Lithium battery in a KZ1000?

Have u tried one? I'd like a little more cranking power for my high compression engine and my battery just died, so I'm thinking about lithium ion. I don't know how to find one that will fit well.

Havent tried the Li but the scorpion AGM battery gives more crank than a typical lead acid and longer life.

www.batterystuff.com/powersports-batteries/sYTX14AHL-BS.html

The Li are either love it or hate it, a lot of them fail. I suspect it's because the charging system does not limit charge current to a safe value.

I had a DRZ with Lithium battery, if you don't keep the battery charged, it dies, if you use the bike regularly this isn't a problem as the bike charges the battery, but if you don't use the bike for a few weeks the battery dies.

If you buy a lithium ion battery hope that your bike's regulator doesn't fail and let the battery overcharge. (See 2:00 in video link). Ed

I have one in one of my turbos . Works great never a problem . Never had it die and never had to charge it except once when my friends bike died on the highway . Brought it to him to get his bike home . He had a short in his horn . Killed it bringing his bike home . Recharged it and its been fine . Been running it for a few years now .Its light as a feather . Its in there because the power commander is in the battery box so there's no room for a regular batt .

I have one on my GPZ1100 (I had no choice because of the frame modifications- Lithium is a lot smaller), at present it appears ok but as mentioned previously I would not use one on the Z1R because the charging is erratic compared to the GPZ. I also had no issues of it standing for a few months.

I've been running them for over 4 years on old style KZ charging systems and only 1 failure, alternator actually went bad. Have the 12 cell balastic in a 1260 with 13.5-1, button starting and not 1 issue! Main thing, you can not run them below the 8 volt minimum, they will be trash, will never take a charge again.



Les Holt

Thanks guys, Les how do you pick the right one to fit? Have you got a number? thanks

bountyhunter wrote: Havent tried the Li but the scorpion AGM battery gives more crank than a typical lead acid and longer life.

www.batterystuff.com/powersports-batteries/sYTX14AHL-BS.html

The Li are either love it or hate it, a lot of them fail. I suspect it's because the charging system does not limit charge current to a safe value.

That Scorpion looks good too! Yes I have heard a lot of odd stories about the lithiums. Some great, some bad. I've had one in my DR650 for 4 years and it's awesome. Never charged it, always works.

Its important to run a Lithium charger with these batteries I might add..

Like Les, I run a Ballistic only an 8 cell. Their website site will give you specifics on CCA, dimensions and which size to use. I use the 8 cell on my 1075 at 10.25:1 compression with no issues. I put a new RR unit in the bike to handle the charging since I run 100% LEDs on my bike. Charger wise you can use a regular charger but I strongly suggest one designed for Lithium as they are designed to charge the cells individually.

Size wise they are way smaller so just get the post in the right location and foam the sides and bottom to get in position.

Les Holt