Shorai LFX battery

[bluesin]

Has anyone tries the Shorai LFX battery ? It appears that two will fit the DT300i. one is Shorai LFX14a1-BS12...the other Shorai LFX18A1-BS12.

These are Lithium Ion that have 220CCA and should be able to go 2-3-4 months not running and NOT need a charge (esp. in COLD weather ).
The 18 should be able to handle more drain (ie: from heated gear,GPS,etc. ) .

They do need special tender for charging the Lithium Ion that Shorai sells.

I am thinking of trying the 18, as I want to run some heated gear(vest/gloves) and already have GPS mounted. I can get it as cheao as OEM battery on Amazon and charger for $45+ and free shipping on both .

[ophelia]

I read an Advrider thread a while back about lithium batteries like the Shorai. If you plan to load your bike up with touring accessories like heated grips, heated gear and GPS, then get the biggest lithium iron phosphate battery that will fit or one that has the closest actual amp hour rating to the standard battery. The balance charger will be needed from time to time to keep your lithium iron phosphate battery at peak performance.

Otherwise, consider an AGM lead battery. A properly made AGM battery will tolerate deeper discharges and reduce self discharge better than a conventional lead acid battery, without the extra attention needed by a lithium chemistry battery.

Lithium batteries lack capacity in the very cold conditions too.  On Advrider, they recommend putting a load on the battery to get it to warm up enough to have enough cranking power. Of course, this uses some of your available charge to warm the battery! It may be worth consideration if you plan to tour somewhere cold.

My friend installed a Ballistic 20 PbEq Ah battery in his Xciting, but it may have been a little undersized for his usage. He replaced it with a high performance lead acid battery. We tested the Ballistic for capacity and managed to get only 6 Ah out of it. Ballistic advertises it at 6.9 Ah actual. I personally didn't think it was worth the effort to install his lithium battery into my significant other's bike plus additional care, so I picked a high-performance Yuasa. I feel I will wait for the technology to mature some more and become cheaper.

Hope it works for you if it meets your needs!

[bluesin]

Thanks.

I have been through two Yuasa (OEM) batteries since I bought the bike in 2012. I had a pigtail put on right after purchase and when topcase was mounted the next month .
Put it in shed, on Solar Battery Tender , after winterization .  It died the first Spring after having it out (last year ) for a couple months (June? ) . Thought , maybe solar charger was bad .

Bought and put in NEW Yuasa and rode through October, then winterized and put in shed on (Electric wall ) Battery Tender , again. Went out in early Jan. ( after all our 12-18 inch snowstorms/Ice Storms ) on a 42 degree day ( had been mild for a couple days ) and tried to start it. Not taking a charge and DEAD battery. Called my dealer and he said leave it on charger and bring it in , in Spring, and he would take care of it ( free battery ) .

Was just wondering if this may not occur with a slower to discharge battery like Litium ION ( not IRON Phosphate ) ?

Could there be a short somewhere? Seems as though it still should be TAKING a charge, if it went in fully charged ??

[ophelia]

Throughout the winter, did your Yuasa battery charger say fully charged? I had a friend with a Deltran Battery Tender Jr. pigtail that would never seem to fully charge and enter charge maintenance stage. It turned out his battery terminal connection was loose. Make sure the battery terminal nuts are secure if you are using a pigtail. It can be a tight fit in the Downtown battery holder.

It may be a good idea to test the voltage of the charging system of the Downtown as well with a voltmeter.

Lithium ion is a general term that tends to refer to early chemistry lithium cobalt batteries. The lithium chemistry batteries on the market for motorcycles are lithium iron phosphate because if they are shorted out, they are unlikely to catch fire like lithium cobalt. Lithium iron phosphate is also more resistant to overcharging. These two features make them much safer to handle and use.

[bluesin]

Not a Yuasa charger . Battery took charg/maintained charge for awhile..then just quit. Battery charger indicates "charging" , but- battery remains discharged .

[sklnzl]

I think you should try the noco genius 1100 ticle charger to maintain your batteries ,i have heard good comments about it

[bluesin]

Have used three different trickle chargers with same results. Dealer wants to check connections/wiring when I can ( if ever) dig it out of shed ( potential for, yet, another major snowstorm Tues/Wed that could dump 18 inches of the lovelt white S#*T ) . 

[ophelia]

Definitely have the dealer check the connections and also the charging system on the bike in case the bike is poorly charging the battery to begin with. A faulty stator or rectifier may cause undercharging and a faulty regulator may cause overcharging. Both can irreversibly damage batteries if left undetected for too long. You don't want to kill a pricey lithium iron phosphate battery nor have it work at reduced performance.

Most people can do a simple test of the charging system with a voltmeter across the battery terminals if the bike can start and run. Bike off should be at least 12 V; below this the battery is weak and unlikely to crank. When idling, somewhere around 12.8 V. When on the throttle, around 13.2-14.4 V. Any higher than 14.5 V is overvoltage.

[bluesin]

Thank you. Unable to start ( not even a click ) at this point. Will ak Dealer to check areas you advised . 

[bluesin]

Took bike into dealer. Come to find out there is a fuse in connector (pigtail) that blew during one of our ice storms. No cost at dealer as they supplied pigtail when they put it on when installing current battery .