[Mike-the-Bike]

I can't find the thread on here about someone's battery dying on the road and "maybe the dealer didn't charge it", but after reading it a week or so ago, I went down and removed mine while paint was curing on plastic parts. It read only 10.4 on my digital multimeter, so I charged it for several hours on a simple charger; it read 12.9 right after removing it from the charger, but began to fall right away. It went back down to 10.8 in a few hours just sitting on my bench. I've charged it again several times for 2-4 hours with the same results. Isn't it supposed to stay around 12.4? Both my other batteries keep a charge for weeks.

 

[nick]

I can't find the thread on here about someone's battery dying on the road and "maybe the dealer didn't charge it", but after reading it a week or so ago, I went down and removed mine while paint was curing on plastic parts. It read only 10.4 on my digital multimeter, so I charged it for several hours on a simple charger; it read 12.9 right after removing it from the charger, but began to fall right away. It went back down to 10.8 in a few hours just sitting on my bench. I've charged it again several times for 2-4 hours with the same results. Isn't it supposed to stay around 12.4? Both my other batteries keep a charge for weeks.

yeah im pretty sure you have a bad battery. its not supposed to lose charge that fast from just sitting on a bench. if you have the warranty im sure your dealer can replace it for free

 

[3th3r]

yeah im pretty sure you have a bad battery. its not supposed to lose charge that fast from just sitting on a bench. if you have the warranty im sure your dealer can replace it for free

what nick ^^ said

 

[techyiam]

Most likely a bad cell. That means that it is not a new battery.

Is that battery from a new bike? My understanding is that the dealer is supposedly activate the battery as part of the PDI. Then precharge it properly. Something smell fishy here if it is from a new bike.

 

[Maverick]

it read 12.9 right after removing it from the charger, but began to fall right away. It went back down to 10.8 in a few hours just sitting on my bench. I've charged it again several times for 2-4 hours with the same results.

If the battery is losing nearly 2 volts just sitting on a bench for a few hours it has an internal short (bad plate insulator) in one cell. This you would think would/should be covered under warranty.

 

[AJ Nin]

They can't rush that initial charge either according to something I've read. Apparently not charging the battery properly before the first time means the battery never charges properly after that.

 

[Mike-the-Bike]

Most likely a bad cell. That means that it is not a new battery.

Is that battery from a new bike? My understanding is that the dealer is supposedly activate the battery as part of the PDI. Then precharge it properly. Something smell fishy here if it is from a new bike.

It's made in Indonesia along with the bike. I'll just replace it with one from Shorai like on my other two bikes. A warranty replacement means two long drives to the dealer; I'd rather just get a lithium iron unit shipped to me. At least I know about the battery now, before getting stranded...

 

[Mike-the-Bike]

When I bought the R3, I was planning on replacing the battery with a Shorai lithium iron battery after about a year of using the factory battery, but this crappy factory battery just made the purchase happen a bit sooner. Already on the way to my house from Amazon. $87.00 for the Shorai LFX07L2-BS12 battery if anyone else is looking to replace their factory unit...

 

[cwmoss]

My dealer must have done it the right way. After reading the post on adding leads for a trickle charger, I went and checked mine. It read 12.8-12.9, and that was after it sitting for about 4 days from the time I picked the bike up from the dealer.

 

[YR3]

It's made in Indonesia along with the bike. I'll just replace it with one from Shorai like on my other two bikes. A warranty replacement means two long drives to the dealer; I'd rather just get a lithium iron unit shipped to me. At least I know about the battery now, before getting stranded...

Good call, Lithium Ion batteries are best, wish they were cheaper for cars, all in due time.

 

[techyiam]

My dealer must have done it the right way. After reading the post on adding leads for a trickle charger, I went and checked mine. It read 12.8-12.9, and that was after it sitting for about 4 days from the time I picked the bike up from the dealer.

Indeed, they did. 12.8+ after four days sitting most probably indicates a strong battery. The positive side effect of this is that the battery will recharge back up quickly and thus place less stress on the charging system. Moreover, short trips would be much less of a factor.

If you plug in the re-charging pigtail after the bike is done for the day, that battery has the potential to last 6-8 years, and if you annually perform loss charge-capacity recovery, the battery could last 8-10 years. IMO.

 

[cwmoss]

After I had installed the pigtail for the charger, I hooked it up and went from orange (charging) to green (charged) in less than 2 minutes.

 

[t-rav_12]

Mike, thanx for doing the homework on the shorai lithium ion battery for us. Keep us posted on how it works for you. I've been interested in these for my track bike, but last year when I checked them out for my ninja 2-fitty they were $187.

 

[techyiam]

After I had installed the pigtail for the charger, I hooked it up and went from orange (charging) to green (charged) in less than 2 minutes.

Depending on charger and the battery's state of charge, the behavior can be different. If it is a current Deltran Battery Tender model, then most likely the battery was fully charged. That's good news. However, it's all good to have it plugged in. In practice, it is very difficult to get a lead acid battery to be truly 100% charged. Putting it in float-mode, can help, and should make sulfation lesser of a problem. This could mean less work come charge-capacity recovery time. You can play be ear too. If the battery is healthy and strong, and you don't have any non-stock electrical loads added, and just came back for a long ride, and will be riding again the next day, whether you plug it or not probably won't matter much.

If the charger isn't a Deltran, then the battery may be charged, or the battery may not be charged. Since the battery just came off the alternator, because of the "surface charge", the open-circuit voltage may not be its true reading. After a while, the voltage will come back down to what it should be and the charger will automatically kick in, should the battery not be fully charged.

By charger, I am assuming a smart charger, that's what is being sold these days.

 

[Mike-the-Bike]

My unit is a simple $20.00 Stanley battery charger from Lowe's; not a "smart charger". I have used it for three years on my other two motorcyle batteries (both agm types from Yausa). I put the Shorai Li-fe batteries on both my other bikes last September and December, and the old batteries are still showing 12.1 and 11.8 after sitting under my bench for all that time! My new Shorai is "out for delivery" and should be here today.

 

[Mike-the-Bike]

It was delivered a few hours ago:



Smaller than factory battery and weighs less than a pound! Shorai includes plenty of self-stick firm foam sheets of various thicknesses to fill-in the space in the battery box.
I won't get a chance to ride the bike for a few days to over a week due to crappy weather and work schedule. Will update thread then.

 

[Mase]

How much does the stock battery weigh? Wondering how much weight savings there is with the Shorai. I have a shorai for my car and I save a whopping 35lbs over stock!

 

[Mike-the-Bike]

I don't have a scale, but the stock battery feels like 6-8 pounds maybe (using some exersize weights as a comparison).

 

[BluebirdR3]

It was delivered a few hours ago:



Smaller than factory battery and weighs less than a pound! Shorai includes plenty of self-stick firm foam sheets of various thicknesses to fill-in the space in the battery box.
I won't get a chance to ride the bike for a few days to over a week due to crappy weather and work schedule. Will update thread then.

I was wondering how the Shorai is working out? What charger did you buy for it?

 

[Stirz]

I don't have a scale, but the stock battery feels like 6-8 pounds maybe (using some exersize weights as a comparison).

2734 grams - or right at 6 lbs.