Looking for a Battery recommendation for a 98 Tourer

[MelbourneDan]

This cold snap did my battery in. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Dan

[Ken aka Oil Burner]

Also curious about anybody's recommendations. My 1.5 year old Yuasa has bit the big one as well 

Seems their quality may not be what it once was...

[OLDFRT]

I run an Autocraft Lithium-Ion in my '97 Tourer. And it probably weighs less than 1/3 than a Lead-Acid or AGM battery.

[Chrisj CMA]

I run an Autocraft Lithium-Ion in my '97 Tourer. And it probably weighs less than 1/3 than and Lead-Acid or AGM battery.

Yes. I put this lithium in six months ago and have been very happy with it

[f-Stop]

I went with this lithium from Batteries Plus...



I really like it...amazing cranking power, won't discharge on its own and is supposed to have a longer life than AGM or lead acid.   

[hubcapsc]

Both of my bikes have lithium batteries. The one in the 1500 has been
in there so long (2014?) I feel kinda dumb not changing it out. But it
has a little tester button on it that says "still good!" when I mash it, and it
keeps on turning my bike on, so...

-Mike

[Jess from VA]

You guys with Lithium batteries, please tell us what you charge them with.

Any old charger?  Special ones (cost)?  Battery Tenders OK? 

[hubcapsc]

You guys with Lithium batteries, please tell us what you charge them with.

Any old charger?  Special ones (cost)?  Battery Tenders OK? 

My oldest one only pooped out once, when I had my 1500 up on the
jack for a month doing all kinds of maintenance jobs. One of them was
replacing my quad horns and re-doing my accessory wiring. I was beeping my
quad horns over and over. Finally, when I mashed the tester button on the
battery, it said "not good"... I charged the battery with my ancient el-cheapo
autozone battery charger. That was in 2019.

I've heard stuff about needing some special charger. I don't have a special
alternator either  ...

Battery tenders are scary to me... I think maybe they burned down Britman's
house and Detn8er's bike shed...

-Mike

[Jess from VA]

You guys with Lithium batteries, please tell us what you charge them with.

Any old charger?  Special ones (cost)?  Battery Tenders OK? 

My oldest one only pooped out once, when I had my 1500 up on the
jack for a month doing all kinds of maintenance jobs. One of them was
replacing my quad horns and re-doing my accessory wiring. I was beeping my
quad horns over and over. Finally, when I mashed the tester button on the
battery, it said "not good"... I charged the battery with my ancient el-cheapo
autozone battery charger. That was in 2019.

I've heard stuff about needing some special charger. I don't have a special
alternator either  ...

Battery tenders are scary to me... I think maybe they burned down Britman's
house and Detn8er's bike shed...

-Mike

I don't know about Detn8er's, but I'm pretty sure Paul's fire was with a constant-on trickle charger, not a smart charger with a brain to cycle on and off as the battery needs it (Battery Tenders).  I've run multiples of them for over 15 years with no fire, or damage (other than one or two dying after years of use).  And all my batteries get very good extended life on them. 

Admittedly, I use them in my back yard (2) sheds and not in my house or any attached garage.  Those might still worry me some.

I've seen written materials saying some of these new batteries need special chargers, and other material saying you don't.  If a wrong charger could cause a lithium fire (and they will burn), I'd want to know what charger they require/recommend. 

[Pappy!]

Jess - Remember that the alternator does not know the difference between the lithium and a lead/acid and it charges it just fine.

As for me? I have a Yuasa. Note however that there are different quality levels of Yuasa batteries now apparently. One of the easiest ways to tell is the weight of the battery. the heavier battery will tend to be the better one as it will have more and/or heavier plates in it.

[Jess from VA]

Jess - Remember that the alternator does not know the difference between the lithium and a lead/acid and it charges it just fine.

As for me? I have a Yuasa. Note however that there are different quality levels of Yuasa batteries now apparently. One of the easiest ways to tell is the weight of the battery. the heavier battery will tend to be the better one as it will have more and/or heavier plates in it.

I know that, but I'm not talking about alternator charging, I'm talking about battery charger charging.

This article is what I'm talking about.

https://offroadliving.com.au/blogs/12-volt/can-i-charge-my-lithium-battery-with-a-lead-acid-charger

There are a few sellers out there claiming you can use your existing lead acid charger.  The reality is that there are only a very limited few that will accurately and safely charge a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery correctly and to full states of charge...

Many lead acid chargers have desulphation and equalisation stages built in, which will pulse high voltages of 15.3-15.8V into the battery. This is really important to correctly charge and to maintain lead acid batteries, to avoid stratification of the electrolyte and ensure proper voltage equalization of the cells, but are definitely not suitable for LiFePO4 batteries.   It can heavily reduce the life of the cells due to regular over voltage charging or cause irreversible damage to the battery.

And this:  https://dakotalithium.com/2021/09/22/how-to-charge-dakota-lithium-and-lifepo4-batteries/


I get my batteries from Amazon.  Now, when you search for "Yuasa," you get different choices (though they look the same).  

[Avanti]

The alternator does not know the difference between batteries but the batteries know the difference between charging system types.

Good quality lithium iron phosphate batteries should have a built in Battery Management Systems (BMS), if it does not I would not use it in an alternator charging system.