EarthX Install and Review

I finally decided to listen to the advice here by our resident experts and went with an EarthX. I have not been overwhelmed by the small battery in my new TE 449. I HAD (past tense) suffered from flameout induced compression locks that the starter could not break free. A few tweaks here and there and those are gone, but the stock battery (a quality Yuasa) is simply too small for this bike.

I looked at all of the options and in the end went with the EarthX as several folks I have grown to trust (here on Cafe) have spoken very highly of the EarthX. The onboard charging management was the deal maker for me as it did not require any uber-expensive chargers.

Overall, I can say I am VERY pleased with the battery. Install took about 20 mins and looks factory. I added a simple 1.2 amp automatic charger that reportedly pairs up well with the EarthX. I run a CTEK system on my other bikes (and other things with small batteries). I could not be happier with CTEK chargers, but in order to charge the LIFEPO4, it would require a special CTEK charger as all CTEKs have an automatic desulfate mode (a big no no with LIFEPO4's as desulfate sends a cleansing pulse in excess of 40 volts through the battery).

Bottom line - the battery is very well made, fits well, shipped FAST (thanks Zip Ty!) and at $152 to my door, is very well priced amongst the competitors. I have zero regrets and at this point can highly recommend the EarthX.

The only downside is that the battery posts (while beefy) have bolts that don't fit the power and ground leads of the Husky. To save time, a 15/64" drill bit cleaned those up - total effort about 45 secs. In all honesty I like the big bolts (significantly bigger than stock cycle battery posts) but some people may not have a drill or a good assortment of bits.

Once I had the charging pigtail installed, I fired up the 449 and it lit to life almost immediately. There is no doubt that it spins the motor over significantly faster - maybe in the neighborhood of 30-40% faster. This is a cold battery, in a cold garage on it's first crank. If this thing gets better with warmth, it is going to spin the crank out of the bike!

Our riding season is just around the corner (can I get an amen!). As soon as I get some woods time on the EarthX I will update the thread. Until now, the weak battery was the ONLY issue with my 449 - I just eliminated it and dropped 3 1/2 pounds at the same time.

3 1/2 pound!

Ok, lets get to some pics!

First, here is the old battery mounted - nothing exciting here:



This battery has been off the CTEK for exactly a month. The CTEK onboard (on the bike) power indicator switched from yellow to red 3-4 days ago so it was time to get charged. In any event, this battery was fully maintained about 25 days ago. Here is the voltage today (at 37 degrees in my garage):



Here is the REAL info I wanted to see - what does this sucker weight? 4 pounds, 13 1/2 ounces. Not terrible, but that is quite a bit of weight so high. Consider gas weighs right at 6 pounds for a gallon - that is darn near a gallon of gas in weight...



Ok, lets get down to business before my wife sees me using her fitness scale for moto business...

Drum-roll please... 1 pound, 5 ounces. Saving is 3 and 1/2 pounds on the dot!



I needed to shim the battery to fit the box tightly. The self adhesive shims are a perfect fit. One long on the bottom and two shorts on the side yields a snug fit. I like that the battery is isolated from any vibrations of the bike.



Here we are all ready to go! Multimeter shot here (bike off).





My new automatic charger that is reported to work great with the EarthX - less than $15 on Amazon and is made really well. Footprint about the same as my CTEK.

Nice report, thanks for taking the time.

Yes, I agree. Very nice report.

That battery looks really good sitting in the bike with all the cushion ... Might cost more but lithium is the way to go if you gotta use the estart each time ... And that auto-charger is another well spent dollar ...

installed mine today. used terminal extenders instead of lengthening the wires. Tucks in quite nice.
Can't believe how light it is. Heading to West Virginia for a couple of weeks of riding so we'll see how it holds up.

Like the terminal b extenders

This may be a dumb question but is it possible these batteries can spin the starter to fast? Thanks for the write up. 3 1/2 lbs. is a huge savings.

They spin faster because the voltage is almost 2 volts higher than a lead acid and maintains that higher voltage during current draws. Technically, the higher the voltage, the lower the current drawn, effectively increasing starter life.

So will a standard battery charger/maintainer such as the Battery Tender charge/maintain the EarthX?

Get a CTEK and never look back again. Best charger out there, unless you are a pro and build your own chargers.
Bought one and tested it. Now I got 4 of them and the mus polar is my absolute favourite. GREAT charger!
Got quick connectors on all my veichles from Husky te449 -11, my Audi RS6++ to my lawn mover.
Super easy to connect and easy to see if needed to charge.
http://smartercharger.com/

Good info guys thanks for sharing. I'll be charging my 2015 350XCF Pumpkin; my Husky is a kicker.

You can use any charger on an Earthx as long as it does not de-sulphate. The fancy charging circuits found in high-end battery chargers are already built in to the Earthx battery. A simple $19 1.5A charger is all you need.

Thanks.

Just got through day one in West Virginia. EarthX is the Bomb!

ST

STOP! DONT get a Ctek for an EarthX. I absolutely love Ctek, but after a quick call to them they told me to absolutely never hook it to my EarthX. I run the $20 Black & Decker on my Husky now and have had zero issues since install. I am very impressed with the EarthX. It is simply one of the best upgrades I have ever made to a motorcycle.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-XM1-5-Maintainer-1.5-Amp/15140193

Great info guys; thanks for sharing.

Why did they varn you to hook a Ctek to your EarthX? What did they say could happen? Very curious.

Rob

They were very specific about the Ctek immediately identifying the EarthX (or any similar chemistry battery) as needing desulphation. I have a mid-tier Ctek (I do love the battery charger as it has paid for itself in saved batteries 2-3x over) and it does not have a means to disable the desulphate mode. The guy I got on the phone at Ctek was one of their engineers, not some schmo that just answers phones. It sounded as if they did not have any models with an ability to disable it either.

The guy at Ctek actually guided me to the Black & Decker. For $20 it does everything I need for the EarthX and that is all I use it for. I do use my Ctek for all my non lithium batteries. The fact that I can keep boat, PWC, tractor, batteries in tip-top shape - even when some see VERT little use - saves me tons of money. In fact, I have not purchased any batteries since buying the Ctek.

So, I am a huge fan...just not for this application.

BTW, the cheapy B&D comes with a whole slew of connectors and is a true bargain. It is well made and is performing flawlessly with the EarthX. I used to worry about my 449 not having a kicker (nor my BMW obviously). But now both are EarthX powered and I never give it a second thought.