Shorai battery install

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I installed a Shorai battery last night. As stated on the box it has a 70% charge but should start the bike, and it did. I think I gave my old battery an untimely death by leaving the ignition switch in the on position for two days. The poor thing would not resusitate, CPR did not help.

The price of the Shorai as compared to an AGM isn't to scary, so no CPR needed for me either. :yahoo:

 
I decided to proactively replace the stock battery with a LFX14A1-BS12 that I installed July 15. In around town and short day rides it has performed fine. Two weeks ago I rode the bike from NC to MI, then across Ontario to Vermont, all long ride days. Oddly enough, that's when the first troubles started to show up. I ride with a pair of 50W halogen lights on all the time, and apparently they draw just enough power that the 14ah Shorai is only holding it's own.

Three mornings while in VT, it turned over fairly slow first try. The bike always started, and I never had a problem with it during the day, but each morning it would act the same.

Last weekend's trip to Ohio, it did the same thing again. Still, all was good until I shut the bike off with the kill button for lunch one day and left the key on. (did you know the headlight stays on when you do that? ;) Came out after lunch to discover what I had done, and the battery was so dead that the gauges wouldn't cycle, no GPS, no power on/idiot light for the aux light relay, no nothing. It was so dead I thought the main fuse had blown.

After fussing with it for a few minutes, we decided to jump it with another bike with the cheater cable I carry under the seat. With the other bike providing power for oh, maybe 20 or 30 seconds, to my amazement it fired right up like it had a full charge. Hmmm.

As soon as I got home I put the voltmeter on it as it was 'fully charged' from the 450 mile day. It made 13.40v without the aux lights on, and 13.20v with. Revving it up made no difference.

On a whim I called Shorai's customer service today and talked to Shawn to ask him if this battery acted 'normal'. He said that it did, but that the 14ah battery on the FJR and similar bikes is only adequate. It will start and operate just fine under ideal conditions, BUT, it has very little reserve capacity when the owner forgets to turn off the key. i.e. the battery will discharge very quickly and leave you stranded. Again, not the battery's fault, but mine.

He graciously offered to let me trade up to the 18ah battery and just pay the difference in cost between the two, an option I gladly accepted. He felt the 18ah will maintain the minimum required cca a lot longer and not be borderline like the 14ah. The replacement battery is on the way. Needless to say, I am very impressed and satisfied with Shorai's customer service. They get a big thumbs up!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
If the battery is discharging (or not fully charging) during running with just a 100 watt auxiliary load (two 50W lamps) then the problem is not with the battery, but with the bike's charging system. Are you certain that is the entire additional load? I know from experience that even a 1st gen's alternator will make just enough power to continue to charge the battery with that much load. But adding a pair of heated grips to the 100watts of lighting puts the alternator into charging deficit. For a second gen 100W should be a breeze.

To really know what's going on you should install a panel voltmeter that can be monitored while riding, as loads are switched in or out.

FWIW, the capacity (Amp hour rating) of the battery shouldn't make any difference at all in this regard.

 
But... I wasn't having even a hint of a problem with the oem battery and the electrical load hasn't changed in two years.

I only changed the battery as I was getting nervous about it's age.

 
"It made 13.40v without the aux lights on"

That sounds low, I'm at 14.1-14.2V. :unsure:

Above idle I'm at ~13.8V (Datel right on the battery posts) with a pair of 55W bulbs on.

 
Thanks to Brodie and everyone else for all the input on this battery. Just ordered the Shorai LFX18A1-BS12 from atbatt.com for $178 shipped. (Monday discount of 10% made them the cheapest option, it seems.)

Yesterday after riding about 80 miles, I stopped on the side of the road for a bit to help get a bike out of a ditch and left my ignition on. Afterwards, the battery didn't have enough juice to start the bike. Two guys pushed me and I was able to bump start it in second.... Anyway, even overnight on the tender, in diag mode it shows 11.3 or so. Looks like I'm replacing the stock battery, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Not sure I'll need the tender anymore with the new one. Also need to get a Datel meter put in the bike.

I'd be interested in hearing more about mounting that fuzeblock on top of the battery....

