Lithium iron battery ??

[rexazz2]

anybody using them yet ?

http://www.shoraipower.com/t-faq.aspx

[Wild-Bill]

Little pricey. They claim they last 5-6 years under normal use but...

[KatanaGSX92]

I spent a day doing research on this battery and the technology a couple of months ago. I definitely want to try it when the busa needs a new one.

[scottynoface]

I'm not impressed with the average life of any Li ion battery right now, cell phones power equipment etc...

I'll stick to my Yuasa, going on 9 years on the one in my 636 although it's showing some age with as little as I've been riding.

[ygolohcysp]

I'm not impressed with the average life of any Li ion battery right now, cell phones power equipment etc...

I'll stick to my Yuasa, going on 9 years on the one in my 636 although it's showing some age with as little as I've been riding.

He's asking about Lithium Iron, as in Fe. Not Lithium Ion, as in Lithium with an extra electron. I don't much care for Lithium Ion batteries as far as life expectancy either, although, I've found it's entirely due to the charging states of the batteries.

Lithium Iron is a new type of battery out for bikes, and I would assume cars, or they will be shortly. The claims certainly look nice, and I really like the weight savings. I will be getting a Shorai as my next battery for the Kat, but I don't have any experience with them yet.


As for Lithium Ion life expectancy, I did some research on the Prius as a possible company service vehicle for the company I work for. I had heard rumors about how expensive the batteries were, so I wanted to know what the life expectancy/cost would be to factor in for total vehicle cost. I found that no battery packs have ever gone bad on the Prius due to wearing out, only user error, like putting a screw threw one while installing car stereo stuff, things like that. Toyota put a LOT of research into batteries, and as a result, the charging system in that car keeps the batteries I think between 65-75% fully charged. Never more, never less. Something about the constructions makes the batteries die quicker by being fully charged, and discharged. So your cell phone battery could last longer than 2 years if the hardware wasn't programmed to keep it at 100% when you have it plugged in, but that would also reduce the stand-by and talk times that they report when selling the phone.

[scottynoface]

Oops, missed a letter.

Thought it said Li ion, was wondering why someone would even ask about them...

My best friend has a Civic Hybrid, and it's great unless you're roadtripping through the mtns of TN. That battery disappears in a hurry going uphill and you have to drag the brakes to be able to make it up the next hill. Ask me how I know

[indianboy7]

A couple of the motorcycle shops around here carry them......They are extremely light, and a couple customers at one store were raving about them in their bikes..I'm leaning towards one for myself when my current battery dies.

[GSXFJim]

I have two Shorais. one in my '91 750 and one in the wife's '00 sv650... love em.. I'm also a dealer.. I have a battery sitting on my office floor for a member here.. it showed up with a meter reading of 13.35v.. same as the rest that have passed thru my hands..

I've had it almost a year.. no issues at all. The day i installed it, my kat hadn't run in 6 months.. and it had the power to get it started even after i manged to flood it.

Performance wise?.. it will turn the starter faster.. which, with the carb'd kats will help get the engine started quicker.. mine now is 3-4 cranks from cold and its running, hot.. 2 at the most. after long rides if checked the temp of the battery and its a few degrees about ambient temp.

For me , the best part is that there will be NO MORE corrosion at the terminals.. no acid eating up the paint or vapor eating away at the underside of the seat.. no more nasty gunk on the SA and shock.

[rexazz2]

.. it showed up with a meter reading of 13.35v.. same as the rest that have passed thru my hands..

so this would keep the coil voltage higher

[GSXFJim]

so this would keep the coil voltage higher

No.. that's dependent on the wiring.

13.35v out of the box means not having to charge the battery before you use it...

[Malloc]

id try it but not at 160 bucks , thats 3 battery's worth

[steves]

I've got one in the Sprint. The Sprints are notoriously hard to start sometimes. No issues with the Shorai.

[Kreylyn]

I will be replacing every battery as I need with them.

Krey

[cintidude04]

Can't wait to tryout the Shorai Jim has waiting for me.

[KatanaGSX92]

After doing some more extensive research including compairing specs, reading reviews, watching youtube videos, etc., I decided against the Shorai and instead purchased the Ballistic EVO2. http://www.ballisticparts.com/

Today I received a new Ballistic 12 Cell LiFePO4 EVO2 Battery. This battery is about a third smaller and only weighs 2lb 5oz. It's a 20AH battery with 410 Cold Cranking Amps. (the 8 cell works for the Katanas and has 275 CCA)








I filled the empty space with the black foam that supported the battery in the box.

What a difference! When starting the bike, the engine springs to life and spins so much faster than when it was on the AGM battery that it replaced. These batteries are pricey but now I feel confident that the bike will start every time. They come with a 3 year warranty.

I considered the Shorai Lithium Iron battery but it cost even more and had less cold cranking amps.