Next battery - Ballistic or Shorai?

[Fire-medic]

No, I never have had any acid damage to any bike I owned even with the old OEM Wet Cell batteries.
And since the Panasonic is aSealed, it's NOT an issue either.

I don't see ANY correlation Between Collectable shotguns vs cheap
Shotguns and Motorcycle Batteries.
I really don't think Anyone ever bought a Battery based on Re-sale or due to it's hertiage.


I just don't personally see any real advantage to paying 4 times the price for a battery, when the SLA-AGM Panasonic I bought does exactly what it's designed to do:
Reliably Start my VMax and last longer than the OEM Battery.

But if you feel it's worth the extra cost to get the Ballistic, then that's certainly your choice.
I was just making a case for a Cheaper Battery that I bought (that has proven to be a Great buy) vs expensive Batteries that I don't feel offer much other than to Drag Racers who want to shave weight.

I have had acid damage due to fumes or a cracked case, or after a spill from someone turning left in-front of me. And a stronger battery kept my H1 Mach III running longer when the charging system gave up the ghost, and I could ride it around, essentially as a 'total-loss' system. Didn't have the $ to properly fix it in '74.

The correlation was: quality costs if you want a premium product and the latest technology; if you choose the functional product over the newest technology, then I am sure Consumer Guide is in the bathroom for those long rest-stops. :biglaugh:

I used to go to an independent jobber locally for lead-acid batteries, about 1/2 of the price of a Die-Hard, lasted about as-long. Now, I'm trying some advanced tech and don't mind paying for the best there is. If price was an issue, I'd be snatching that Panasonic off the shelf after I pushed you out of the way, and running to the cash register.

Excuse me, I have to polish my Purdy and it's time for artisan stone-baked crackers with beluga caviar when I take a break in my Eames chair, and use my Waterford crystal for a delightful '59 Moet.

 

[m-cman]

My Max had an Odyssey in it when purchased in 2007. Don't know how long it was installed before I bought the bike. So it is probably at least 6 years old. Still strong with no maintenance except for occasional Battery Tender hookup.

 

[AMechEng]

The thought of hiding nitrous solenoids where the old battery and coils were is pretty sweet. I wonder if anyone has thought of a good place to hide the bottle so it would be totally stealth.

 

[Redbone]

A smaller battery may come in handy when relocating it for a ultimate capacity fuel tank project I have in mind for the future, but until then I'm sure my now 5 year old Odyssey will still be cranking Redbone over with voracity.
The battery, as stock, is buried in the bike so it really has no star power other than when you thumb the start button (with your chest puffed out boldly) the bike simply starts. Amazing yes, but 99.9% of the time bikes do start and when they don't start that 0.1% of the time, they get replaced.

The thought of hiding nitrous solenoids where the old battery and coils were is pretty sweet. I wonder if anyone has thought of a good place to hide the bottle so it would be totally stealth.

Scott Kane has a extended swingarm and the space leftover he mounted the bottle in front of the tire. Painted black it blends in really well.

 

[CaptainKyle]

The thought of hiding nitrous solenoids where the old battery and coils were is pretty sweet. I wonder if anyone has thought of a good place to hide the bottle so it would be totally stealth.

If you have a stage 7 you can find a small enough bottle that will fit under the faux cover. Or if you have an extended swingarm you can do like scott & paint & black & tuck it in front of the tire.

 

[DMAN999]

My Max had an Odyssey in it when purchased in 2007. Don't know how long it was installed before I bought the bike. So it is probably at least 6 years old. Still strong with no maintenance except for occasional Battery Tender hookup.

Thanks for the info.

 

[srk468]

The thought of hiding nitrous solenoids where the old battery and coils were is pretty sweet. I wonder if anyone has thought of a good place to hide the bottle so it would be totally stealth.

You mean like this???

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[DMAN999]

Apparently I'm not the only one that deosn't think these Ballistc or Shorai Batteries are worth the extra cost.
Link Courtesy of Fire-Medic
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcy...ai-vs-ballistic-li-ion-motorcycle-battery.htm

Conclusion
It's difficult to determine a winner in this comparison. Yes, the LFP batteries are lighter, and they do seem to provide more starting power for the bike, at least more than the OE BikeMaster battery.
Are the LFP batteries worth nearly 4 times as much as the BikeMaster lead-acid battery? Probably not. The more energetic starting performance as illustrated in the chart above is an advantage, but the unknown here is how the LFP types would compare to a lead-acid battery with more "Cold-Cranking Amps" than the BikeMaster.
Given the problems reported above for the OE battery, the fact remains that when the BikeMaster was kept on the same maintenance routine as the other bikes in the garage, the Suzuki started with no problems and runs fine.
The bottom line here is that there just isn't enough data, information or experience available to determine anything like a winner and there are many questions remaining about the life expectancy, use over time, long-term reliability, ruggedness (considering the very flimsy terminals on the Shorai) and performance when electrical gear is in use on the bike. LFP was apparently discovered relatively recently, in 1996, and the manufacturers are still working out the details of implementation.
We would very much like to hear from other motorcyclists who have installed these types of batteries in their rides.
Yes, it's fun and cool to have a tiny little <1kg battery in the bike. It's an amazing piece of technology, no doubt. But the real-world benefits just aren't that clear. The bike starts and runs just as expected. There's no "Aha" moment here -- but there is somewhat of a jolt when the credit card bill arrives.
LFP and Li-Ion battery technology for motorcycle use is so new that there isn't a lot of information to use for comparison, while lead-acid batteries have been around for 152 years and counting. Thus, it may be some time before Li-Ion technology evolves and stabilizes, experience is gained and prices drop, which will possibly help make the decision easier.
We need to use the bike with this battery for at least one year, and we'll have to see how the Shorai performs over time. The weight loss is impressive, but not noticeable in the reality of street riding.

EDIT
I just Physically Looked at my Battery and it is actually a UB12180 (made as a replacement for the LC-X1220P) and has 283 CCA:
http://1000bulbs.com/product/56371/BAT-UB12180T4.html
So it's even Stronger than the Panasonic I listed earlier.

 

[retrostude]

as a 787 flight line engineer for Boeing, I'll pass on the lithium polymer series batts for now. You are supposed to charge them differently too. fine for racers and hobbyists but I dont need a thermal runaway (even a remote chance) right next to the gas tank on my pride and joy, and pay extra for it to boot. thanks for the inputs Dennis. I didnt want to go OEM so AGM is a nice bump. And the Yuasa is in its last stages now.

 

[Heretic]

Im not sure about Lithium Ion (Li-Ion), but Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) batteries have a tendancy to explode and cause horrible fires. I recently got back into R/C cars and the Li-Po batteries are all the rage due to less weight and more power, but there's hundreds of instances were the batteries were discharged too far, charged incorrectly, got wet, or physically damaged and caused loss of vehicles (r/c and real), physical injury and loss of property (homes). There are many instances were Li-Ion have caused fires in laptops and cell phones as well. There are also documented cases of these things catching fire in airplanes (preceding the most recent issues with the 787). When these things blow its nasty...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMy2_qNO2Y0

I'll be sticking with my old Panasonic in the Max and NiMh in my R/C.

 

[DMAN999]

You Ballistic Owners might want to read this thread:
http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=28414