Ok, the install,,,,,, Very easy if you don't mind doing a poor quality job.

I for one was not happy with the use of the factory tray. As you can see from pics above the battery is Smaller.

This means the strap is to long. Ok, lets place foam under it to raise it 1-5/8 to the same level as stock and place 3/4 inch of foam in front. Sloppy sloppy sloppy. What about foam on top as well? Anyway you guys get the point.(now in a bad mood) I almost said fuck it and place duct tape around it with some tie wraps and called it a day.

Wiring; Negative goes to the front of the battery and deep to the back of the tray. Make sure you did not install the 3/4 piece of foam on the wrong side as I did. If so take it back out and play lego with your foam pieces of crap,,,,again, ahhhh.

Wiring Positive: careful, careful, shape your red wire FIRST as the terminal is Cheap like reported above thread. Booooooo

Now pull your strap over the top of the factory guard and pray your foam does not fall out while doing so. If so, repeats steps one to a million all over again and again.

Sorry guys 4 the Rant but this is a really shitty way of doing things, not a big fan of this kind of butchery.

Now for the good news. Push the button. Instantly starts. Repeat test again again. She is Mint. Love it.

I will fix my bull shit install this summer but for now I just want to see if this battery works tomorrow. Garage temp is 33F. The bike is cold and the battery temp 72F. If she starts after tonight All Good.

Before I started the job I tried to start with the turntech lol Not a chance.

* Last updated by: Romans on 1/20/2011 @ 7:24 PM *

So so far so good, huh?

After all the foam BS, do you atleast feel that the Shorai is "adequatley" secured... ie, not gonna move?

I know you'll figure out a trick way to secure it, but lot of guys are gonna want plug 'n play.

Stayin' tuned for tomorrows update.

do you atleast feel that the Shorai is "adequatley" secured... ie, not gonna move?

Ya it's fine. Just put me in a bad frame of mind. I don't do work like that.

One other note she turns overmuch faster than Stock, wow. If you run out of gas this thing may push you at 30 mph on the starter, Weeee. I'll be fine in a hour. lol

One other note she turns overmuch faster than Stock, wow. If you run out of gas this thing may push you at 30 mph on the starter, Weeee. I'll be fine in a hour. lol

LOL...I thought you 'd like it Romans, it sure sounds good when that puppy cranks through fast like that don't it? Cold cranking amps does not appear to be an issue with these batteries! Sorry to hear you had so much trouble on the installation, the CBR was like 30 minutes and everything fit very snug with the supplied foam rubber. Only real issue I had was the positive cable runs straight to the relay and is only a couple inches long. Since the battery is smaller and the terminals are closer together than the stocker I had to kink the positive cable a bit to get it to line up with the + terminal. Other than that it went fairly smooth and I could swear I can tell the difference in weight when I pitch it into a corner. It just feels more agile and lively....placebo effect maybe but I like it!

I guess you make a good point, these batteries are not a direct drop in replacement for the stock battery, it's going to take a little bit of fitting on your part, as Romans has so aptly pointed out. Shorai supplies you with 5mm, 10mm and 20mm sheet foam with adhesive backing to make the battery fit snugly into the box; if you're a perfectionist, it's going to take a little time to get the foam cut and applied to the box and get the cables to lay right across the terminals. I think it's well worth it though. I went to crank my ZX-14 Wednesday and it sounded like the VTX and CBR did last month right before their batteries crapped out. I checked the maintenance log and this battery was installed new in October of 2009, barely 15 months old and getting slow. No more lead/acid for me, yes they are cheap but it seems like I'm replacing batteries every few months on something. These Shorai's are warrantied for two years and they cannot sulfate....yea!

