Just put in a Shoraipower Lithium Iron vattery (LiFe)...charging system overhaul complete :)

Here is info. straight from the Shorai site regarding cold weather starting. I typically stay off the bike when it gets below 50 so hopefully no issues, hehe :smile: I love the comment about their "extreme rate formulation" :tongue: Never the less, very high quality battery and seem to have great customer service.

I hear that lithium crank poorly when it gets cold, is that right?

A.Lithium do increase in resistance more as temperature drops, compared to lead-acid. However, they also react to cranking under cold conditions in a much better way. Lead-acid will increase resistance on each subsequent cranking attempt, until it won’t turn over. If your LFX fails to start the engine on first crank, that first crank has warmed the battery, and the second attempt will be much stronger, and so on until you get a good start.

Shorai LFX are much better in cold-weather conditions than other-brand lithium starter batteries, due to our eXtreme-rate formulation with low resistance. Down to about 20 degrees fahrenheit (-7C) most users find that they can start normally on first crank. If your headlight comes on at key-ON, it is good for the batteries to flow some current before cranking in cold weather. The suggested headlight-on time before cranking depends on the temperature. If starting at 40f (5C), 30 seconds will help wake the battery and increase cranking performance. If at 0f (-17C), leave the lights on for 4~5 minutes before cranking. The result will be a better first crank, and longer battery life. Any other accessories that can be turned on before cranking can also be used for this purpose, such as heated gear, radio, etc...

 

At 32F those batteries will only put out half of their rated current. At 0F they do nothing. Over 40F they are ok. These tests were made on a digital electronic load device - not an auto parts store grade battery tester. Shorai is sort of smudging the facts around a bit to skirt the fact that all Lithium batteries will have cold performance limitations.

I love my Lithium batteries. I often ride in cold temperatures so I choose to run a pack that is on step larger than technically needed to be safe. For the VFR's I would suggest at least an 8-cell. If you ride below 40F a 12-cell might be a better choice. I run a 12-cell on my 1000cc+ twins and an 8-cell on everything else.

 

So what might be the overall benefits? Saving a few pounds? Longevity? Cool factor?

 

My 2007 VFR needs a new battery, I think the original owner didn't charge it properly. After seeing the prices of the OEM Yuasa battery I thought I"d give the Shoraipower Lithium a try. Other than a bit higher cost I don't see any downside to to changing to this cell chemistry. Once I get the battery installed and run it bike a while I will post my findings.

 

UPS brought me a present today so I went ahead and installed the Shoraipower LiFePo battery today. Good timing too, my OEM battery which is going on 5 years now, is very week and will only start the bike a few times after I pull it off the battery tender.

Like everyone has said, you remove the old battery, open up the Shorai, add some foam pads around it so it doesn't move around in the large space that housed the old Pb-acid battery, connect your terminals, button up the bike, set the clock, and hit the start button.

She fires right up, it's like the new battery is saying to the engine, "You will start dammit!" while the old battery was saying, "Please start."

I'm looking forward to putting my Battery Tender on the shelf and letting it collect dust.

 

Some overall benefits aside from a huge weight savings IMO are:

- LiFe batts maintain the majority of their output over a large span of discharge (down to 20 percent capacity you get consistent, high power).
- No memory or worrying about keeping it at max charge all the time....just don"t let it get below 20% (determined by voltage...12.86V on this battery). Over winter, just disconnect the neg cable and you will probably not have to charge it.
- Typically a higher resting/operating voltage (full Charge is over 14 volts, 70% is 13.2V) so the charging system does not work as hard and its better able to handle things like the fan kicking on, etc.
- They charge up quickly.

Just did a 1250 mile trip and it performed flawlessly so I am confident it will do it's job for a long time to come. My other hobby is flying R/C Aircraft (some very large) and we have been using LiFe batteries and a newer Lithium technology called A123 for quite a while now and they are rock solid. just don't ever drain them below a certain voltage (like 3 volts per cell) and you will never have an issue. :smile:

 

BTW, here are the voltage readings I have:

Old battery (bike off) = 12.4V
New LiFePO4 Battery (in box) = 13.3V
New LiFePO4 Battery (in bike running) = 14+V
New LiFePO4 Battery (bike off after 10 min of low RPM charging) = 13.8V

A 0.5V jump in voltage after charging for just a few min. at idle is interesting. I will check the voltage again after a 30 min ride.

I like that the cells inside the case are a newer design prismatic lithium cell designed for high rate discharge. They must have very low impedance which is why they can charge and discharge so quickly.

Given that Shoarai's website says the cells are from Taiwan, I think the cells are made by Tenergy.

 

Here is a picture of the Shorai installed in my VFR800.

 

I've been loving the Shorai in my '86. Consistent, fast, starts. And no bothering with the tender, which is great. On cool mornings (~50*F), it's not quite as authoritative, but as the manual says, let the draw from the headlight warm up the cells, and then thumb the starter. Those mornings it's whir-whir-ROAR instead of whirROAR. No more lead acid for me.