Wow! That looks worse than my experience, and mine was bad enough. I am done with the illusion of a better lighter battery until something comes along that is proven. Lead acid or even, AGM and gel is at least a proven platform and half the cost to boot. Battery technology has been a disappointment to say the least. I am hopeful but skeptical from here on out.
That wasn't my KLR, but was one of my friends'. I think Ballistic just makes a cheap product. However, there are several manufacturers out there making quality LiFePo4 batteries. EarthX makes good stuff. Minus the early models, Shorais have been good to people. I just ordered a Deltran for my Ural because it offered great features and quality construction for not much more than an AGM would have run me. Sure, $170 was a chunk for a battery, but considering I've bought three batteries in three years at $100 a piece, I had hit my limit with Yuasa.
Do you know what Yuasa model they put in there? I am having a heck of a time finding an AGM that is short enough.
Well, my ballistic battery died. Just was dead the next day after riding, will not take and hold a charge. Got about a half year out of it, and to use the warranty will cost me more than just buying a good battery that is dependable. The technology just isn't refined enough for use in my bikes. Glad it died when home, and not when out touring. FYI ballistic is a shit company to deal with, my dealer is dropping them now because of how they handled the warranty.
I love the Odyssey batteries. I looked at them, but still had my old battery and that is back in it. I bought a chinese 250 enduro and was thinking of going lifepo4 with it, as it has a kick start in case the battery fails. I just got off the phone with Deltron and their battery is not for me. They say it needs to be on a tender. I pretty much told them that a consumer product should be consumer friendly and would pass on their product, and they did not give a hoot. Dodged a bullet.
They suck! Been there done that. Done with ballistic as well. Sorry you had to deal with them. I was 15 miles from camp and it died. That was a long day. That's the day I figured out a 310 won't run with a dead battery.
Lithium, like those in my cordless drill, are pretty high maintenance. You have to keep them charged, managed. Lead acid is more forgiving, but heavy. I still have my Earth X, 2.5 years now. I keep it charged up and it keeps, me running.
The Ural has been running a Deltran for a year now. It has never, not once, been on a Tender. Most of that time there was some parasitic drain caused by a GPS power supply. It took me a bit to track that down, but it never hurt the battery. The Ural has now been sitting in storage since December. My father-in-law had some health issues and didn't get around to starting them as planned. He just walked out last week and fired the Ural up with the electric start. No Tender and it has been sitting, connected, since December 24th. All in all, the Deltran experience has been good for us.
25 months 24,877 miles on the Ballistic Battery 8 Cell EVO 2 Lithium Not one problem...never balanced charged it yet. Call it lucky.... I have access to a balance charger and will balance it someday. There are better batteries on the market without a doubt!
I put one of these in mine. had it in my DR650 before that. Super light and probably done 40,000kms. always starts. even when really cold. never balanced. Cheap too. was $100 when i bought it. below half that now at $44 (not sure on shipping and exchange rate) LiFePo4 (not comparable to a standard lithium-Ion Battery) http://www.a123rc.com/goods-1641-8 cell A123 18650 motorcycle start battery 132v22ah 12v new a123 battery pack.html
Thanks for the link! I put one on order, free shipping, $44.50 through paypal. That's half price of what Ballistic wanted to honor their warranty and send me another Ballistic, and probably better quality cells. I was looking at getting the MotoBatt for the husky, but will hold off for a little while now. Looks like I will be cutting the Ballistic apart, I will video most likely. Ballistic brags "Assembled in USA" but they don't tell you what parts they use and from where. We shall see. Looks like the 123 batteries has other amp battery packs as well. More money, so the one you got years ago, might not be the cheap one linked. I figure I'll try it in my 250, it has a kick start, so if it fails, I can get home. If I like the battery, I may by two and carry one for a spare, they are light. I'm going to be needing a new battery for my car, and may consider buying the 100 lot of loose batteries and making one up. I priced these cells last year, and these guys have a good price. Heck, I may even buy some and repair the Ballistic.
I wouldn't touch those cells for your car. With such limited amp hours, you might find yourself stranded rather quickly if you leave an accessory on or have parasitic drain (which all cars have to some degree).
Hmm...after 6 weeks away from my bike and having forgotten to turn on my Oximiser battery tender unit, I have returned to find it totally dead. I suspect that my USB outlet socket which was wired direct has been draining the battery. The battery will not even respond the the 'recovery mode' of my charger and is reading only 1.5v regardless of what I do, therefore it is stuffed. Having read with interest the posts here on LifePo and other alternatives to Lead Acid batteries I came to a conclusion that at the moment they are simply not worth the extra expense so I decided to get a fairly good quality AGM lead acid battery which I could purchase at a reasonable price locally and with a 1 year warranty. The battery supplier suggested the Yuasa YT-12A-BS as a close equivalent to my original unit. It has the same footprint, but is about 2cm shorter which has given me just enough room to fit my Fuzeblock unit above it with no further modifications. All good, with the 'switched live' for the Fuzeblock being taken from the white/green wire as it exits the bikes own fusebox. (Terminal covers are needed)
I have my Strada for exactly 2 years now and the battery finaly went. I WAS GETTING 5 VOLTS ON THE METER AND THOUGHT IT COULD BE SAVED, NOT (at least I thought) !!! Trying to find a correct size battery is crazy hard for this bike. Nobody even knows what it is. I also have a 2011 BMW GS650 and that battery is much taller (no match). THE CORRECT YUASA BATTERY IS YTX12-BS, it is exactly 5 1/8 inches tall. I think I left the navagation system pluged in. This is a 7 page thread and the only definative answer about a replacement battery is on the last page. My closest dealer ordered a Yuasa YTX14 and it was exactly 1/2" too tall. Then I found this thread. In the mean time I tried my "Battery Tender" brand charger and had no luck. After trying to install the larger new battery before adding the acid, I thought I should use another type charger AND TRY AGAIN BEFORE i BOUGHt another BATTERY. It worked........ I used a Sears Die-Hard 2-4 amp charger. There must be some difference between that and the "Battery Tender" I use in the winter. Point is, its not always totally dead. I will charge it another night before I go for a woods ride.
I have about 5 battery tender "Plus" and "Juniors" both type units being hooked up to various vehicles at any time. They maintain the batteries charge and keep them from going dead during times of non-use. Which can be months at a time for some of my vehicles. They won't really charge the battery back up at all from my experience. From what I've read about them they will make no attempt to charge a battery if its under 9 volts. If I drain the battery or leave something switched on that drains the battery dead. I have to break out one of my bigger booster type or smaller trickle chargers, what ever the case may be, to charge the battery back up. The Battery Tenders won't do it.
