Motorcycle Batteries .. AGM, GEL, Wet, Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4)

Thanks for your answer.
Sorry but I din't found the YTX30 on your site.
Only ATX30 but too big: 6,5 x 5 x 6,89
I also can read these words:
Please note if you use older bikes from the mid 1990's and earlier you must update the charging systems to a modern voltage regulator. Damaged voltage regulators can over charge and damage lithium batteries.
Has any of you ever made this change the charging system successfully?

Hi All,

long time lurker and 1st post to the forum.
im having trouble trying to install a bxxxery txxder smart lithium on my 2007 kawasaki w650.
not sure if this is a correct spot to post my battery problem. if not pls move or delete this post.

so, last week i found that my bike was cranking slow, and the gel battery on the bike is alittle over 3 years old. so i decided to try out the new lifepo4 battery many people are raving about. i bought the recommened battery from BT site for my motorcyle model.

after installing, i turned the bike on and tried to start. heard 1 click, and everything shuts down, wont start, and wakes back up after a few seconds. recheck all the connections and ground. nothing seems out of place. and tried again but no luck. so i put a multimeter on and finds that the battery shuts off and drops down to 0v and then it will resets. i guess that the BMS system had kicked in and shut it self down for protection. below is a video,



i couldnt diagnosis what the problem is, so i install back the old gel battery. and give it a go. starts right up.



i find that the charge to the gel battery is around 14.7-14.8v at 3000rpm with warm engine. maybe the alternator charge was too high and made the BMS kicked in?

thank you for any reply in advance.

You might have to charge the lithium battery before installing it. Although, it reads 13.2V, so maybe it doesn't have enough current delivery capacity for your bike's starter?

Your gel battery measures only 12.35 V before starting, so it is only half full, and needs charging. It should still be ok.
For comparison,I just replaced an AGM (Odyssey) after 10 years. It was at 2/3 capacity (13 Ah left, of 18 Ah nominal capacity). This is after leaving it installed and discharging over the winter. Unless you left your battery for several months in a state of deep discharge, it should still be good after 3 years.
14.8 V is right for bulk charging an AGM; don't know about gel.

Hi Gruesome, thanks for your reply, i have charged the lithium battery overnight with the optimate lithium charger prior to install. it had 13.6v in it. i had no luck starting it for few times, and tried to just turned on lights and blinkers to warm up the battery abit before giving it a go again. that made the batt drop to 13.2v.

Reversed poles?

negative and positive was correct

Anything under 15v should be fine for lithium.

That battery is not working then... at 13.2v that lithium should easily start your bike. BT has a tendancy to use smaller and lower amp hour battery cell packs inside the battery to keep the cost lower. But if you chose the model they recommend for you bike then it would and should easily start it at 13.2v. That is the resting voltage of Lifepo4 Batteries like this. 13.2 is what you want to see you battery resting at, and you will know it is a decent state of charge at that voltage. The chargers and the bikes will usually take it up to 13.6v to 14.8v but overnight or within a day it will go back to its resting voltage of 13.2v and sit there for a good while before it starts to discharge. Depending on your accessories the speed of the discharging may vary. But without doubt that battery is not working.

Thanks for the reply, i returned the battery and got a different brand lithium with out the bms. plugged it in and the bike starts right up. guess that battery was a bad one.
But wanted to know if old regulator rectifier which output higher charging voltage will cause the BMS in the lithium cut power on the battery.

If your charging system is charging with excessively high voltage (above14.8v) it will damage your lithium battery. As an FYI... if you have a Pre 1990 bike you should probably check your voltage regulator...or just go ahead and replace it with a new solid state unit. Though most were solid state by then some are still mechanical... especially harleys and some japanese bikes. You should NOT expect the BMS of the new Lithium Battery to cure or regulate the over-charge potential of a bad voltage regulator or charging system. The bikes that most often cause problems with high voltage after the regulator goes bad are the 1970-1980s Harley, and Japanese bikes that so many are turning into bobbers, or Customizing, or just rehabbing. Those voltage regulators are mostly toast by now being they are almost 30 years old, and were not solid state like the ones of today. They make new plug and play kits to fix that.

Also yes you could potentially be having the battery cut-out if you new battery with a BMS has over-charge protection and the voltage is spiking...

For 2020, BMW is offering a lithium battery as an "option" on the R1250RS...for only $525. Price aside, they must have some confidence that it will start the big twin no matter the weather.

OTOH, it's BMW...what was I thinking... (and I currently own 2, so I'm entitled...)

Yep, I have a data point in support of that. My early 80s Sportster had a regulator that went up to 17V and more, which would turn off the ignition at the most inopportune time, like in the middle of passing at 70mph....

The OEM option price of $525 for a Li battery is highway robbery, as even the best high dollar major brand Li batteries are much less than that.

Honda is putting their Latest Lithium Batteries in the CRF450 and it over $400 dollars and in the African Twin it about $500 dollar. Yet the African Twin one is only 6 real Amp Hours... Depending on the size they are offering we can get 8-10 real Ah for about half that.... AND give you the RE-START built in Jump Starting. But that will always be the difference between OEM and Aftermarket. Do you know what size the new BMW Lithium is? Is it Standardized? Honda went with proprietary sizes...

A little over one year ago I installed an Earth-X ETX36C Li battery into my '14 R1200GS and it has been working spectacularly. This battery retails for $349, weighs 3.9 lbs (compared to stock 11.6 lbs), and rated at 680PCA/320CCA. The ETX36C battery has the same depth and width of the stock battery but is not as tall therefore installation was very simple.

OK... but I was wondering about the new BMW Lithium Battery and if it is physically sized differently.... We offer that same size also as the EarthX...because they were STANDARDIZED sizes, but often on newer bikes the companies are electing to change the size of the battery when they go to Lithium and not use the standardized sizes so they can have a proprietary size.

What battery do you have? A gel battery like this one? https://www.motorcycleparts-hornig.com/BMW-R-1200-GS-Adv-and-HP2/Spares/Gel-battery-2.html

Not sure I understand your question. I was pointing out that BMW has decided to offer a lithium battery as an option in 2020.

That said, I have an EarthX in my Triumph Bonneville. That was my "test" bike for lithium, 21 months now and could not be happier. My other bikes currently have various Yuasas. Certainly for the Ducati, I'll be putting an EarthX in it when the time comes. Not sure about the GS. The F800GT is stored in Europe and EarthX is not available there.

Yep, put that Batt in my 13RT and love it

Theres no CCA (cold cranking amps) rating for the lithium batteries, only cranking amps. They cant pass the CCA test.
So you cant compare a lithium at warm temps, against a leadbattery tested af freezing temps. (CCA test performed at -18 celcius)
We need to know what the temps needs to be for the lithium to perform as specd, and compare that to a leadbattery at the same test.
But as I know, theres no standardized "warm" test, so not sure thoose datas are available for the lead batteries.