Hi guys, im after a small battery to use on the radical project, the stock one is huge and there is no way to tuck it out of the way. I've seen the like of the small 12 cell Lithium ion batteries, are they any good? they seem small enough to tuck away somewhere but i don't want to spend all that cash on something that will crap out on me after 6 months...
I use a shorai . I have a switch on my bikes live side so that I can turn it off . If it is left like this it will hold a charge for a year but standard ducatis have a constant power need so it would go flat if left for more than a couple of weeks . Once a lithium battery gets down to a certain discharge they are unrecoverable .
Here you are.........low cost and tiny Camelion A32 12V Battery For Use In Small Domestic Gadgets / Devices — Light bulbs, LED bulbs, halogen lamps, spot lights and tubes :wink:
This is the one Im using . It has worked OK for me but I have had a failure in the past due to allowing one to go below recoverable volts. Battery came back to life but woudnt hold charge . My fault .LFX18A1-BS12 - Shorai Power
ballistic evo2 8 cell lithium ion is what I use. It can crank my SS with its high compression pistons with ease. In fact I'd say it feels as if there's no piston rings in there! I got them from : the FNT :: Online Shop but he doesnt seem to be showing any at the mo.
I have a 21Ah Shorai going in the 1098 soon. I had the 18Ah and it worked great BUT they do need keeping an eye on from time to time due to the parasitic drain. Other things to keep in mind The cells should be balanced occasionally, as the battery consists of a group of lower voltage cells in series to get up to the voltage required for the bike. Failure to this will reduce the battery life. You can do this with Shorai's charger of get one of the aero modelling chargers (if you use it on a Shorai you will need to do a bit of soldering as Shorai have a different pin config to industry standard). Lithium batteries mustn't go below a threshold voltage or their toast as already mentioned If storing the battery should be drained to around 80% charge voltage, NOT 80% of the total, its non linear but the figures are on Shorai's site. They do not perform too well in very cold conditions, and need warming up if you are cranking at close to freezing ambients. I sent the 18Ah back to Shorai as it was failing to balance properly (it was working fine), I had the battery at this point nearly a year. It cost me the courier costs as it had originally been bought in the US and this can get expensive as only the bigger couriers will take it. Small companies or these comparison ones like Interparcel won't touch them. You need to fill in a couple of forms too, but its all above board. Anyway they replaced the 18 for the 21 and only charged for the cost difference (the 21 is about the same size as the standard Yuasa). Service was superb, so although more expensive than a lot out there they do keep their promises and I read a lot about the different types. Shorai were consistently one of the best. Just my expereince John
