Has Lithium Ion's day arrived ?

[milleplod]

Mine should be here tomorrow....at least the postie'll not be grumbling!

Pete

[Wingman]

When mine arrived I thought the box didn't have my battery in it.

[milleplod]

I picked up a bargain Battery Tender lithium-specific charger as well....it'll probably weigh more than the battery!

Pete

[Wingman]

Just checked not much in it!

[milleplod]

Well, the featherweight lithium battery is now on the ST - I fully charged it first with the lithium-specific charger I also picked up. The spacers provided brought it up to the same height as the Motobatt one, it does seem fractionally smaller all round as there's a bit more space around it in the battery box.

I'm a bit underwhelmed really! I expected it to turn the engine over noticeably quicker - it doesn't. It starts the bike just the same as the Motobatt one did. I'm wondering if the cold is affecting it - I know they don't like lower temperatures, but the bike's in the garage where I doubt it gets below 8 deg even when its freezing outside. I followed some instructions I read somewhere which said that lithium batteries need 'warming up' if its a cold day by putting a load on them first....headlight on for 30 secs would do it, but mine doesn't come on till the engine's running. Instead, I cranked the engine a few times, but not long enough for it to fire up.....no different, just the same as the Motobatt.

Hmmmm. Does that mean the Motobatt is a really, really good battery then, there being no obvious improvement in starting with the lithium?

Pete

[kfrogzx7]

I'd say mines the same Pete, no real improvement in cranking: but I'm quite chuffed that something as insubstantial as the JMT performs even that well !!
I've done as you did, charged it up once before fitting and now I'm starting the bike in the garage briefly every day to see how it performs under mild abuse.
I turn the ignition on and put the hazards on for a couple of minutes before cranking her over, starts fine. Leave her running for just a few seconds and switch off. Done that for three days now and the battery seems to be coping so far.
However, the weather has improved quite a bit and it's not that cold is it?
I'm not going to abuse my new battery too much, but I want to gain a bit of confidence before I take her to the Excel Bike show in a couple of weeks when it's bound to be freezing !!!

[milleplod]

I'd forgotten I'd got hazards....!

I think the real measure of it will be periods off the charger, as lithium's voltage drop is tiny compared to lead acid - I think I read less than 10% a year, which is pretty impressive. I'm going to fully charge it....should take all of 30 seconds!....then leave it off charge till I next go out for a ride....and then not charge it at all unless it shows signs of deteriorating in any way. I think its easy to get stuck in the lead-acid mindset of having a battery permanently 'monitored' on a charger, which defeats the object of having a lithium one really!

Pete

[kfrogzx7]

BTW I rate Motobatts very highly, they've always performed really well on all my bikes for years now, if these JMT's can equal their performance in the long term I'll be more than satisfied.

[popsky]

Just a thought, if you have an alarm fitted you will need to keep an eye on the lithium battery, my father in laws 1200 sportster has killed his lithium with the small alarm draw.

[milleplod]

Yep, I remember reading about small-drain stuff causing potential issues. Fortunately, I've got nothing on my ST that's a concern!

Pete

[milleplod]

I've just found this clip of an ST being fired up on a lithium battery, it sounds the same as mine does....which is reassuring!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF6cx6cnmBI

Pete