AntigravityBatteries - Lithium Batteries

Saw these guys in another site. Website looked good, excellent comms.

Keep us informed. Batteries this size with that much power is interesting. And if the cold doesn't affect them it's even better.

Will do.

BigFeet wrote:

I brought them inside today. My suspension is in Virginia, the seat is in California... so 'til the bike parts are at least back here in the frickin' "freezer" (Colorado), I figure no sense chillin' the batts.

I guess when it's stone bitter cold here, the smallest batt I bought will be only a tad questionable... the mid-sized batt I bought will supposedly be gross overkill. We'll see. I'll tell ya'. I "sway-ya". BTW, even the mid sized battery is WAY lighter than stock.

-feet

I have a fellow rider that did part of the frozen butt with Paul Mondor last winter. He went from Sherbrooke to Labrador and back in February. The batteries are a problem in this kind of trip. He did it with a BMW800GSHe and now he wants to setup a WR to be a winter machine able to start by itself down to -30C.

Keep in mind that is a bit extreme. Most people don't ride in sub freezing weather let alone -30C.

ZED wrote:

Keep in mind that is a bit extreme. Most people don't ride in sub freezing weather let alone -30C.

He knows that and that's the challenge.

Batteries that don't drain off from the cold would certainly help.

He certainly would understand that. He and Mondor, though both a little , they certainly know about cccold. The comment was more to keep the general conversation in perspective.

I'm not sure that a battery exists that doesn't flatten faster in the cold. In severe cold situations vehicles aren't shut down because the batteries may flatten quickly enough that they won't start again. Some trucks even have coolant loops with an auxiliary heater just for keeping the coolant loop in the battery box warm.

It would be interesting to see if he finds a battery that doesn't flatten in the cold.

edit: this post was verbose. edited for brevity.

info of cold performance would be helpful

Last year he installed an engine blanket around the motorcycle with an IR lamp. The heat didn't propagate enough to warm the oil and the battery. He had to keep the battery inside the motel and even then it took to much amps cause the engine was to cold.

We're not sure if it's only because of the oil. The metal itself seems to change in dimension and it affects the play between the parts. All the bikes needed to be boosted except one. I'll find out wich one it was.

anyway a battery with more cranking power than lead is needed.

None of the bikes have a lithium battery. He is waiting to have reports on their reaction in cold climate before installing one.

I think this type of battery is neat. Not because I'm interested in the cold (hate the stuff actually) but because I like the minimal weight.
I believe the cold will weaken the charge of the battery regardless of it being lead-acid, gel, AGM, Lithium-(something wonderful), or whatever. However, that should just be temporary. As long as it doesn't truly 'freeze' it should be fine when it warms up. A traditional lead-acid battery can truly freeze and burst. I'm not sure if the Li-??? ones can. Makes one wonder about testing that. hmmm...

For cold weather starting I would think a stick on (not magnetic) oil pan heater would work well for a motorcycle and keep the whole engine warm. I'm thinking of putting one on the smart car. It's a 3 cylinder 1 litre alloy engine with no block heater so shares much in common with a motorcycle except that it has more coolant.

Just realized that one of our KLRs is in need of a new battery by spring. The KLR battery is bigger than the WR battery but the day I weighed it it came in at 11 lbs. A suitable replacement for the KLR650 according to the antigrav website is:

8-Cell 12v 4.6 Ah Battery 240 Cold Cranking Amps- Weight 1.6 lb

That's a big difference. I'm not going to bother getting one now as it would be just one more battery sitting here for winter, but I'll likely try one out in the spring. They say they ship internationally. Time will tell if they can ship to Canada.

Weight reduction was my main interest.

edit; dam servimg pics crashed. ?

yup. same here.

Nice installation.

Thanks!

I've had a 4 cell in mine for a few months. Works great. Haven't done a lot of cold riding, but the bike was outside the other night. Think it got down to 28*F and started up no problem the next morning.

good info, thx

We know a few things about lithium-x batteries. They're more expensive than reasonable lead acid, they are much lighter, they are much smaller, there are loads of firms offering to sell you all sorts of versions some of which sound like 'snake-oil', they display slightly different staring behaviour (slow and building), they don't tend to lose charge just sitting around, They are fussy to charge.

My other questions revolve around their suitability for long trips - how well does a WR stator charge them? Do they like being charged relentlessly or charged/discharged etc? Do they like being vibrated across x,000 miles of a RTW trip? How do you know what you can run off them (bike running/not running)? How do you test their voltage with a voltmeter, what to expect and what does that tell you? Maybe its just a slight reeducation of my leadacid knowledge. Maybe there is nothing to fear. Is it worth ruining a massive trip for the sake of a leadacid oem?

Questions, questions...

bought a 4 cell as a spare just in case

cranked over just like with stock battery at 29.7f

has been 2 months; working great so far.

Those are pretty sweet batteries.

I am def in the market for one, as soon as my reg battery gives up the ghost.