Lithium battery advice and review

[Joel The Biker]

I upgraded the battery on my spyder to a lithium battery. It is $230 but is extremely lightweight (I thought the box was empty) and is about 1/3 the size. It last 4x longer than lead acid batteries also. If you buy one, it comes with foam spacers. Use 2 thick spacers on the bottom and 1 thick spacer on the top of the battery. Also, keep the RED plastic cover for the + side and cut the end off so you can keep it on the battery and protect from shorts. You can cut the top foam to fit the spyder battery clamp also. DO NOT install the battery with no foam on top of the battery. The battery clamp will short it out! If you don't feel comfortable, please have an experienced person do it. This battery is awesome!IMG_20210323_133757565.jpg

[jcthorne]

Lots of folks have tried these over the years in Spyders. They do not last long. The Spyder charging system is programmed for an AGM battery.

Also while they have the cranking amps, they do not have much reserve capacity so be very careful of vampire loads that drain the battery while is sits. Spyders have a few inherent ones anyway.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Lots of folks have tried these over the years in Spyders. They do not last long. The Spyder charging system is programmed for an AGM battery.

Also while they have the cranking amps, they do not have much reserve capacity so be very careful of vampire loads that drain the battery while is sits. Spyders have a few inherent ones anyway.

... the problems of using the Lithium battery has been discussed on this forum for a few years ...... good luck ... Mike

[Navydad]

I have Antigravity brand Lithiums in my bikes and couldn't be happier. I have the ones with the shut off feature that keeps the battery from discharging to far to start the vehicle.

[BertRemington]

I went with the Shorai LFX36L3-BS12 but I also installed a voltmeter.
Dash Front.jpg
Very nice fit. As I recall I used a medium-thick foam pad on the bottom of the battery. I bent the two tangs on the holddown plate flat so there is no risk of shorts.

[aklim]

I went with the Shorai LFX36L3-BS12 but I also installed a voltmeter.
Dash Front.jpg
Very nice fit. As I recall I used a medium-thick foam pad on the bottom of the battery. I bent the two tangs on the holddown plate flat so there is no risk of shorts.

Do you have a picture of what you did? I am ordering the battery today. The OEM has waves on the side and has issues charging with 3 different Noco chargers. TIA

[RayBJ]

Caveat Emptor. I bought a new Lithium battery for my '20 RT soon after getting the RT mostly to gain room in the battery compartment. Even fully charged, it barely cranked the engine and failed to start. All the specs were higher than the OEM but couldn't handle the load. I returned the Li and re-installed the OEM battery.

[Lew L]

.

I've had a Shoria in my poor, old slow V-Max for 5+ years. Always on their charger in the off season. Always starts and run great. SOOO lite, weighs nothing compared to the large stock battery.

Would I put one in my NO............

Lew L

Lew L

[Raven]

Lithium batteries are not fond of cold weather. Guys I know turn on their lights, flashers for a few minutes anything that draws currant, to wake up the battery.
One friend almost lost his bike when the battery shorted out while riding.

[Joel The Biker]

No issues with mine. Run whatever you want.

[Raven]

Everyone goes on about how light they are, it's 600lb or more machine. A few pounds is not going to make much of a difference.
Besides if we all skipped a few cheesebugers, it would make more of a weight savings and save even more cash LOL

[aklim]

Made a huge difference for me when I had to pull 2 batteries out of the Jetskis. Light item can be easily manipulated in that weird angle. I don't think weight is an issue for a 3 wheels but 2,probably. Still, if the thing has better cranking, it might be worth it.

[BertRemington]

Shortly after purchasing my 77K mile Spyder I replaced the battery with a Shorai LFX36L3-BS12. I live in SoCal so cold cranking wasn't an issue. I installed the voltmeter because many posts said the Spyder was sensitive to battery performance. My resting voltage was 13.2, starting voltage never below 12 and charging voltage 14.4 all within Shorai specs. Note that Shorai is an LiFePO4 chemistry which is the safest available and I'm replacing the voltmeter with a more interesting clock.

My Spyder came with some sort of frunk liner (I think BRP's) which seemed useless so when I found a new LFX36L3-BS12 on eBay at a super price I removed it and installed a second Shorai https://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/...=1#post1610997

PS It's a good thing you have an F3 because your girlfriend wouldn't fit behind you on an RT.

[UtahPete]

.

I've had a Shoria in my poor, old slow V-Max for 5+ years. Always on their charger in the off season. Always starts and run great. SOOO lite, weighs nothing compared to the large stock battery.

Would I put one in my NO............

Lew L

Lew L

Why not, Lew?

[Lew L]

.

I did it for the weight loss on the poor, old, slow V-Max as it's over weight. The isn't.

