| Author | Message | ||
     Ishampadron |
Has anyone ever used a Shorai or any other brand Lipo battery on their XBR? If so which is the one to get? (Message edited by ishampadron on September 21, 2018) | ||
| 1_mike |
Yep. I used the same part number battery that comes in the RX1190 in my XB12s. Look it up on the Shorai web site. My RX was apart for a valve adjustment, so I had to take my XB12 to work. When I hit the start button...nuthin. I swapped the RX battery into the XB and off I went. I bought a second battery to put back into the RX. You need to use something to take up the excess room because it's much smaller than the lead acid battery. It spins the starter faster than the three previous lead acid batteries that were in it. Been in for about a year now. Mike | ||
| Shoggin |
Absolutely the same experience here. I love it. Call Shorai direct and talk to Marianne. They are awesome, motorcyclists, and even Buellers.  | ||
| Ishampadron |
Super cool. Will it charge and maintain well with a tender? | ||
| 1_mike |
It will charge...BUT. A "normal" charger will not "equalize" the cells. As it was explained to me, that needs to be done every now and again to keep the battery in top condition. I've got a Shorai charger. I use(d) it about once a month while daily driving my RX 85 miles a day to work and back for almost 35,000 miles (till I retired). It's still going strong in my XB12. Just call the Shorai guys and ask about the care and feeding of their batterys. That's the way to get the best info..! Mike | ||
| Ishampadron |
Ok, It doesn't have a BMS. You have to buy that separate with Shorai https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/shorai-battery -management-system Heard this one has a BMS built in. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DX89ANY/?coliid=I18XW PY48Y14K4&colid=W84RC3YDP8O7&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_ dp_it#productDetails | ||
| 651lance |
I've been using a Billistic lithium battery for 6 years now and is ok. I love that its light weight but they have their issues. First they do not like colder weather. If its cold (under 60) they will act like they are dead on the first and second attempt to start but will start on the third one. The second and biggest issue with all lithium batteries is they cant handle being over charged. if your using a high output voltage regulator or your regulator starts over charging the system the battery can start on FIRE  . I've see two of they returned that have caught on fire and Ricks electrics even state not to use their high output regulator with lithium batteries. | ||
| Ishampadron |
Yeah that's why they need a BMS. The BMS protects against all this. Its odd that Shorai does not have a BMS built in, In the electric skateboard world pretty much all L-ions have BMS and all you need to charge is a 12v charger. (Message edited by ishampadron on September 24, 2018) | ||
| Shoggin |
FYI Li-Ion is not Li-Po. Li-Ion (Shorai) should love more voltage? But yes, use a specific charger/maintainer for whatever battery you get. They're about $70 from Shorai. | ||
| Ishampadron |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp3Vhrr0b3Q | ||
| 1_mike |
For what it's worth... While SoCal doesn't get THAT cold, I never had a problem starting my RX in about 38/40 degree, (4:30am) mornings. Mike | ||
| Shoggin |
Honestly me either? They do have a 'warning' that you should turn on the headlights for a little bit in cold weather before trying to start it for that exact reason. Counter-intuitive. I know. but a small price to pay for no more crank-stall-crank-crank-vroom Buellizm anymore  | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I put in a Lipo battery into my 1125R about 2-3 months ago and so far it rocks...but then again any battery should be ok in this time frame. Time will tell, but I spent about hundred bucks on the Bike Master brand and I was impressed with the quality, lightweight & performance thusfar. At this point, I can't see myself ever using a lead acid battery again in a motorcycle. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
And for those that are in cold weather areas, a few cranks will get the battery up to voltage. Unless you are in a VERY cold place, I don't think this should be an issue. | ||
| Jbolt |
I use a P9L from Full Spectrum Power in my track XB12r. No issues so far. I chose this company because they have a balancing unit installed into the battery. | ||
| Greg_e |
At least the Full Spectrum Power site shows the real amp hour ratings for the batteries. Please note, you are not getting the same number of amp hours reserve that you are getting from a lead acid! With any machine that has a circuit keeping the ECM alive (Buell and Harley, plus others), that battery will go flat fast. When I had my Shorai in m XB9, it would be flat after about 5 days of no use. In short, you must plug them in when not riding for more than a day. And all that said, there is no reason that they can't make batteries with high reserve power, just being greedy. Take $30 worth of cells, add a $50 BMS, put it in a $10 box, and mark it up double. | ||
| 1_mike |
Easy there Greg e, not so much - If the Shorai battery is NOT connected, I was told that they have about a three year shelf life span of usable power. I have a spare that I checked on about two weeks ago, still has enough power to start an engine, and it's been sitting just over two years..! The Shorai in my XB12s needs life support about once a month. The Shorai in my RX needs a little "top-off" about every 5 months. Don't know why the XB has more power drain..! Since I'm now retired and don't drive either bike every day, I too have to keep them up with a charge as per the above time frame. Mike | ||
| Shoggin |
For a bike with a parasitic drain issue, more reserve amps is a band-aid, not a fix. With identical (Shorai) batteries, my XB can sit for many , many, months and start right up because it has no measurable draw. The SX can go 10 days, because it has a measured 1.5 amp draw split equally between the dash and the ECM  For those who want to check: Use a DVOM on the 10A scale and don't forget to put the leads in the right holes! haha Key off. Take off either battery lead and put the DVOM between the battery post and battery cable. Don't let your skin touch, you will conduct electricity and throw off the reading. If you read 0, switch the meter to 1A and re-do the leads on it. I find .25 to .5 amps is acceptable for most moto's | ||
| Greg_e |
I've checked parasitic draw, it was right in line with what my service manual specifies at like 27ma. I traded out my first Shorai for a second of the same under warranty, still the same issue. This was back many years ago, so maybe they have changed things, but I was only getting about 3 amps worth of real capacity from the ones I had (the ones they specified from my XB at the time of purchase). I tried regular chargers. I built my own balance lead for my RC charger which had the proper profile for the cells they used, this was before they sold a balance charger too. Nothing helped, there just were not enough cells in the box to handle the draw for more than about a week for me. This is the big reason I didn't put a lithium in my Harley, with the alarm and other constant draw items, it would not have worked out well. | ||
| 1_mike |
What's with all the power draw problems ? And I thought my XB was bad..! My last year of work before I retired, I was "home" every other week. My RX started...after not being used for two weeks, OR being any type of charger, like it was driven the day before..! Some of you guys must have some power leakage somewhere..! Mike | ||
| _buelligan_ |
I have a Shorai on my Sportster with factory alarm which goes months without being ridden and fires over every time. Bought a Shorai for the Uly a few months ago and has gone maybe two weeks between starts but has plenty of umph everytime, I agree with 1_mike and shoggin, somethings going on if you have some parasitic power drain thats depleting the battery. The lithiums may not hold as much reserve amperage but should still have enough to keep the bike startable within a reasonable time off of a trickle charger. Before I had the Shorai's I had Twin Power Lithiums and those are hit or miss. The X1 twin power failed after a few months but the replacement has been running for a year now. I had just bought a twin power lithium for the sporster just before the X1's failed. That one only lasted two weeks and wouldn't take a charge after that. with that being two twin power failures back to back I paid extra to upgrade to Shorai for the Uly when the Harley brand battery failed. |
