Antigravity are now claiming to have a battery that has built-in protection against both undercharge and overcharge. Could this be the turning-point where Lithium-Ion becomes a safe and totally viable option for older bikes?? It had to come at some point - have we finally reached that point?? Here is a post from them on Ducati MS: 25% off of select Ducati Antigravity Re-Start Batteries w/free shipping! Hey everyone, we just came back on as a site sponsor and wanted to start things off right so right now we are currently offering 25% off with free shipping on our AT7B-BS-RS, AT12-BS-RS, and AT12-BS-HD-RS models of our Re-Start line. These are the guys that have our ground breaking BMS (battery management system) offering protection from over charge, over discharge, thermal protections as well as built in jump starting so you're never left stranded. Please use coupon code "ducati19" when placing your order online directly at our website While these sizes are primarily used in most Ducatis they are also used in a few other makes/models. If you have questions on fitment as well as anything else please feel free to call us or email
I should point out that this post was on Ducati MS and the free shipping doesn't apply outside the US
I suspect the turn-in point is different for Li-Ion batteries compared to heavier Lead-Acid types but not many of us are skilled enough to detect in on road-bikes.
It depends how their protection works. Does it just pass it along to another component or does it handle it itself? If it handles it itself, that generates heat and the battery is hardly in a nicely ventilated spot like your reg/rec should be.
I think @AirCon has given up trying to warn us regarding the potential hazards of these batteries Personally I've ran Shorais in a few bikes without issue, but that is not saying there is not a risk Quite apart from over and undervoltage protection, there is the issue of internal resistance. These batteries are able to accept and reject charge far faster than lead acid. This (speaking as an amateur), would still represent a potential issue. Far higher currents could be generated in the rest of the charging system. Therefore the battery might not explode or catch fire but other components in the charging system could overheat, melt down or worst case catch fire, as @JH_1986 also alluded to. John
They are just thermal events evidently - not actual fires (and those cells are constantly liquid cooled too)
^^ ...and I guess these are just issues that need to be worked through, not really problems which need to be solved...
A reply from 'Chad' at Antigravity: Quote: Originally Posted by Old rider View Post Personally. I'd be very happy to hear a full explanation rather than a quick summary. It's the potential for fire that worries most people rather than the possibility of the battery dying. If the battery or reg/rec catches fire, we potentially lose the whole bike. So really these two go hand in hand, the protections are put in place to not only prevent the battery from dying to but to protect the battery from being damaged altogether and put into a state where it is susceptible to thermal runaway. How it lays out is as follow, 1. Charging the battery at a standard rate (such as how the bike will charge it) when the battery is over discharged is a scenario that can seriously damage the battery and lead to this. In other words if the voltage on the battery is drained below 10v or so you do not want to jump or bump start the bike as the battery needs to be messaged up slowly until it's back to a normal state and can accept the regular charge rate. Typically we recommend an intelligent lithium charger that has the ability to detect this and charge it properly. What the BMS in the battery is doing is never allowing the battery to get that low so it can not be put in an over discharged state. 2. Another way the battery can be put into thermal runaway is overcharging. A typical charging system should be putting out around 14.4v-14.6v when running at higher RPM's but if it's not functioning correctly and voltage is exceeding past 15v or higher the cells can again be severely damaged. In the same manner the BMS protections cut the battery off from the system if it detects high voltage coming through the charging system. So what we're really talking about here with the Re-Start series and the BMS is all around protection for the battery stability and functionality. Hopefully that sheds a little light but please feel free to let me know if you have any other questions at all. You can always email me directly as well at
