[chad-ANTIGRAVITYLITHIUMBATTERIES]

Hey Everyone! Chad w/Antigravity Batteries here. We just wanted to reach out and keep an open line to those of you who have been using lithium batteries, may have been considering using a lithium battery and haven't yet or even those who may not have considered it but find yourself asking, Is a lithium battery right for me?

While the battery itself has been around forever and a day it can easily be overlooked as a component. We’ve been putting out our Lithium Batteries for roughly the last decade and we come across plenty of people who still don’t know too much about this as an option, are mis-informed, or that have a lot of questions regarding the application. We’d like to offer this topic/thread as a place for those with questions as well as to continue to educate and offer advice to help those that would like it. We’d also be happy to follow up with posts focusing on specific topics such as charging, what role capacity plays, pros vs cons…etc. We hope you’ll find this helpful as well as a great resource to utilize.

One might ask, “Isn’t a battery just a battery regardless of the composition, isn’t it’s only function just to provide power?” While that’s only part of the truth, what we really want to get across is that Lithium batteries specifically have different characteristics when compared to lead/acid and cannot necessarily be treated as the same nor should you look for the same results...the whole point is about finding out what's going to work best for your application and as with any decision making process, one of the best ways to start is to first ask yourself “What am I looking to accomplish?” Even with a battery you can have a multitude of different answers but once you’ve defined that (it may be a very simple answer) you can start asking your follow up questions. “What are my options to choose from and what features are available? What do I need for compatibility? Will I need any additional equipment? How much am I okay spending? Will this help me achieve the end result I’m looking for?” The list can easily go on but just be sure to ask and answer all the questions you need to.

We encourage you to reach out to us with those questions even if they fall outside the norm and go into other applications as we cover everything from racing, to street to off road and we've expanded our batteries over the years from our original OEM line to now include our Re-Start series, HD options and even options for the Automotive segment with some brand new ground breaking features.

So those of you that use lithium, tell us what your main reasons were for doing so, and for those who haven't tell us what might be keeping you from doing so? We look forward to hearing from you and helping you get the results you’re looking for. Keep Riding!!
Chad
[email protected]

 

[Pard]

My 4 reasons to use the Antigravity Lithium Battery:

1. Freedom from the battery tender compared to OEM
2. Massive weight reduction compared to OEM
3. Antigravity's re-start feature that prevents battery over-discharge.
4. Two sets of battery terminals makes wiring accessories so much easier.

 

[Rex Coil 7]

My 4 reasons to use the Antigravity Lithium Battery:

1. Freedom from the battery tender compared to OEM
2. Massive weight reduction compared to OEM
3. Antigravity's re-start feature that prevents battery over-discharge.
4. Two sets of battery terminals makes wiring accessories so much easier.

Roger that!!!!


(I bought one of your batts, Chad ... AT12-BS ... about a month back, shipped to Yuma, Az ... it came with a cute little rechargeable lamp/light as well!!).

I recently bought a 1996 900CR from a private seller. The topic of Lithium Ion batteries came up during the transaction, and the seller was absolutely certain that the motorcycle would catch fire and blow up while riding it down the freeway, or the battery would catch fire while the bike was parked in the garage if a lithium battery were to be installed.

I didn't want to get into some argument with someone clearly ignorant about how Lithium Ion batteries work, and why judging them by stories of poorly engineered smart phones and their failures was a poorly thought through approach.

Smart phone batteries tend to have heat dissipation problems due to the poorly engineered attempts at trying to pack far to much stored energy into too small a package (causing lack of ability to dissipate heat issues). So I just pretended to be wide eyed and grateful for his sage advise and obvious wisdom.

... ~Ahem~ ...


:laugh:

The only thing I've been advised to do (that I find to be reasonable) regarding preparing my 24 year old bike to use a L-Ion battery was to replace the stock old tech voltage regulator (diode equipped rectifier) with a more modern MOSFET equipped VR. The MOSFET type offer more stable voltage output, which I guess help to make the L-Ion batts live longer when paired up with that type of VR.

I also replaced the stock 24 year old battery cables with brand new multi-strand heavy gauge cables. Y'know, just cuz.


:wink2:



.

 

[hypermo]

I have been using one of your batteries for 4 years now on my Hyper 1100s
the bike sits w/o being ridden for 3-4 months every year and i have never
had a discharge issue. Plus with the battery high up under the seat the
light weight was good reason to go with it also.

 

[whitelotus]

I installed the small Panigale Antigravity Lithium battery on my Monster S4RS recently. Freed up some extra space under the tank, saved about 10lbs from the shite Walmart battery that was on it and the bike cranks up quickly every time. Couldn’t be happier. Antigravity makes a great product, and is made in the USA!

 

[Kalyx]

My main reason for going Lithium was simply raw, CCA. It gets cold in the Aps, and even with cable mods, the Monster can be a stubborn bitch! The lack of maintenance is great, and the weight savings is a nice perk. This bike doesn't race, so the latter was not the most important factor in my purchase.

