Hitchcocks Forum

Hi all! A reflection on battery: one of previous winter´s "improvement projects" was to replace the lead battery with a Lithium. I ride a Classic 500 -2010. During last years bike season that followed I was then very satisfied with the result: the slightly higher voltage together with the better capacity to output high current really improved starting performance. I also installed the small voltmeter sold by mr H.

You are all familiar with the caracteristics of a lithium vs a lead battery: the lithium is more "digial": it works perfectly until it suddenly doesn´t anymore. There is no gradual "hint" from the battery that the charge level is low for instance. Not from the voltmeter either.

I today experienced this negative side of lithium. Due to weather here in Sweden I only have had a few short trips and I haven´t charged the battery during winter. The bike immediately started as usual after taking it out of the garage. After a ride and a short stop it was however almost impossible to start it again. There were suddenly almost no juice left to crank the engine. I let it recover for a minute and then managed to get everything going again.

If I would have used the lead battery, I believe that I would have noticed much earlier that the battery was poorly charged and , more important, I guess my voltmeter would also indicate that. As I see it now it is almost useless to have a voltmeter hooked up. Has anyone else experienced similiar issues with lithium? Any reflections? Should I go back to lead?

Regards,
Gunnar

You need to look after your battery better.
Lead acid love to be fully charged.
LiFePO4 don't, they like to cycle from full to empty.
They give full power until...............well, you found out.
https://pasteboard.co/K0OMI1Q.png

Lead acid battery, points ignition, Amal carb and boldly go - hasn't let me down to date ...

Gel battery here. Just fit and (pretty much) forget. Add a kickstart (with a carburetor and contact breakers). You'll have unending starting happiness.

Hi guys and thank you so much for your comments! I was however perhaps a bit too fast in establishing the root cause. I connected the litium charger yesterday and that almost immediately indicated "Full". Unless the battery itself is defect (which I doubt actually), it means that my bike´s charging functionality is OK. Now when reconsidering what actually happpened yesterday, it was something like this: After a short stop, I tried to start the engine again. For some reason it didn´t fire up immediately as it normally does. When re-trying, it actually started but very hesitant and with almost non-existent revs. I did several attempts. After a few seconds of cranking, the voltage also started to drop. Finally, after letting it rest for a minute, it started and ran normally. Have anyone of you experienced that the EFI system for some reason injects too much fuel at start?

Even if I at present don´t really know the root cause for the (temporary?) starting issues, this has made me think that I will go back to the traditional battery anyway. I believe that the higher Ah capacity and the slightly more "analogue" behaviour would be preferable.

Regards,
Gunnar

Efi gets itself confused sometimes.
If you have a misfire or an air leak the O2 sensor sees too much oxygen in the exhaust gasses and adds more fuel.
If your plug was getting fouled and misfiring then extra fuel only makes things worse.
My bike occasionally 8 strokes from a cold start but soon clears after a few minutes.

Today I had to be rescued by Breakdown as the original Exide battery on my three year old, 1800 mile, Classic 500 was dead. I'd travelled 20 miles to a cafe and noticed the bike had been hesitating a bit.
After my cuppa I returned to the bike and there wasn't enough power to even light the green Neutral.
I understand that it could be the reg/rec but firstly I'm going to change the battery.
I don't care how much it costs but I'm not going to buy another lead acid one.
Could someone please tell me what I need as I find ebay and Amazon extremely confusing with the plethora of numbers and letters appertaining to each model.
All I know 8s that it's a 12v 14Av battery but everytime I search it comes up with lead acid.

knapdog wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:05 pm

Today I had to be rescued by Breakdown as the original Exide battery on my three year old, 1800 mile, Classic 500 was dead. I'd travelled 20 miles to a cafe and noticed the bike had been hesitating a bit.

Three years seems to be as much as most batteries last these days, unless you pay out an arm and a leg for a maintenance free one.

papasmurf wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 4:34 pm

knapdog wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:05 pm

Today I had to be rescued by Breakdown as the original Exide battery on my three year old, 1800 mile, Classic 500 was dead. I'd travelled 20 miles to a cafe and noticed the bike had been hesitating a bit.

Three years seems to be as much as most batteries last these days, unless you pay out an arm and a leg for a maintenance free one.

Thank you.
I've phoned Tayna Batteries. Have a Varta battery on its way.

512 918 021 Varta Powersports Motorcycle Battery AGM

£63.96

Cyclon battery.