Ok here's a great shot of the terminals to compare. The Shorais are a bit light as you can see compared to a Yuasa terminal which is nuke proof. I think their gonna be fine but I sometimes like to strong arm fasteners and these you don't want to do that on.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 1/24/2011 @ 12:11 PM *

kruz i wasnt raggin on u bud i just couldnt believe that they put a torque value in the instructions. hell maybe all battries come with torque specs i wouldnt know never have read the instructions its a freakin batt lol probably something they have to state to cover their asses for the people snapping the posts off. but i understand what your saying about the misprint youd think they would have proof read their instructions before they had a million copies printed up

I'm OK scotjykl, just a bit touchy over this whole thing with the torque specs. Here are some of my thoughts on these new batteries. I think the concept is awesome, by every possible metric this new LiFeP04 technology is superior to the ancient lead/acid stuff, those should be in museums. I think Shorai did a great job on producing a quality product in most ways but there's always room for improvement.

The terminals should be heavier and a different design. Look at the Yuasa, it is a thick walled closed section design. The Shorai terminal is much less than half the thickness and is an open section which allows it to twist as you apply fastener torque.

Precut foam spacers to fit the battery box for each application would have been a nice touch rather than a do-it-yourself stack of foam sheets. They need to make this more of a drop in replacement for the OEM battery IMHO. I predict these batteries will eventually replace the lead acid in OEM applications, they're just too superior not to.

OK Dogo, you're next up buddy!

Kruz

* Last updated by: Kruz on 1/24/2011 @ 12:13 PM *

When a bike is designed, they make the battery compartment/tray/holdowns/wires fit the battery they intend to put in the stock bike. There is no way a battery company is going to design there batteries to fit every bike that the battery could possibly go in. As long as the battery fits in the compartment, the rest is up to you.....

Rook, what I was thinking more along the lines of was a molded foam rubber battery tray insert with the outside dimensions of the original battery and a recess on the inside the exact dimensions of the Shorai. You press the foam rubber insert into the battery tray and slide the Shorai into the recess and fasten the OEM strap. Simple, neat, elegant and quick. It might add a couple bucks to the price of the battery but so what? The strips of foam rubber approach they chose is a little bit of a pain but it works for me. I'll never see the installation unless I have the seat off and as long as it's light and starts my bike evertime I'm a happy camper.

OK Dogo, you're next up buddy!

Just checked FedEx... says "out for delivery".

They usually don't deliver here until late evening. Getting together with the family tomorrow, so Sunday will be the day. Weather forecast even looks good!

Geez...now we gotta wait for you also?I just got my 43 steel.Sweet!

Just checked FedEx... says "out for delivery".

They usually don't deliver here until late evening. Getting together with the family tomorrow, so Sunday will be the day. Weather forecast even looks good!

The suspense is killing me....full installation and ride report expected on my desk by 0800 Monday morning. Be careful, that thing will stand up now in the first three gears!

Geez...now we gotta wait for you also?

Haven't you heard, good things come to those who wait....

* Last updated by: Kruz on 1/21/2011 @ 1:49 PM *

full installation and ride report expected on my desk by 0800 Monday morning. Be careful, that thing will stand up now in the first three gears!

Cold, wet roads with de-icer and gravel = I'll be takin' it easy. Been dare, dun dat. Got da t-shirt.

Geez...now we gotta wait for you also?

* Last updated by: DogoZX on 1/21/2011 @ 2:53 PM *

14 amp Shoria... straight out of the freezer and into the zx14... IT WORKS!

HERE IS THE VID.

more to come...

* Last updated by: DogoZX on 1/25/2011 @ 2:42 AM *

Great Link. Vid tells all. Your dash tells me all I need to see. Looks like the turn tech mid summer.

If you guys are looking all you really need is the 14A. Fresh out the Freezer,,,, SWEET,,,. Good info Dog, Cheers.

Five Star, Buy one.

Great Link. Vid tells all. Your dash tells me all I need to see. Looks like the turn tech mid summer.

If you guys are looking all you really need is the 14A. Fresh out the Freezer,,,, SWEET,,,. Good info Dog, Cheers.

Yep... fresh outta the freezer... thing was so cold that there was steam coming off of it in the 40 degree F garage!

