building to a price point, there are a couple of brands out there that are, quite frankly, Trash. I won't get into naming brands, but one has had so many issues that they issued an apology to the distributor and have promised to re-engineer the batteries. But that doesn't help the rider who's had the failures, melt-downs, gassing off and the associated problems. Those types of batteries are sold at a lower Amp Hour rating than they should, and don't provide the true cranking amps the bike needs, but the manufacturer cut every corner and sells these because they just want to sell batteries.

A good Quality Lithium battery cost a bit more, but is well worth it, and doesn't require any special proprietary charger, doesn't pose a risk to the bike, and performs much better than a traditional lead acid battery. I've got them in our bikes and don't have issues,and am confident that they are better at serving my needs than a lead acid.

[VAZX6R]

I agree with you PJFZ1. I've had my full power spectrum lithium battery for 3 years with a scorpio rlink alarm and perimeter sensors going in full swing. I have never put a charge on it but the longest I've let my bike sit without riding was 2 weeks. I put a multimeter on it today and she is still holding at 13.4 static volts. I haven't ridden the bike in a week. It has 250 cranking amps and weighs 1.7 lbs.

[paul13131313]

I ran a stock Yuasa in my 2009 Repsol for 2 years,4 months and replaced it with a Shorai.I would suggest it as an excellent replacement due to it's 1% capacity loss over a year vs 1% a day of the stock battery.

I used mine in my daily ridden bike.

I've read parasitic loads like a alarm system will kill it though and Shorai Faqs at their website list a couple other peculiarities:extreme cold and deep discharging.

Everyone I know who've used the Shorai have found it spins the engine over faster,doesn't discharge while sitting and it will last 2-3 ntimes as long as the stock battery according to the manufacturer.I personally like the stock battery format case.

[PJFZ1]

But with the Shorai you'll need their Proprietary charger if you ever do need to charge it, and if you have the slightest glitch in your bikes charging system, the battery won't handle it..

[biff85ta]

What is the chemistry on the Lithium batteries? I know the idea of a Lipo or LIon battery in a bike would scare me. I use Lipo for my RC stuff and they are extremely picky about how you treat them.

LiFe or lithium iron is stable and more resilient. I would imagine it could be a decent replacement for a normal lead acid battery.

[PJFZ1]

Originally Posted by biff85ta

What is the chemistry on the Lithium batteries? I know the idea of a Lipo or LIon battery in a bike would scare me. I use Lipo for my RC stuff and they are extremely picky about how you treat them.

LiFe or lithium iron is stable and more resilient. I would imagine it could be a decent replacement for a normal lead acid battery.

Lithium Iron are the ones I'm referring to (LifePo4), but the cell makeup is only part of the Equation. They need to be balanced by onboard hardware, not some proprietary charger, and built with quality cells, not the cheapest you can get away with.

[kingnba6]

i got about 5 solid years out of my stock battery. using a battery tender helps. but im slowly converting over to shoari batteries

[biff85ta]

Originally Posted by PJFZ1

Lithium Iron are the ones I'm referring to (LifePo4), but the cell makeup is only part of the Equation. They need to be balanced by onboard hardware, not some proprietary charger, and built with quality cells, not the cheapest you can get away with.

That is what I figured. Much more stable and the voltages work out the same on four cells. I know the car batteries have built in electronics to correct for the charge from the alternator but I hadn't even thought about home charging although a guy with RC gear like myself would be able to charge it. It would take a while but I could do it.

[PJFZ1]

Originally Posted by biff85ta

That is what I figured. Much more stable and the voltages work out the same on four cells. I know the car batteries have built in electronics to correct for the charge from the alternator but I hadn't even thought about home charging although a guy with RC gear like myself would be able to charge it. It would take a while but I could do it.

Good Lithiums for bikes have the onboard electronics, too, so it's not an issue - they can be treated like traditional lead acid batteries.

[tex929rr]

Originally Posted by PJFZ1

But with the Shorai you'll need their Proprietary charger if you ever do need to charge it, and if you have the slightest glitch in your bikes charging system, the battery won't handle it..

Not based on my experience. I have Shorais in three bikes now - I have used both the simpler trickle charger from WalMart and a CTEK to charge them with no issues. The battery on one of the bikes was fully discharged three times due to a (now fixed) charging problem on the bike, yet it still takes a charge and starts the bike with no problem. Shorai has a detailed explanation of what toes of chargers will cause problems.