 

[DrSpencer]

My 2018 959 Corse came stock with a lithium Ion battery.

I immediately bought a Deltran tender that can be selected for Lithium Ion or Acid batteries: http://products.batterytender.com/Chargers/PN-021-0199-DL-WH.html

I put the bike on the tender all winter, never giving it a second thought.

I'm now discovering that Lithium Ion batteries don't like to be charged in freezing temperatures, and can even explode when doing so.

Can I leave this battery plugged into the tender all winter, with Northeastern temps frequently dipping below freezing, for extended periods?

Thanks

 

[UKSteve]

Fitted a Lithium Ion battery for this summer's European tour, was about time the bike had a new battery. Choose one for the weight saving as I load the 1000DS with gear for the tour and wanted to combat that really.

I have a twin USB output with digital volt reading, it consistently read 13.3v in the mornings. I charged the phone a couple of times while parked and reading went to 12.8v each time, bike started fine, then I charged a phone and a power bank while parked camping, reading went down to 12.8v again but went to start the bike and pretty much nothing. Slight hill at the campsite and bump starting it easy enough wasn't worried.

So seems it's a caricature of these batteries where they get to a point of discharge and then diminish rapidly. Just to be aware but happy I bought it.

 

[duc96cr]

My questions : 1) if lithium batteries are sensitive to charging , why would using one in a bike with an old style charging system not be a bad combination ?
2) Would a Lithium battery be a good thing in a Positive Ground motorcycle like an old Triumph ? I do have a Podtronics voltage regulator I’m going to install.
3) Clarify the temperature issue I keep reading about. I live in Michigan. Much of the year it’s below 60f in the morning. Over the winter it can get below 0 . Is an electric start bike, especially one that cranks slow like a Ducati, going to start reliably when temperature is below 55f ?

 

[Rex Coil 7]

Fitted a Lithium Ion battery for this summer's European tour, was about time the bike had a new battery. Choose one for the weight saving as I load the 1000DS with gear for the tour and wanted to combat that really.

I have a twin USB output with digital volt reading, it consistently read 13.3v in the mornings. I charged the phone a couple of times while parked and reading went to 12.8v each time, bike started fine, then I charged a phone and a power bank while parked camping, reading went down to 12.8v again but went to start the bike and pretty much nothing. Slight hill at the campsite and bump starting it easy enough wasn't worried.

So seems it's a caricature of these batteries where they get to a point of discharge and then diminish rapidly. Just to be aware but happy I bought it.

Perhaps a Lithium Ion battery with the "restart" feature the Anti Gravity units have would be more to your liking and needs? The Anti Gravity batt I bought is equipped with that feature. They also offer that feature that uses a key fob type remote button that accesses the "restart" capability so you don't have to gain physical access to the battery to engage the "restart" feature.

RESTART INFO PAGE LINK = https://antigravitybatteries.com/products/starter-batteries/restart-oem/at12-bs-rs/


Short information video regarding their Restart feature (1:48 minutes):

 

[chad-ANTIGRAVITYLITHIUMBATTERIES]

Hey guys, I'm so sorry I missed these replies as it appears I never saw notifications on the thread.

So, cold weather.....lithium tends to run a little sluggish and experiences more resistance in colder weather...think closer to 32%-40% when you get closer to freezing. Now does the mean your battery just wont work in these temps? Not at all...Once the battery is drawn off of it will start to self warm and within a couple minutes be able to output full potential. Pulling off the starter, turning on lights or other accessories are a couple ways to accomplish this.

In regards to charging, if the bike is going to sit for an extended amount of time you would do the same scenario before charging it just so it's self warmed internally. If you're winterizing and thinking about just leaving it on a tender, don't, as there is no need to leave it plugged in continuously (unless something absolutely has to stay energized on the bike) The best and easiest thing to do is just disconnect it. Lithium has an extremely slow discharge rate so sitting for months is no problem as long as there isn't a draw.

Applications in older bike/systems....this can be okay but here's the rub, I don't think this was the case with ducatis but a lot of older bikes from the 70's-80's used mechanical regulators which when they fail can stick, causing spikes of voltage to the charging system which lithium is not a fan of...and while the newer batteries have protections against over charging, it's there as a safety feature and not a permanent solution and continuous over charge could eventually damage the internal circuitry. In these cases it's best to update to a solid state regulator and you want your voltage output to be between 13v-14.5 or so...as long as your there you're good!

I'm wondering if UKSteve was already using a 'Re-Start" model and if the protections were kicking in and putting the battery into sleep mode due to the draw? Bump starting would provide a 12v burst that would wake the battery so that could have been what was happening here...

again, my sincere apologies for missing some of these posts. If you have guys every have any questions always feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected] as I'll be sure to see those messages.

Be sure to check out the link below for the holidays as well!
Thanks everyone!
-Chad

Biggest Black Friday Sale from Antigravity Batteries!

www.ducati.ms