Lithium Ferrous Batteries for BX?

[montelatici]

I purchased a Ballistic Performance 8 cell Lithium Ferrous (LFr) battery for my 1975 Norton 850 Commando. The battery is about a quarter of the size and about 20% of the weight of the standard battery for the bike. The standard battery, even the "maintenance free" gel cells will never last over 2 years. The price of the 8-cell Lithium was about $150, not much more than the gel cell, but should last at least 5 years according to some early adopters (who paid a great deal more for the battery).

These batteries have much less internal resistance, so amp/hr and cca particularly ratings can't be compared with lead acid batteries. The nice thing is these batteries lose less than 10% of their charge in a year when unused!

The 6.9 amp hour LFr (12 cell) can be compared to a 20 amp/hr. lead acid. So maybe the 16 cell will turn over my BX-24.

Anyway, my BX-24's battery is dying and I am thinking of getting a 16 cell LFr battery for it.

Has anyone else tried these batteries on small tractors?


Batteries - Ballistic Performance Components

 

[SPYDERLK]

Tractors benefit from a heavy battery. Weights traction.
larry

 

[montelatici]

Tractors benefit from a heavy battery. Weights traction.
larry

But 5-6 years service is the point.

 

[OrangeRidge]

........ but doesn't a leadacid give you 5 years for 65 bucks ?
Also , the charge retention doesn't matter because you should be
running the engine and hydraulics every couple of weeks to keep
it all happy. This isn't a back-up cell phone situation ...........................

 

[montelatici]

........ but doesn't a leadacid give you 5 years for 65 bucks ?
Also , the charge retention doesn't matter because you should be
running the engine and hydraulics every couple of weeks to keep
it all happy. This isn't a back-up cell phone situation ...........................

Nope, lead acid on the bike gives 2-3 years. The lithium 6-7 years nowadays.

 

[OrangeRidge]

That's a failure within warranty period over here .

 

[SockPuppet]

Nope, lead acid on the bike gives 2-3 years. The lithium 6-7 years nowadays.

I don't think I've had any lead acid batteries fail that quickly in years. The only exception would be the small garden tractor variety. They only seem to last for a couple of years.

Perhaps size does matter.

 

[montelatici]

That's a failure within warranty period over here .

Bike batteries rarely have warranties, especially when used on 1975 electric start Nortons, with the most inefficient starter motor ever produced. The lithoum battery is a godsend for Norton owners.

Anyway, I will probably give the Lithium battery a try on the BX and will report back.

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

I got 10 years out of my factory BX battery. AND could have gotten more, I just did not want to push my luck with a dead battery with snow on the ground, so I replaced it. BUT I only used the tractor twice this winter since our winter was so mild. Who knows how many years I could have gotten....:laughing:

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

I'd be more inclined to blame the early battery failures on that 1975 charging system, and maybe the battery size.

I get (usually) 5 years or more out of a decent lead-acid battery in all my vehicles.

Z.