Freezer temp is on the left... 0 degrees F. The batt was in there for 2 hours, and the bike had not been started for a month.

BTW... 34 is the temp of my beer.

* Last updated by: DogoZX on 1/21/2011 @ 7:54 PM *

Ok, I took a lot of pics. You guys probably don't need to see them all. As said, the vid tells ya most of what you should need to know, but here are some pics.

The 14 amp and 18 amp Shorai's are the exact same dimensions.

Showing how much foam it takes to bring Shorai to the Height of the stock batt. The Shorai comes with lots.

Total weight of 18 amp Shorai with foam, tray, cover w/ strap.

14 amp ready for test fire.

18 amp final install.

Cool thing... built in port for Shorai charger... too bad they are not available yet.

Not as cool...

* Last updated by: DogoZX on 1/21/2011 @ 9:02 PM *

Well...can't have everything I guess.Gettin to look more like "assembled in Mexico"...made in USA.
???????Okay...wth.Good one Dogo-glad you guys got some good deals there.Guess I'll have to follow along.Soon......

Rook, what I was thinking more along the lines of was a molded foam rubber battery tray insert with the outside dimensions of the original battery and a recess on the inside the exact dimensions of the Shorai. You press the foam rubber insert into the battery tray and slide the Shorai into the recess and fasten the OEM strap. Simple, neat, elegant and quick. It might add a couple bucks to the price of the battery but so what? The strips of foam rubber approach they chose is a little bit of a pain but it works for me. I'll never see the installation unless I have the seat off and as long as it's light and starts my bike evertime I'm a happy camper.

There are many bikes and many batteries and ther must be at least a couple Shorais that might work out for each battery and then for each bike. The foam pretend battery is a good idea but i don't see it working out because there are too many possible combinations of variables to accomodate for.

Just get a cheesehead and stuff it in that.

Thanks for being Apesh!tz about these batteries guys. The rest of us can just buy what we know works without worry.

So it begins, more of the same, click

I don't know if that is anything new. That looks exactly like something that MassZX14 had used in his 14 about 2 years ago. I don't know if it was satisfactory for street use or not.

Dogo, I wouldn't be concerned too much about something made in China especially if it was designed in Japan. I would have thought there was enough cheap labor in Japan but I guess China was cheaper. Fierce competition between the sweatshops, I guess.

romans $500 for battery and charger is a tuff pill to swallow, for the street rider where the weights savings is not that big a deal. but like anything new to the market you have to pay to play. me ill wait a couple yrs when they drop down to $100 lol

$500? Where you getting $500 from? I paid $170 with shipping cause I was in a rush and couldn't wait, at Superbike Supply they're $139 including shipping and you can use your old lead acid battery charger, just don't put it in de-sulfate mode.

I love these batteries so sar, if they last I will never go back to lead acids......EVER!!! Cold soaked mine for a week in the 30s, then started like gangbusters at 46F Saturday morning. Next test is how long do they last in normal service. It may be all in my head but I could swear the bike feels zippier now, especially in the corner transitions, 5 1/2 lbs is a lot of weight up high, can make a difference.

BTW, good write up Dogo, everybody is reporting the same thing, these things crank! How about those terminals, were they as light as you had expected?

* Last updated by: Kruz on 1/24/2011 @ 8:52 AM *

BTW, good write up Dogo, everybody is reporting the same thing, these things crank! How about those terminals, were they as light as you had expected?

Thanks. No worries with the terminals. I just put a little loctite on the screws and snugged them up with a screwdriver while holding the terminals with my free hand. Only an idiot would break them.

$500? Where you getting $500 from?

$499 for the 12.4ah Full Spectrum in the link Romans posted, not the Shorai. The Shorai's are a steal at their current prices. I don't think they'll stay this "cheap" for long. I believe Superbike Supply has already sold out of their first shipment.

dogo was commenting on romans post lol

im wondering will they hold up for a couple hrs at bike nite with 369 leds on flashing and such