Hi everyone,

so I fully stript my bike and made a cafe racer of my K1100 lt (1992). Not done yet but almost.
Just need to put all de cables in place and a few other miner thing.

I wanted to ask witch battery you used on your bike and what the pro's and cons are of lithium and a normal gel battery. 

the thing is, there's nothing wrong with the original one but it is just to big to fit in the place where I want.

original battery is: 12V/22Ah   cca: 300A

Don't no if you can lower down any of these numbers to make the battery smaller

dimensen i like to get plus minus is : width x dept x height= 150 x 80 x 100 

thanks,

jensen 



https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/20/11/28/54/img_2712.jpg

https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/20/11/28/54/img_2713.jpg

https://i.servimg.com/u/f21/20/11/28/54/2bcce310.jpg

btw: pics are old 

What happens your bike in winter in the cold?

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:What happens your bike in winter in the cold?

probably put him in my garage and hang him on a charger.

heard indeed that lithium is not so good with cold temperatures? correct?

jensen wrote:

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:What happens your bike in winter in the cold?

probably put him in my garage and hang him on a charger.

heard indeed that lithium is not so good with cold temperatures? correct?

Correct!

jensen wrote:heard indeed that lithium is not so good with cold temperatures? correct?

You're unlikely to find an ordinary battery as small as a lithium ion can be with comparable power, but a lithium ion battery needs a special technique for cold weather starting. Read this. It also needs a special charger.

My 1100 boxer twin eats batteries and I've lost count of how many it's had. If I don't ride it for a month then it won't start without a booster, no matter how new the battery.
Fitted a lithium iron earlier this year, rode it then left it in the shed for 2 months, fired first press. The battery has a good old punch, very impressed. They apparently have very low drain.

Dunno much about the cold weather performance though, but my mate has fitted lithium iron batteries to his bikes and the cold start technique is uncanny - the starter is sluggish, like it's not going to fire, then you leave it a few seconds and the internal resistance of the battery drops (so I'm told) next press spins it right up!

Lots of info out there on both types. The gel or AGM battery are hard to beat for reliability and the ability to jump start a low battery.  Lithium batteries don't give any warning when they are going bad. The charging system in your bike was designed to work with a AGM type battery. So I vote for the AGM type.

Interesting how far battery tech has progressed. Antigravity brand lithium battery

volador wrote:Interesting how far battery tech has progressed. Antigravity brand lithium battery

looks great! do you have a link to tis battery in particular?

https://www.antigravitybatteries-uk.co.uk/small-case-type-batteries/antigravity-battery-ag801.html

???

jensen wrote:

volador wrote:Interesting how far battery tech has progressed. Antigravity brand lithium battery

looks great! do you have a link to tis battery in particular?

https://www.antigravitybatteries-uk.co.uk/small-case-type-batteries/antigravity-battery-ag801.html

???

is this strong enough for my k 1100 lt

I have no info on that battery.
The photo was part of a eBay moto listing. Contact the seller if you have an eBay account

ebay Blacked Out 1991 K100 Cafe

jensen wrote:

looks great! do you have a link to tis battery in particular?

https://www.antigravitybatteries-uk.co.uk/small-case-type-batteries/antigravity-battery-ag801.html

???

is this strong enough for my k 1100 lt

No. The company recommends it for 500cc engines. Believe them. Go to the site and review the products.

"It (a LiON battery) also needs a special charger."


Maybe a dumb question but are these batteries not designed to plug straight into an existing charging system on the bike?  Completely guessing but do they not have an adaptive circuit built in (like an LED bulb that screws into a conventional light fixture)?

Woodie wrote:"It (a LiON battery) also needs a special charger.. . .

That statement was meant to refer to the type of trickle charger used to maintain it  or battery charger used to recharge it.

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:

jensen wrote:

92KK 84WW Olaf wrote:What happens your bike in winter in the cold?

probably put him in my garage and hang him on a charger.

heard indeed that lithium is not so good with cold temperatures? correct?

Correct!

Not correct. Been running a Lithium for 4 years all the year around, France and UK with no winter problems.
Far too much did information about from people who don't use a Lithium but would rather use a mower battery instead. Olaf?

cycleman wrote:Lots of info out there on both types. The gel or AGM battery are hard to beat for reliability and the ability to jump start a low battery.  Lithium batteries don't give any warning when they are going bad. The charging system in your bike was designed to work with a AGM type battery. So I vote for the AGM type.

The charging system of your bike was designed to produce volts. Gel or lithium both use volts. The bike has no idea what sort of battery is fitted.

I use antigravity battery with no problem on my bike

Gr-Racing wrote:I use antigravity battery with no problem on my bike

What's the model number and how long have you been using it?

Laitch wrote:

Gr-Racing wrote:I use antigravity battery with no problem on my bike

What's the model number and how long have you been using it?

Do you need to use a voltage regulator?

https://antigravitybatteries.com/products/starter-batteries/small-case/ag-1201/
AG 12 starts the bike no problem on constant stop and Go kinda days..
I have a battery tender that has lithium mode for the winter when I don't ride as much

jensen wrote:

Laitch wrote:

Gr-Racing wrote:I use antigravity battery with no problem on my bike

What's the model number and how long have you been using it?

Do you need to use a voltage regulator?

The bike comes with a voltage regulator as standard, that is part of the charging system for any battery fitted.
If you use a battery tender then you will need a different one for a lithium battery as they work very differently to the voltage regulator fitted to the bike. Having said that, a lithium battery does not lose charge when just sitting, unlike other batteries. I never use a tender on mine.