I'm a bit puzzled by the advice given regarding Lithium Ion batteries...What's needed is an electrical whiz to explain it for me...
If you buy one of these batteries they tell you not to use a battery charger which isn't specifically designed for the type...
That's fair enough, but that leads me to think that once installed on the bike the electrical system is highly unlikely to reproduce that charging cycle...
So, there are two questions...
1] Will charging the battery incorrectly in this way damage the battery...This needs to be considered as the Lithium batteries are at least twice the price of conventional batteries...
2} If the battery isn't damaged by the bikes charging system will it reach its fully charged state...If not then the claims of enhanced performance wouldn't add up to much...
Another thought from the 'outfield'...Is all that about chargers just a play on everyones natural paranoia designed to sell lots of chargers along with the batteries....?..Ian
my understanding is
charger - as long as the charger doesn't have a desulfation cycle then it is ok to use.
charging - the consensus on the Commando forum seems to be that our older bikes wont fully charge the battery, but they seem to work none the less.
The down side of them is that while they have great ability to crank an electric start from a physically small battery box, the usable amp hours if you have to run total loss for any reason are much reduced compared to the lead acid battery they claim to replace. They can also be quite unforgiving if you do fully discharge them. I killed 2 in different bikes due to rider error and have gone back to cheaper options.
To charge a Li battery you need a very specific charging cycle.
They like a lots of current dumped into them very fast.
Thus to get them to work you need a charging controller.
You can get them for 12V Dc but not sure about 6V
You need to have a chat to a electrical shop where they sell things like resistors ,wires & chips.
Otherwise they never fully charge and give very poor service life.
If you are looking to do an electric starter then the go is to use 3 Cyclons 18V for a 12V system
So you are over voltage by about 50%.
Thus when you are cranking you do not suffer voltage drop.
We used to do this with old 6V kombi waggons by having a second 6V battery hooked up in series with the normal battery to the starter with a remote solenoid to bring it into circuit.
The 2nd battery was also hooked up in series with the generator.
