Lithium Batteries

[benebob]

Did you give it a chance??

The Lithium batteries don't like the cold and need to be warmed up.  The makers recommend switching the lights on and off several times to get the battery working.  Either that or crank, then rest fro a minute or two, thencrank again.  The battery should do the reverse of an acid battery (as long as it's in good condition) and crank better the more you try.

Well Bixxer, upper 20s here today (bike is outside or in an unheated garage at my place so here is what I did).  Went out and turned the lights on for a minute.  Cranked and it barely did anything, lights on and off for another couple minutes this time  Again nothing.  7 minutes after going outside it finally started.  Battery still says it is "low" (but of course had plenty of juice yesterday after charging on a lithium charger Saturday.  The good news is it took me less time to remove the POS and put a battery that actually does its job then it did to start with the lithium.  Funny thing is back in July I got stuck in traffic on a hot day, cooling fan on, etc and temps around 100 degrees f.  I chalked the battery issues then to it was just pulling too much at an idle for it to recharge but now I tend to think the battery was too hot and stopped working. 

Sure lithium might be okay for those who live where there are no temp extremes or for fair weather riders but my experience is it was a $180 waste of money.  Now I have a 6 year old lead acid battery in that hasn't been on a bike for 3 years since my 885i was killed (so I would tend to believe I am one who actually takes care of his batteries not just someone who replaces them every couple of years). 

Sadly, the receipt for the battery got wet and destroyed in South Dakota when my side bag leaked pretty bad in a rain storm so now I have a very expensive and not so heavy paper weight.     :) 

[Bixxer Bob]

  You can  all you like, but there's nothing like first hand experience   

It took a while, but I eventually found the article I read:

http://www.atbatt.com/motorcycle-batteries/how-to-charge-a-lithium-phosphate-motorcycle-battery

[benebob]

What I find funny is they use a good old bat tender to charge it where battery tender advises you not to use that tender but to buy a new one which is made for lithium ion batteries.  Took it to a local battery place and mine tests just fine so I guess it is just a crappy cold weather battery.

[benebob]

You are sure it is used right as when I bought mine there were a ton of ebay and amazon sellers selling a chinese knock off that I'm sure uses suspect copper and components.