Lithium Ion Battery

[chief]

Nothing to update. Still going strong.

[greenbarn]

Interesting....  probably the wave of the future.

[Abby]

Thanks for the info. Very informative!

[chief]

I was under the impression one of the reasons to use Li batteries is that you no longer needed a 'tender'.  I have AGM batteries in a couple of bikes and they never need trickle charging, even after sitting for 9 months.  I think the Li batteries discharges even less than the AGMs.

You don't need to keep it on a tender. If you don't start it every few months, you should disconnect the negative terminal. In fact, they indicate putting it on a tender all the time will decrease its overall life.

However, every bike has a parasitic discharge added to the self discharge rate of the battery. So, you may want/have to recharge the battery sometimes and you use a tender intended for LI-ion batteries. I have the dual tender which will work on both.

Li-ion batteries have a very small self-discharge rate, lower than AGMs and much lower than standard lead-acid. All batteries discharge rate increases with increased temperature.

I've used Yausa AGM batteries for the past 16 or so years on both my bikes. The Goldwing eats batteries because of all the standard and add-on electronics, and I do have to keep it on a tender if it isn't cranked every month or so. The Drifter AGM lasted longer but I put it on a smart tender if I not ridden for a couple of months. An AGM may still be the best battery for the Goldwing.

The Lithium came fully charged - no pre-charging or adding acid. That was nice.

LI batteries have to be "woken up" when it is cold... you turn on your headlights for a bit before you try and start the bike.

Like all batteries, buy good ones... cheap batteries usually end up being problems.

[Bucko]

I was under the impression one of the reasons to use Li batteries is that you no longer needed a 'tender'.  I have AGM batteries in a couple of bikes and they never need trickle charging, even after sitting for 9 months.  I think the Li batteries discharges even less than the AGMs.

[Abby]

My Drifter's PO installed a Lithium battery. New charger is 'Deltran Battery Tender Selectable'. It uses the same plugs as previous model. Model#PR. Part #022-0199-DL-WH. Charges Lead Acid, AGM, Gel and Lithium(LiFePO4). Cost, $34.95.

[chief]

My battery bit the dust so I decided to give a lithium battery a try. I purchased one from WPS.

WPS Fire Power HJTX20CH-FP-IL Featherweight Lithium Battery For: 2002 Kawasaki VN1500R Vulcan 1500 Drifter
The width works, but it is a short battery so I had to add a base to raise it to the appropriate level. It came fully charged. It weighs practically nothing. I installed it last week and have used the bike a couple of times since then... between rains.

I had to buy a charger specifically for lithium batteries, my battery tender doesn't work for them. Apparently, if you are going to leave the bike sitting for a couple of months all you need to do is disconnect the negative terminal. These batteries don't discharge to any great extent when they are just sitting.

It cost $145, with free shipping and no sales tax, so it is about $30-40 higher than the standard good quality battery.

I will update this post a couple of times a year to let you know how it goes.