FedEx dropped off My new Shorai charger this afternoon and I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. I just bought new Shorai's for the 14 and ZX10R and was going to fully charge both before installing them this weekend.

I connected up the charger to the 14 amp hour job, hit charge button and green light flashed for about 60 seconds indicating charging then went solid green indicating full charge. Same thing on big brother 21 amp hour, maybe two minutes and done. Does that sound right? I was expecting them to charge for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

Feel like I wasted my $75 if they are already fully charged when you get them.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 1/17/2013 @ 7:03 PM *

Aw geez...KRUZ!!!!Yep...normal.Mine too.Now she's been on 'maintain' for about a month.Sa'll good.

Yea OK, just figured they'd be down on charge like a lead-acid. Those L-As come dry charged at about 50% and need a good hour or two on the charger to get them to 100%.

Well, I guess I can hook it up to the CBR battery, that ones been in there over two years now, probably needs the cells balanced which this charger does.

Kruz its all good if you let her sit for a few weeks you will want it on there. I had mine sit for about three weeks and the charger it was down by 50%. So now I leave it on for the entire winter. I was at the NY Bike show and also wound up getting a good deal on a Battery tender 4 gange charger. I saved 75.00 and now I can charge all the toys at once....lol

I had the same with my Shorai batteries...it is working perfectly....just make sure the charger shows a steady green light, that tells you it is always topped off.

Tested last night,,,,, She starts.

Romans, that is the exact reason I left Buffalo N.Y. 20+ yrs ago. BBBRRRRR!!!! just thinking about it.

Oh my gosh Romans, we were 93 F degrees warmer than you here in Dallas this afternoon, high of 73 F. You gotta get outta there big guy. I recommend, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or So. Cal.

we were 93 F degrees warmer than you here in Dallas this afternoon

That 93 diff is one big #, Sounds nice.

Kruz saw you battery charger thread and got to thinking, I don't have one ??? Then in true internet fashion got side tracked on all the new batteries on the market, as I went looking for chargers.

Found it interesting how the different manufactures rate their batteries. At first thought Ballistic was giving much better bang for the buck until I noticed the word Pulse in their description.

Pulse Cranking Amps: 410 CCA,,,,, Not what we should be looking at. The small print gives us Amperage: 20 Pb-eq A/H #

Shorai is Amperage: 21 Pb-eq A/H 315 CCA. No word pulse. Always some one trying to muddy the water.

Dis crap hurts me Noodle. All the same tech I'm sure, nothing new,,, or is there ? Got to remember the fancy word Pulse lol.

My standing voltage was 12.5 Shorai recommends Not to go below 12.8 click

My start was like this.

* Last updated by: Romans on 1/24/2013 @ 7:58 PM *

Romans, that is the exact reason I left Buffalo N.Y. 20+ yrs ago. BBBRRRRR!!!! just thinking about it.

Lol, Cold temps make one appreciate the warm temperatures that much more when they come back. Well, when they come back ? they are coming back ,,,, right ? Starting to worry now.

Rome ,65 days til april

I've found the Shorais really crank well in the cold, well at least what we call cold here in Big D, so cold cranking has not been any kind of issue. My personal lower limit for riding is 46 F anyway, anything lower than that and I have to bundle up too much to stay warm and I just don't enjoy the riding. Mainly, though my tires start losing grip. I love to corner aggressively but I've found below 50 F you are asking for trouble if you do, even the 600 will get the rear end loose in the corners....yikes!

Romans, my hats off to you, I don't know how you guys do it at those temperatures. Seriously, I'm trying to figure out how to move further South, maybe the Rio Grande Valley or back down to San Antonio. I can't deal with cold, we had a cold front move through last night, high for today is 57 F, to me that's rideable but not so much fun. I can't even begin to imagine riding in the temps you guys get. Stay warm and dream of summer!

OK, you Shorai experts out there, how often do we need to balance the cells on these things? From what I've read in the manual, the charger does this automatically.

The Shorai in my CBR 1000RR is now over two years old and I have never done anything to it. Should I balance the cells or just keep riding?

Romes, don't know anything about the Ballistics.... are those prismatic cells like the Shorai or are they the old style A123 cells wired together into a pack? I've heard to stay away from the built up packs. Shorai is the best I think, engineered for a motorcycle application from the get go, not a converted power tool battery pack.

With these last two batteries , I noticed several big improvemnts proving that Shorai is listening to us. The terminal lugs are much heavier now and solidly anchored to the case. My first Shorai two years ago had rather flimsy terminals, they work and have held up but they are not confidence inspiring.

The 21 amp hour Shorai had threaded terminals, no seperate nuts to lose so that's really neat, the 14 amp job had the regular terminal nuts but they came with foam blocks attached to position them correctly under the terminal lug, almost foolproof.