[UtahPete]

I upgraded the battery on my spyder to a lithium battery. It is $230 but is extremely lightweight (I thought the box was empty) and is about 1/3 the size. It last 4x longer than lead acid batteries also. If you buy one, it comes with foam spacers. Use 2 thick spacers on the bottom and 1 thick spacer on the top of the battery. Also, keep the RED plastic cover for the + side and cut the end off so you can keep it on the battery and protect from shorts. You can cut the top foam to fit the spyder battery clamp also. DO NOT install the battery with no foam on top of the battery. The battery clamp will short it out! If you don't feel comfortable, please have an experienced person do it. This battery is awesome!IMG_20210323_133757565.jpg

What brand and model is this?

[UtahPete]

. I've had a Shoria in my poor, old slow V-Max for 5+ years. Always on their charger in the off season. Always starts and run great. SOOO lite, weighs nothing compared to the large stock battery. Lew L

Lew, do you have a voltmeter on your V-Max? I'm wondering if the charging system on our bikes, which were originally designed for Lead-Acid AGM, is compatible with LiFePO4 batteries; that is, whether it keeps the voltage up over 13v? Proper LiFePO4 chargers are designed to go over 14volts charging, then maintain over 13volts. I know this only from my solar panel projects on my Scamp and Lee-Sure Lite.

Ebbetts Pass.jpg

[UtahPete]

Has anyone tried the NOCO brand of lithium powersports battery? Seems to be as good as Shorai in specs, but less expensive ... https://no.co/nlp20

[Lew L]

Lew, do you have a voltmeter on your V-Max? I'm wondering if the charging system on our bikes, which were originally designed for Lead-Acid AGM, is compatible with LiFePO4 batteries; that is, whether it keeps the voltage up over 13v? Proper LiFePO4 chargers are designed to go over 14volts charging, then maintain over 13volts. I know this only from my solar panel projects on my Scamp and Lee-Sure Lite.

Ebbetts Pass.jpg

Yes, and the poor old thing does charge at over 14 V...

That is a great picture we've got right there.........

Lew L

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Has anyone tried the NOCO brand of lithium powersports battery? Seems to be as good as Shorai in specs, but less expensive ... https://no.co/nlp20

Thanks Pete ..... I checked the LINK and was impressed ( especially with that price ).... Until I saw it only had 7 AH ( I don't trust what they claim it's equivalent to ) .... and it won't fit in the Spyder ... it's too WIDE by 1/2 inch...... good luck .... Mike

[UtahPete]

Thanks Pete ..... I checked the LINK and was impressed ( especially with that price ).... Until I saw it only had 7 AH ( I don't trust what they claim it's equivalent to ) .... and it won't fit in the Spyder ... it's too WIDE by 1/2 inch...... good luck .... Mike

Mike, I had the same reaction on the AH, but didn't realize it was too wide. I got my Shorai yesterday and will install it today. The specs on the Spyder charging system (min and max charging voltage) are well within required range for Lithium so that's not an issue. But, I discovered my onboard charger/maintainer (NOCO Genius 2D) is not compatible with lithium, so I'll have to get something which is. I have 4 of these on board chargers, so I'll be selling 3 of them soon.

[hypurone]

But, I discovered my onboard charger/maintainer (NOCO Genius 2D) is not compatible with lithium, so I'll have to get something which is. I have 4 of these on board chargers, so I'll be selling 3 of them soon.

I am using the Deltran unit on my Shorai ( and everything else that I have) and never a problem... I even called Deltran to make sure they were OK for a LiFePo unit and they said

[Lew L]

Mike, I had the same reaction on the AH, but didn't realize it was too wide. I got my Shorai yesterday and will install it today. The specs on the Spyder charging system (min and max charging voltage) are well within required range for Lithium so that's not an issue. But, I discovered my onboard charger/maintainer (NOCO Genius 2D) is not compatible with lithium, so I'll have to get something which is. I have 4 of these on board chargers, so I'll be selling 3 of them soon.

So Pete,

Keep us all posted on how the Li battery works out in your over the YEARS. I know the one in my poor, old, slow V-Max ( someone took me seriously, I know sarcasm is the lowest form of humor, but I can be good at it.. thus the emoji ) has been working fine for YEARS.

Lew L

[UtahPete]

I am using the Deltran unit on my Shorai ( and everything else that I have) and never a problem... I even called Deltran to make sure they were OK for a LiFePo unit and they said

After some more research, I discovered that with Shorai anyway, the Deltran and NOCO will be okay. Apparently neither of them has a high-voltage desulfation mode, which is what Shorai warn about. So, I'm going to keep my NOCO Genius2D onboard units.

[UtahPete]

So Pete,

Keep us all posted on how the Li battery works out in your over the YEARS. I know the one in my poor, old, slow V-Max ( someone took me seriously, I know sarcasm is the lowest form of humor, but I can be good at it.. thus the emoji ) has been working fine for YEARS.

Lew L

Lew, I just now finished up the installation and it fired right up! No flickering of dash lights, dimming of headlights, prolonged cranking. This after 6 months in storage (the Spyder not the battery, which of course is deader than a proverbial doornail). Shorai batteries rock!