Report about your Shorai Lithium Battery in your Tenere

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DSN
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My Tenere is over 2 years old now and I am sure I will be looking for a new battery soon.

I was wanting to know how some of the members that purchased Shorai's liked them on the Tenere and if you noticed any difference over the stock battery performance :question:

A friend installed one about a year ago on a Yamaha XT225 that is notorious for hard to start and cold natured. What a change came over that bike after he installed it. Turned over much faster and started sooner than it always did before. Also seems to hold a full charge for a very long time.
 

NoMorBills

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I hope to hear all good.
My bike started to turn over slow and almost did not start so i
Have on e coming this week.
 

Buzz Ricer

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I love my Shorai. Nothing but good to report with over a year of service. The small size leaves plenty of extra room to stash the wiring harnesses for the gps, radar decector and led lights. Money well spent if you ask me.

Sent from my A110 using Tapatalk
 

Didg

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At over 5 lbs lighter than the standard lead acid battery plus all the other advantages of Li-po's I shall definitely be replacing mine with one when the time comes.
 

RED CAT

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Never had a stock battery last less than 5 years. If it went in 2 years, I'd be pissed. My Stock battery in my XRL lasted 7 years and was still fine when I sold the bike. Same with my GS12. Had it 4 years and the stocker was still working fine.
 

jimbob

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There's a couple really good, informative test/comparison threads over on ADV for those wanting to dive in deep and learn all things lithium related. Some of this testing goes beyond real world conditions but it's interesting to see how one stacks up against the other and how the specs/ratings differ between the manufacturers. There's lots of good (probably even better) alternatives to the Shorai...

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=770364

http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=757934
 

NoMorBills

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Mzee said:
What about putting back the original battery that came with the Tenere?
My initial thought too. So while at the Yamaha parts counter, yes I still go and support my local dealer, my trusted parts guy shows me a Shoira. I thought he handed me a blank case it was so light

Then I ask about the price diff. The stock was about the same price
So I went with the techy one.
 

escapefjrtist

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Lots of discussion on other Forum's regarding very hard starting at temps < 40F. Before considering a Shorai, do some research and see if the cold weather performance works for your situation. If it does great. For me, it's not worth the risk of having a no-start or need to "warm" up the battery with load before the bike will (hopefully) start.

YMMV

--G
 

Reveille

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I used lithium batteries for the past 3 years and am back to using lead acid. I went through 2 very expensive Lithiums before learning my lesson. Very poor when temps below 40 deg F and both of the ones I had self destructed internally. They were 8 cell Ballistic EVO 2's. Stay away from the EVO's. Ballistic pro rates the warranty but they mark up the MSRP so getting a replacement costs the same as a new one. EarthX seems to be doing well too. I hear better things about the Shoai but the technology has serious flaws IMHO. YMMV I look forward the a better battery technology in the future, but until then it will be lead acid for me.
 

~TABASCO~

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Hey Bruce,

I got one and like it... Just like the other folks have said, the size and power are great... I've no issue with cold mornings and it fires right up.. Its a lot smaller than stock....
 

Dirt_Dad

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I put an Antigravity Lithium battery in my WR. Have not gone though a cold season with it yet. The company says the following about cold batteries:

… when lithium is extremely cold it will suffer from initially sluggish performance until it is warmed up. The battery self warms with short start attempts by discharging amperage which cause it to self-warm and soon get it’s full power back, but it must be pointed out that Snowmobiles are often ridden in these extreme temperatures and must consider this Cold Lag issue.

I'm not sure what they consider "extreme" cold, and I'm not positive how long the warming cycle takes. It would probably dissuade me from using one in the Tenere.
 

Karson

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I've started mine several times below freezing this year already (25 was the lowest), and for a warming cycle just switched the bike on and turned on my squadrons while I put my helmet and gloves on. Never had an issue.

If it gets any colder I'll probably plug my heated jacket in and let it start pumping heat before I turn the bike over...

What'll happen if you don't warm it up is it'll turn over reeealy slow and eventually not crank anymore after two or the engine revolutions, but the second time it will have more than enough amperage to get the S10 started...
 

Curt

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On a recent trip to Bridgeport, CA, a friend had a Shorai in his Aprilia RST1000. Temps had been down to 9degF over night with frost on our seats. His bike wouldn't turn over in the morning. Someone told him to run the headlights for 5 minutes to warm the battery internally through high current draw. Then it started right up.

Lithium iron may have some niche advantages, but I wouldn't want to dick around with things like that while out on a trip.
 

Doug C

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Switched to Shorai May 2012 before the trip to Alaska as I had little confidence in the original battery. Ride year round in temps down to freezing no problems at all. Battery voltage after sitting for two weeks with original lead acid battery often down to 12.2 volts and required a charge before riding. The Shorai sits for a month when I'm away and is never below 13.3 volts has not required any additional charging. Cost was about 20$ more than oem battery. So far so good.
 

creggur

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Karson said:
I've started mine several times below freezing this year already (25 was the lowest), and for a warming cycle just switched the bike on and turned on my squadrons while I put my helmet and gloves on. Never had an issue.

If it gets any colder I'll probably plug my heated jacket in and let it start pumping heat before I turn the bike over...

What'll happen if you don't warm it up is it'll turn over reeealy slow and eventually not crank anymore after two or the engine revolutions, but the second time it will have more than enough amperage to get the S10 started...
Just want to make sure I understand this, as my factory battery is getting a bit weak, and am considering this as an option: in extreme cold you have to draw on the battery to get it up to full strength?

I don't care to understand the chemical reaction behind it, just want to ensure I understand what you're saying here...

Thanks.
 

Don in Lodi

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It's the warmth of the draw on the really cold battery that gets things chemically reacting. So yeah, you have to load the battery to get to full charge... ???
 

snakebitten

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This thread has done a 180 on me.

Early on it revealed why I would NOT change to this battery. A battery is just something I don't want to NEED to know anything about.
Adding a "process" in cold weather turned me completely off.

But now I find out that this technology actually holds its charge better over time?

Ok, that changes things.

So I got to thinking, with lead acid and camping, I'm reluctant to charge cell phones or tablets overnight with the motorcycle battery. God forbid I'm in a tent in some remote location. But, are you saying it would actually be a good thing to charge a phone on a cold night? It would HELP the battery do it's primary job of starting the bike!

Is this flawed thinking?

By the way, I have forgotten I left the cell phone on charge overnight and the lead acid oem battery was fine. But, it wasn't that cold.
 

avc8130

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Snake,

The LiFe batteries do better at maintaining charge with NO load on them. They lose charge slower than lead.

The LiFe need a SIGNIFICANT load to get the chemical reaction going when cold. I doubt your cell phone would help.

If you want to charge your cell phone, I would just charge it while riding. OR, wire in a 2nd small batter to charge while riding and then live off that over night.

ac
 
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