Well two years now on my first Shorai and it's still cranking very strongly. I am hoping for a minimum of five years out of this battery but we shall see. Theoretically, these should be good for up to ten years, that would make the cost/benefit ratio excellent.

Rome ,65 days til april

Only 65 more days,,,,,, ok.

With these last two batteries , I noticed several big improvemnts proving that Shorai is listening to us. The terminal lugs are much heavier now and solidly anchored to the case. My first Shorai two years ago had rather flimsy terminals, they work and have held up but they are not confidence inspiring.
The 21 amp hour Shorai had threaded terminals, no seperate nuts to lose so that's really neat, the 14 amp job had the regular terminal nuts but they came with foam blocks attached to position them correctly under the terminal lug, almost foolproof.

Yes no doubt my second one was much improved. Still having trouble understanding the need for the 21 amp hour ? Rooks 14 still going ? My 18 would seem to be over kill, so why 21 ?

I have heard the 18's and 14's start our bikes and I don't think 21 is needed. However I do like the size and the fact that bike start almost instantly.

My battery has been flawless but because I have just been riding the bike for small distance i.e under 10 minutes at the time, it doesn't start THAT quick, still faster than the OEM battery though.

We should write to shorai and ask them why the recommend 21 A for the 14!

* Last updated by: dragking on 1/26/2013 @ 10:19 AM *

Hmmm... When I bought my Shorai, the 14A and the 16A were the recommended choices on the website, but I went with the 14A because of the lighter weight. It's been in the 14 for almost 2 years with no problems even thogh it sits for 3 months at a time between stints. The wife starts both bikes (the 10R has a 14A as well) and lets them run till they warm up, once a week. The 14A starts the 14 just fine so I see no need for the 21A other than the fact that it nets more cash for Shorai! There's a good article that does a non scientific comparison between A Lead battey, Shorai and the Ballistic Evo below. Has some pretty good info. JM2C.

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-battery/li-ion-motorcycle-battery/shorai-vs-ballistic-li-ion-motorcycle-battery.htm

* Last updated by: bigwilliezx on 1/25/2013 @ 10:09 PM *

Boil it down for me fellas. Is this battery going to live six years without me petting it? If so, I'll buy one. If not, I'll buy lead every two years.

Romans, several reasons I went 21 amp-hour. First, Shorai recommends it, secondly it cranks the bike almost instantly, third because batteries lose their amp-hour capacity over time, I should have a much longer lasting battery. Fourth, there is greater reserve capacity for extreme cold starts with higher rating battery. Fifth, it fit the OEM battery box almost perfectly as you can see in Drag's pictures.

Disadvantages: there were two, the 21 AH was about $50 more than the 14 AH and about 1/2 lb heavier. This is no biggie since I still shaved an amazing eight pounds off my 14, weight I can feel in the quick flick turn ins.

* Last updated by: Kruz on 1/26/2013 @ 6:36 AM *

Is this battery going to live six years without me petting it?

Hagrid honest answer is I don't know.

This little 5 Amp ran in my bike for one season but would not start the bike when temps dropped below 20 C. After the second push start I dumped it. From that point it was put on a shelf and placed on ignore.

Later after wife's stock batt died (1 year grrrr) in her 2009 ZX6R little guy was brought back from the dead and placed there, where it lives today. I'm not sure of the date when we bought these but my guess 2008 ???? Anyway, it's still going and I can assure you I've never performed any maintenance on these. So no petting. The tech is some what the same so I do believe you could get your 6 years but only time will tell.

I have heard the 18's and 14's start our bikes and I don't think 21 is needed. However I do like the size and the fact that bike start almost instantly.

My 18 starts the bike with Authority Can't imagine the need for the 21 but if they are recommending it must be a reason. Bright side is if you run out of fuel you can ride home on the starter lol

Romans, several reasons I went 21 amp-hour. First, Shorai recommends it, secondly it cranks the bike almost instantly, third because batteries lose their amp-hour capacity over time, I should have a much longer lasting battery. Fourth, there is greater reserve capacity for extreme cold starts with higher rating battery. Fifth, it fit the OEM battery box almost perfectly as you can see in Drag's pictures.

Kruz, post made at same time.

Well I now have my answer. I need one for the Green Monster. I'm also thinking I still need that charger.

I could be wrong so need to check it again but Atbatt had the 18 AH Shorai at .1 lb heavier than the 21 AH, another reason I went 21.

@Hagrid, no petting of the Shorai in my CBR in over two years, that's the reason I'm asking about cell balancing.

I am converting all five of my bikes over to Shorai as their OEM L-As die, that should tell you something as I am notoriously suspicious of any new technology until proven.

I would buy the Shorai's over LAs even if there were no life advantage due to the substantial weight savings alone.

Bottom line, from everything I've read on the LiFePO4 technology, they should be good for five to ten years.