Shorai or Antigravity is better ?

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Thinking about getting a Lithium battery for a 990 Duke.

Anybody have any experience with these ? care to recommend a brand ?

 

[busapassion]

If you have a lot of accessories like fog lights, heated jackets etc. Stay AGM or acid. Lithium doesn't like a lot of loads. Lithiums don't like cold weather either. They crank strong and are lightweight though. They do last a long time if you leave it alone more months without riding.

 

[Starpower]

I'm always puzzled by the many people that say if you have a lot of loads you need more battery capacity. IMO batteries are used for starting only and loads are supplied by the alternator. If the alternator cannot keep up no battery is going to last.
Even my dealer told me not to leave my heated grips on HI for too long or it will drain the battery. The wattage is well under the surplus alternator power so what's going on here?

For many years I've been using the best Ah Li-ion for the buck on Amazon with no issues.

 

[Maddevill]

I have Shorai in 2 of my bikes. In cold weather, I turn the key on a couple minutes early. This gets the battery warmed up and it then cranks strong.

Mad

 

[puckles]

I can't recommend shorai's enough. Besides my personal motorcycles, I had to use them for a project that absolutely thrashed and abused them and they still performed better than a new lead acid afterwards. I've seen one fail, and it was from discharging far beyond its limits. They also make a lightweight car jump starter. Ask me how I know.

 

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Thanks for the inputs !

 

[Busy Little Shop]

I've been using Lithium Iron batteries since 2009... First was the
(SpeedCell) since sold to a customer... currently Mr.RC45 is powered
by a Shoria...

Technically speaking either Shoria or AntiGravity will meet and exceed your
battery requirement... both have dedicated chargers and great support...

RC45 Standard Recommendation LFX14A4-BS12

 

[berth]

I'm completely ignorant of all of them, but you'd like to think that the Antigravity one would weigh less... :later

 

[sprorchid]

I have bought bikes that had Shorai, no issues. I have purchased 3 anti gravity batteries. One was in 2011, when I totaled that bike, I put it in my rsv4, flawless. All 3 antigravity batteries have been flawless.
I prefer supporting American made products.

You can PM if you have further questions.

 

[Slow Goat]

Haven’t used the Shorai but the AntiGravity one (AG-801, an 8 cell battery) weighs just 1.56 pounds and starts my bike immediately.

 

[Starpower]

I have bought bikes that had Shorai, no issues. I have purchased 3 anti gravity batteries. One was in 2011, when I totaled that bike, I put it in my rsv4, flawless. All 3 antigravity batteries have been flawless.
I prefer supporting American made products.

You can PM if you have further questions.

It is very unlikely that the cells used are make in America, just assembled here.

 

[Arsey]

I have Shorai in 3 of my bikes. First one I bought was for my RC8R in 2013, the Husky in 2014, and the R1 in 2016.
No problems or complaints at all.

My best buddy put an Antigravity in his GSXR track bike in 2015, and it didn’t make more than a couple months. They were total pricks about warranty, so I put a Shorai in for him and it still runs to this day.

 

[sprorchid]

It is very unlikely that the cells used are make in America, just assembled here.

Good point. I am gonna email them and find out.

Antigravity batteries allow you get a stronger battery or weaker but about the same size. I wonder for the buddy whose track bike ate the antigravity battery in 2 months, if it was the OE CCAs or less.

 

[Arsey]

Antigravity batteries allow you get a stronger battery or weaker but about the same size. I wonder for the buddy whose track bike ate the antigravity battery in 2 months, if it was the OE CCAs or less.

Well, the Shorai I put in is rated for 210 CCA, whilst Antigravity claims theirs is rated for 360 CCA.
Also, the Shorai weighs .6 lbs less with both having pretty much identical case dimensions.
The Antigravity In that size costs about $50-60 more than the Shorai.

OP, make sure that you get the correct charger/tender that the manufacturer recommends, the lead acid ones will fry it.
Shorai has their own, Anti pretty much wants you to get an Optimate.

 

[sprorchid]

Very helpful, thanks for posting the details.

 

[DannoXYZ]

Note that you cannot compare CCA ratings between lead-acid batteries vs. lithium. Lead-acid batteries use 7.2v reference for amperage measurement. So you hook up large drain/load on battery and adjust until voltage-drop is down to 7.2v. Lithium won't drop that low without permanent damage, so their ratings are done at lower-load for less voltage-drop and CCA doesn't compare directly. Most bikes will suck only 60-90amps max when cranking, so you can't "force" more through. As long as battery meets that minimum amount for your bike, it will work just fine.

Most likely failed lithium has nothing to do with CCA. It's lack of over-discharge protection. I've confirmed with Antigravity that they do not have over-discharge protection. Which is circuit that disconnects battery when voltage drops below certain level.

I bought another brand that was very inexpensive to test out lithium battery. Got small 4-cell unit (-9lbs over stock) that started up my race-bike just fine for 3-years. Then I made mistake of moving it to my street-bike. One day without thinking, I turned off bike (but left lights on) and ran down driveway to get mail. Talked to neighbor for 5-10 minutes. Came back and found lights off. Battery was drained and dead! Cells destroyed permanently from over-discharge, kaput!

So whichever battery has over-discharge circuit is better because it will allow battery to be operational for many more years. I haven't checked with Shorai to see if they have this feature. But will now before buying another lithium battery. It's cheapskate profiteering really, only costs an extra $1 to add that feature.

 

[DannoXYZ]

As for charging, here's direct quote from Shorai's site.

Q. Can I use Lead-Acid battery chargers or charger/tenders?

A. Yes. HOWEVER, you may NOT use a charger/tender if it has an automatic "desulfation mode", "repair", "recondition", or "recovery" mode, which cannot be turned off. Lead acid charger/tenders can be used for regular maintenance charging and then be disconnected after the battery is fully charged. DO NOT leave the lead acid charger connected to store the battery, because most will NOT maintain the proper voltage for lithium batteries. IMPORTANT- if the LFX battery is deeply discharged below 12.86V a lead acid charger/tender should not be used to recover the battery (balance charging with a BMS-01 is recommended)

Fully-charged for lithium battery is 16.8v; no charger goes that high and all will end up undercharging it. Main danger is the "repair" or "desulphate" mode of smart-chargers. These send +30VAC through battery to break off sulphated parts on plates. This will damage lithium battery. So... as often times, "it depends" is answer on using any particular charger.

Most bike's charging systems output ~14-14.5v for charging battery. It'll be just under fully-charged for lithium battery, which is fine as longest life occurs at ~80% fully charged. While anything below 12.86v is considered completely discharged and no lithium battery should be allowed to drain that low (again, over-discharge protection circuit is easy and cheap). If caught in time, you can use BMS charger on special connector to charge each cell individually. This may or may not recover over-discharged lithium battery though, depending upon how low it was drained.

 

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Thanks Danno, good info.

I'm pretty sure the new antigravity has some kind of protection, since it now has some way to "jumpstart" itself