 
I installed the LFX18A1-BS12 last week after flat-lining my regular battery leaving on a GPS overnight. I run a volt meter on the bike and the difference in voltage compared to a lead-acid AGM battery was surprising. I get about 0.5 volts more on the indicator. The battery stabilizes at 13.4 volts compared to 12.8 - 12.9 with the lead acid. During operation with the Clearwater Kristas and some other minor accessories on, the charge is 14.1 to 14.4 depending on accessory draw. Even with heated gear, I am not falling below 13.8. The higher charge state and faster charging of the battery was unexpected.

Installation was easy, and less weight high in the fairing seems to be a good thing for handling. The battery I took out was a "Power Source" WB14 Chinese made battery installed by the PO. So quality was not comparable to even OEM or YUASA batts.

 
Fred W said:
If the battery is discharging (or not fully charging) during running with just a 100 watt auxiliary load (two 50W lamps) then the problem is not with the battery, but with the bike's charging system. Are you certain that is the entire additional load? I know from experience that even a 1st gen's alternator will make just enough power to continue to charge the battery with that much load. But adding a pair of heated grips to the 100watts of lighting puts the alternator into charging deficit. For a second gen 100W should be a breeze.

To really know what's going on you should install a panel voltmeter that can be monitored while riding, as loads are switched in or out.

FWIW, the capacity (Amp hour rating) of the battery shouldn't make any difference at all in this regard.
Click to expand...
Gunny Fred, I was going to make a comment on chraging not battree issues.
 
I installed the LFX18A1-BS12 battery just before SWFOG. Friends noticed my bike started faster and asked what I did. No measured data,just seat of the pants feel and impartial observer.

 
Just ordered one of these for the Bonneville from Motomummy, $139 with free shipping. The Yamaha 18 amp version lists at $169 shipped.

 
Look again, the batteries in the lower left corner

Oh thanks! thought I was going blind! :dribble:

 
FJRBluesman said:
Fred W said:
If the battery is discharging (or not fully charging) during running with just a 100 watt auxiliary load (two 50W lamps) then the problem is not with the battery, but with the bike's charging system. Are you certain that is the entire additional load? I know from experience that even a 1st gen's alternator will make just enough power to continue to charge the battery with that much load. But adding a pair of heated grips to the 100watts of lighting puts the alternator into charging deficit. For a second gen 100W should be a breeze.

To really know what's going on you should install a panel voltmeter that can be monitored while riding, as loads are switched in or out.

FWIW, the capacity (Amp hour rating) of the battery shouldn't make any difference at all in this regard.
Click to expand...
Gunny Fred, I was going to make a comment on chraging not battree issues.
Click to expand...
Sorry to drag this old topic back up, but one additional point deserves to be made here to dispel some misconceptions. Especially since there is a significant price tag involved with larger capacity batteries.

The AmpHour capacity requirements for a motorcycle's battery is NOT AT ALL dependent on what accessories you are running on that bike.

The maximum accessory load would strictly be determined by the charging capacity (max amperage) of the bike's charging system (i.e. the alternator and regulator/rectifier).

A battery's capacity will only effect how long after you put the bike's alternator into charging deficit (i.e. when the accessories that you turn on are using more power than the alternator can produce) that the battery subsequently becomes flat and unable to re-start the bike.

A prudent operator would never put their machine into charging deficit in the first place. By monitoring their charging voltage with some sort of voltmeter and adjusting that load to the available power, they would never need a higher capacity battery than whatever it takes to turn the bike starter over and start it up under nominal conditions.

OTOH, it would give you a certain additional buffer cushion (time) for those inevitable occasions when you have a brain fart and forget to turn the key off to kill the headlights after killing the engine, or else leave some "always on" accessories turned on by mistake. But it's not really related to accessory loads otherwise when the engine is actually running.

So, if you monitor your charging voltage and never forget to turn the key off, you're good to go with the stock Amp hour rated batteries. But if you are the forgetful type and often leave your headlights on over lunch stops, go buy the biggest friggen Ah capacity battery you can find and stuff into the bike!! :p

 
I wish this was not the case with Shorai Battery:

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...

 
Yo Rider_FJR - You need to do a lot better job of differentiating what is quoted material from another source and what is your own written word. Your confusing the hell out of folks.

A little effort to make things a bit more clear would be appreciated.

 

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