Batteries

[2Smoke]

My NSR runs a total loss system, but the PGM gets a bit spacky when the voltage drops below 12.something so am looking for a battery that will last a bit longer.

Before I go ordering a posher one for it, I thought I'd look round at whats on the market. My TZ used to run a little nicad that would keep it going most of the day happily, so am thinking something along them lines.

I'm thinking maybe a Li-Po as these seem to keep a pretty constant voltage during use.

Anyone any suggestions? This caught my eye, worth a try for £20?

Cheers

Paul

[RonniB]

Since your not charging it on the go, LiPo could do fine, but they tend to go bust in the big style, fireball and all.. LiPO4Fe is much better for safety, but more expensive. Any hobby/RC shop should be able to sort you out

[2Smoke]

Well I've gone for the cheap one, also bought an LCD voltmeter that I will mount by the clocks to keep an eye on the power.

I've heard some horror stories of Li-Po batteries going up in flames! Mainly on models etc, hopefully I'll not be the first to have one go pop on the bike! Won't go mounting it under the petrol tank thats for sure.. May have to keep removing it for charging, one less thing to worry about on the day!

Cheers!

Paul

[Mohawk]

I've fitted a LiFe battery to my VFR800. The original one was a 4A/hr Race one at £129, which worked but did not like sitting for long periods of inactivity, would be below cranking power in 10 days.

So I found an alternative, How about a nice 10A/hr one for £75 ? You have to do a bit of DIY assembly, but anyone can fit a screw right !?

http://eclipsebikes....0ah-p-1011.html

You need 4 of those, 4 x plastic holders & 5 x connector plates. Nominal Voltage is 3.2v (or 12.8v assembled) charge voltage is 3.65v (or 14.7v assembled). These work great, I've had mine fitted for 4 months now & even with a month sitting still it started the engine no problem.

The standard battery weighs 4.35kg, this assembled weighs 1.4Kg, so saves nearly 3Kg !

The only fiddling required is to get it to fit, is to fit it in the battery tray. I choose the simple route which is to assemble the pack & use two of the connector plates to mount as wings, to allow connection to the existing battery terminal wires. This requires the removal of the battery cover flap as the new battery sits higher at the front. The battery tray is multi-part, so wants to fall apart if you use foam to pad out the battery fit, so you need to address that. I just cut the flap off along the folding seam & drilled a couple of holes in the corners of the tray to allow cable ties to hold the corners together.

The more complex fit would be to lay the new battery on its side then it will fit in the tray, but the connectors won't reach, so you would need to extend the earth lead. I might do that next, now that I know it works OK.

When you assemble the pack which takes 3 of the connector plates, remember + to - for series connections. Look at the current battery & orient the + terminal at the top rear left. The plastic holders are assembled in pairs & then the cells slid in to the bottom set, then turn the top set 90 degrees to the bottom set & slide on to the top of the cells. The metal connectors are added front to rear at the bottom & one is added across the front of the top pair of cells, this leaves the top of the rear two cells clear, add a connector plate to each sticking out to the side towards the battery leads, I insulated the middle part of all these plates with a couple of wraps of insulation tape.

I used some lone thing cable ties around the outside of the pack top to bottom to lock the plastic holders in place & covered the exposed ends of the pack with insulation tape.

You might have to flatten the battery lead connectors to line the holes up & use the old batteries bolts to bolt the leads on. Job done.

The answer to cheap LiFe batteries for bikes

Have fun