Lithium Battery Question

Moved this post to electrical. Don't know how it jumped to Carburetor.

Rick H.

You need to look at the specs for the battery you intend to use, They have more ridged charging requirements and require a special battery tender if you use one. My FZ came with a Shorai Lithium battery and it works fine, but if I want to put a tender on it then it is safer to use their special one. If I were you I would just get an AGM battery, that is what I put in my KZ. They work well, are a bunch cheaper than lithium and are not as sensitive to charging voltage or method.

Shorai Batteries require a charging system output of 13.1 Volts or higher at idle and must not exceed 15.2 volts at maximum output.

So I was at the Harley dealer the other day and I saw a Lithium battery they had for sale. I was surprised by how lightweight the battery was and wondered if one of these could be used in a KZ-1000. I came home and did some research here on the forum and was lead down a twisted road of suggestions, ideas and many comments that clearly lost me in the translation. So I will ask a simple question, can a lithium battery be used on a KZ-1000 without doing any modification to the existing charging system? I don't want to fix something that isn't broken, or chance creating a major malfunction, so messing with the wiring is not an option. Electricity is a funny subject and I am not an electrician, my name isn't Sparky. Thanks for any thoughts on this in advance.
Rick H.

There isn't a simple go/no-go answer (and I don't recommend for or against)... but coincidentally, I just saw a post today online about a Shorai lithium that blew up, completely open, on a guys Kz650 while riding. That didn't look pretty, but there was no fire (fire is a common problem with the lithium's on motorcycles, at least more so than lead).

I think you'd be alright by just swapping in a Shorai LFX battery that is spec'd for your bike. I'm fairly certain that they are designed to work with the charging system on your bike (as OldJeep sorta mentioned). People have had no issues without making any changes to the bike.

I took the safe route and swapped the Regulator/Rectifier with a special one that I bought from Rick's motorsports that keeps the voltage at around 14.1V +/-0.2V. I think the stock R/R is similar - just a larger range.

The LiFe-Po batteries that Shorai offers are allegedly more stable than a Li-ion battery that you hear about exploding.

Obviously many of you are far more educated on electrical systems than I am. I started my mechanical and electrical experience working with generators on cars and I still recall having to polarize regulators and such. I had not heard of lithium batteries blowing up in motorcycles, but it certainly gives pause when one has a nice old vintage motorcycle that he wants to keep nice. It was just a thought in my head that the weight savings of the lithium battery would be a real advantage, but now I am not so sure. The cost for the Harley battery I looked at was pretty substantial too, like $229.00 substantial. I will put this on the back burner for now, but thanks for the replies gentlemen.

Rick H.

I've tried to jump on the lithium bandwagon twice now. I am glad to have escaped with my garage intact.

I bought the battery tender lithium battery which was expensive but very small and light and also the battery tender charger designed for the new battery.

Battery failed within a year. Dead as a hammer. I saw that battery tender stopped selling that unit and many of their "first gen" lithium batteries.

Then the charger failed about two months later. Went on a long email chain with their customer service, which ended with them saying the battery and the charger were not under warranty and tough monkeys.

I've had really good luck with the cheap, and conventional Wal Mart batteries, FYI.

The LiFe-Po battery i bought for 100 Euros is in use on stock Regulator and starting my bike so easy.
Stock battery = 4,90 Kg
LiFe-Po battery = 0,90 Kg
any questions???

What happens is these bikes were designed many years ago with relatively crude but simple and inexpensive voltage regulator/rectifiers, way before the lithium batteries existed, and the voltage regulation is not very steady, which the lithium battery won't take kindly. It will run the bike, but wide ranging voltage would degrade the battery rather sooner.

I own a '91 Zephyr 750 (newer repack of the old KZ750), have a digital voltmeter permanently on the bike, and could see the voltage would swing between 14VDC and as high as 15VDC occasionally.

Because of my interest in the Lithium battery, I decided to install a Shindengen SH775 series regulator/rectifier, and this one really keeps the voltage between 13.8vdc and 14.2 vdc according with the digital voltmeter. I could have a lithium battery with this kind of regulation, but otherwise, I would rather not risk it.

Great looking bike Scirocco! But could the registration plate be any bigger? I would be afraid wind lift would take effect and raise the back of the bike at speed....LOL!

Rick H.

It´s the minimum size for a german motorcycle licence plate 200 x 200 cm in the mid 90th.
Today the minimum size is 180 x 200 cm!!! what a Progress!!!
The licence plate rules are very strictly regulated like this Video Shows:



Some letter combinations like KZ, SS, SA, SH, AH, HH, HJ are a no go and are on the ban list, you know what i mean.

But on the other side you can turn your throttle grip up to the Limit street legal on the german Autobahn if i want traveling fast.

All quite interesting. What meaning do the tags or decals have on your registration plates?
Rick H.