Speedcell batteries?

[Fitz]

The battery in the SV let go over over the winter. I was surprised because I had disconnected it and placed it in the basement next to the battery for my zx6r. Both batteries saw a trickle charge about once a month. Regardless, I've been swapping the battery in the daily driver zx6r into the SV for race weekends. I was researching smaller batteries today and came across Speedcell batteries sold at Motowheels.com. They're pricey - $160 for the smaller of the 2 (11 oz/120amps) and $250 for the larger (1.7 pounds/240 amps). I was curious if anyone here tried one? This would be for the racebike so it could routinely see a trickle charger with little or no effort. Any other more economical suggestions?

Thanks,
Fitz

Superbike battery (larger):
http://www.motowheels.com/italian/my...r=&collection=

Supersport battery (smaller):
http://www.motowheels.com/italian/my...r=&collection=

[13]

You running an electric bike? Ditch the battery! I have no helpful advice

[Fitz]

You running an electric bike? Ditch the battery! I have no helpful advice

*cough*... I would... but I stalled it on the start line during event #1. Being able to "immediately" restart was convenient.

Fitz

[smf]

these were discussed on a smaller forum a while back. here's the most pertinent quote:

Wow, Josh that's funny.....small world. I worked for Duracell for about 5 years and actually was working on the mechanical design of small cells with A123 LiFePO4 technology (AAs and AAAs). They're right up the street in Watertown....we were putting their electrodes in our different hardware form factors. 'Tis a nice technology indeed....check out...

www.killacycle.com

Some wildman runs an electric dragbike with a LOT of these cells and the thing is *fast*! These babies are used a lot in RC circles as well. The primary commercial applications of these cells right now is in contractor grade cordless tools....DeWalt stuff...I actually tried the hammer drill before and for all intensive purposes it is MORE powerful than A/C plug-in alternatives....not too shabby. And they can be charged up in 15 minutes or so.

A couple notes....I wouldn't use the 2.3 Ah pack for M/C purposes....This is less than 40% of what a 7 series lead acid offers....just not much room for error for starts and stops ( I would recommend the 8 cell pack, which he quotes for $250). Also, you *do* need a charge balancer for these things and in fact a you neeed a pretty sophisticated charger or battery management system (Around $100, and most run off of a 12V car ballery...plug-in one's are big $$$)....The guy selling these units says there is no balancer and it will work OK for a while but gradually one cell will soak more current during charging and these things are *sensitive* to overcharging...they do not become unsafe but their cycle life is cut down big time...from 1000s of cycles to 100s or less.....Lame enough, I could prolly dig up some data on this.....what a geek... :roll:

I thought to try to build a pack like this before....cells can be had for about $15 each. But they're really hard to weld tabs onto (aluminum case) ....need bigtime power or a laser welder or something...solder is not really possible. Then you have to seal it nicely for our beautiful weather.....and on top of that the 8 cell 4.6 Ah pack while light at 1.7 lbs is not all that small ~4.5"x2.25"x3"...versus a YTZ7 with 6Ah at 4.6 lbs and ~4.5x2.75x4.2. Too much work and $$$ for me for a few pounds.

If you have a remote starter and use the little 4 cell battery you can save almost another pound....temping but still a pain. I like being able to turn my bike on and off on pregrid on those hot days.

[FriskyDingo]

another alternative, little cheaper, thinking about picking one up:

http://www.turntechbattery.com/TurnT...ry/5.0_ah.html

[Kurlon]

Note, trickle chargers don't work on those batteries, you'll want something that can pump some amps out.

[mullinsvm]

Hey Fitz, I can get you a replacement battery for your bike. Stock battery for you would be $108, if you want to run the same battery as in the ZX-6R which is smaller (lighter), it would be $75. I've never had any problems running the stock batteries in any of my race bikes so I don't know if it would really be worth it to spend the extra dough on batteries.....save the money for tires.

[smf]

Hey Fitz, I can get you a replacement battery for your bike. Stock battery for you would be $108, if you want to run the same battery as in the ZX-6R which is smaller (lighter), it would be $75. I've never had any problems running the stock batteries in any of my race bikes so I don't know if it would really be worth it to spend the extra dough on batteries.....save the money for tires.

couldn't agree more. if you need lighter get a 7 series instead of a 9 series... or whatever the case may be. keep it simple.

[KB]

Go to batteries plus $58 bucks. I bought one in march for the same bike.

KB

[Fitz]

Thanks for the all the advice folks. Opted to save the cash and focus on my waistline for the weight savings. Scott from Souhegan Valley Motorsports set me up with a lighter/smaller OEM battery for the SV650 and a new chain and axle tool for the zx6r. rather ironic that I've spent more money on the Suzuki at the Kawasaki dealer than I have on the Kawasaki I bought there... All of the guys there have been great.

Fitz