More on Lithium batteries, and to follow on form previous comments to beware of using them on wiring & charging systems not designed for lithium batteries .
A friend went over to the Manx GP/Classic TT this year he went on his Z1 Kwaka (cus his other old bikes were under repair) , he’s a very competent mechanic. He had a lithium battery installed (don’t know what type but it was recommended by the manufacturer for motorcycle use on that kwaka.
Whilst out riding the battery overheated, smoke was coming out from underneath the seat and basically it melted!
Fortunately he was riding through a village and adjacent to a hostelry where his pillion could get hold of a bucket of water quickly to cool things down but other wise his pride and joy could have been toast
Talking to my mate who works in a bike shop locally to me.
Now I confess to knowing very little on the subject other than these new batterys have a far more powerful c.c.a. and I dare say many bikers will be considering purchasing a newer more efficient battery.
Just a word of warning though,these batterys do not take to being charged by your conventional charger in fact using your charger could result in disaster.
Old boy in the workshop placed a Lithium battery on charge and went home,one and a half hours later my mate noticed a smell in the workshop and walking over to the KTM on charge he touched the battery which was very hot,imediately he switched the charger off and opened the doors to get rid of the smell.Ten minutes later ,despite the charger being disconected the battery started to fill the work shop with thick smoke,luckily the workshop did not go up in flames.
I use a Lithium battery for the race bike which is total loss system.
Astonishingly light weight and with a full charge will run ignition for 90 minutes including half a dozen starts on starter motor. So a days racing.
According to blurb problems occur if charging exceeds 15V. I only have an old fashioned charger without clever electronics. But works fine as long as you check regularly with a multi-meter. But by way of warning once it approaches 14.5 V need to check every couple of minutes as it suddenly shoots over 15V - presumably full.
Of course I could stop being a skinflint and by a proper charger!
I’ve used Odyssey batteries, two that is, the first lasted 8 years, the other is 6 years old,I also have a Motobatt that I’m not so impressed with, cheaper but twice the size and weight, my charger is thirty-odd years old but has a low and a high charge rate feature, no problems at all. As my bikes don’t have alarms, clocks and that sort of stuff I don’t have the trickle charging problems that a constant battery drain brings, I remember being advised by a guy from Motorworks when I bought my first one that Odyssey’s didn’t like being on trickle chargers.
I am running an Aliant on my Breva and Nevada since the summer.
Light and fires them up on a freezing monday after a chilly weekend in an unheated garage all weekend.
Lithium batteries have very different chemistry from the usual lead acid, and different charging and discharging characteristics. They also have dramatically higher energy density, which is why they can be very dangerous if short circuited. As far as I know these batteries have caused 2-3 major fatal plane crashes, which is why they are strictly regulated for transport.
You should really only charge lithium batteries with a charger specifically designed for them. If you fit them to a bike you would also have to alter the charging to suit.
If you don’t, a fire is very likely.
As a total loss system on a race bike, they would make sense as they are so light, but you would still need to be careful about charging them (off the bike). That said, it should not be difficult to get a cheap charger.
I’m sure this has come up before when it was mentioned that these batteries are also intolerant of low charge rates: if your old guzzi is only pumping out (say) 13.8 volts rather than 14.2, then they may run flat? Old style batteries are just grateful for what they can get!!
I’ve been pretty impressed with the performance of my Li battery on the CCM. It faked death once but came alive after a boost start and I have been warned that the performance drops of rapidly in cold weather (mores than the lead-acid or gel type). I’ll find out later today when I attempt a bible in the snow
Well minus 3 C isn’t enough to affect the Li battery. The bike fired up like a good 'un and gave me a hilarious, if freezing, ride along the Sussex B-roads. Still a bit of settled snow on some of the roads but enough grip generally to be a lunatic
Some of the new light weight lithium batteries are described as “lithium-ion”. As I understand it, they can be dodgy, and are not necessarily as safe as they ought to be.
The lithium batteries to go for are “LiFePO4” or Lithium Ferrous Phosphate. Look at the tests that people have subjected them to on the YouTube videos, to see that they are safe.
