**HOW TO SPEND ALOT OF MONEY BY INSTALLING A LITHIUM BATTERY**

[TrickDog]

Or a more appropriate title might be "HOW TO ALMOST RUIN YOU DOG BY INSTALLING A LITHIUM BATTERY"

My 07 Mastiff was a hard starter and was going through batteries pretty fast. I was lazy and didn't take a close look like I should have. So I bought a Lithium battery with 600 AMPS. Installed it and the battery overheated after 10 miles of riding.

Turns out my voltage regulator was bad and that is why I was going through batteries so fast. My theory is that Lithium batteries don't like to be used constantly or overcharged and my old regulator either died and was putting AC voltage to a DC battery or overcharging it. They get really, really hot.

It blew out my headlight bulb, ignition module, and speedo tach. I'm lucky that's all it did.

So on top of buying an expensive Lithium battery that I am never going to use again, I had to buy a new Ignition Module, and I'm still looking into the Speedo tach thing.

Anyone want to buy a Lithium battery??? (Ebay here I come)

 

[Kiwirider]

I know the feeling. I was lucky (sort of) in that my VR only caught fire. I had a shit ton of electrical problems before that. Once I got a new Cycle Electric VR in, they all went away.

 

[Rudog]

I blew my headlight low beam last night on my 06 K-9 with a new lithium battery. The lightbulb had just two rides on it so it wasn’t a old light bulb. DONT USE LITHIUM ! Use at own risk ! Hopefully that’s all it did, I will know today when I go back to stock battery.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[awg]

Wasn't the stock VR from China?

 

[wolff]

Just like any thing you get what you pay for. I have this battery in all 4 of my dogs
you do have to make sure that you have the correct battery charger / trickle for the lithium battery and your charging syst. on your bike should be in good working order ( reg , stater,)the nice thing about this battery it has its own brain, if I leave my LEDs on when I go in the bar and come out 2 hr. later and my lights are off and remember that I lift the lights when I went in... no problem take the seat off and push the button on the top of the battery and the battery saves enough power to start the bike and not leave you bagging for a jump in the parking lot....This battery is 3 x times lighter then lead battery. will last 10 x times longer. (probably the last battery you will buy for your dog.) I have invested a lot of time and money into my toys and I wouldn't put any thing that I thought would damage them, in them and I would not recommend that you put this battery in your slid, unless you do your home work and know that your bike is tight and right before you install it in yours. about 2 yrs. ago when I got my first antigravity battery it did not have the restart option on it and I was so impressed with the performance of the battery that when the restart battery came out I think I was one of the first to get one.. Very impressed....so impressed that I have them in my f450 x2, in my f350 x2, wife's Subaru, h-d ultra, wife's h-d freewheeler, all the BDC's

Here are some of the features from their web site on this battery


FEATURES

• Most Advanced Lithium Battery on the market.
• World's First Battery with Built-in Jump Starting, using our RE-START Technology.
• World’s First Powersport Battery with a FULL Battery Management System (BMS) including Over-Discharge, Over-Charge*, Thermal Protections and Cell Balancing.
• RE-START TECHNOLOGY: The RE-START Battery intelligently monitor its status; if it senses over-discharge it will put itself into a sleep mode, yet saves enough energy to allow you to RE-START your vehicle. Simply press the RE-START button on battery.
• LONGER LIFE: Up to twice the lifecycle of lead/acid, and other Lithium batteries due to full Battery Management system.
• HI POWER: Up to 2 Times the Cranking Amps of similar sized lead/acid batteries. Better Starting and higher voltage at start-up.
• ULTRA LIGHTWEIGHT: Up to 70% lighter than equivalent lead/acid battery. Up to 15 lbs in bikes or 40 pounds in some Race Cars. Carbon Fiber costs thousands to lose a pound of weight; with our LiFePO4 battery a few hundred dollars will lose roughly 8-15 pounds and offers better starting and handling!
• NEW 4 Terminal Design allows easy installation in any vehicle. Fits right or left hand Negative or Positive connections. No more looking for the correct Terminal locations in certain bikes.
• LOW SELF-DISCHARGE: The RE-START Batteries do not self-discharge like Lead/Acid Batteries. They can hold a charge up to a year provided there are no “Parasitic Drains” (accessories that draw power when bike is off, i.e. alarms, ECUs, GPS, heated grips, and other accessories the vehicle might have).
• DURABILITY: Our lithium batteries are shock and vibration resistant making them perfect for Racing, and other applications requiring a durable battery.
• MOUNTING: You can mount our battery in any orientation, there are no liquids to spill or drain out.
• ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFER BATTERY: No Acid or Heavy Metals such as Lead, Cadmium, or Mercury.

(*Over-Charge protection will not protect from a faulty/old Voltage Regulator spiking Hi-Voltages to Battery. If you have a Pre-1990s Motorcycle replace your voltage regulator; it is over 25 year old and most likely broken by now.)
BEST USES

• For replacement of all OEM Lead/Acid Batteries of same size.
• Excellent for every day use in bikes up to 2200cc.
• Great for extra large, high-performance V-Twin motors.
• Excellent for Touring Bikes, Adventure Bikes and Bikes where extreme power and larger Amp Hour capacity are needed.
• Excellent for use in Race Cars of all types including large V-8 Racing Motors up to 700 Horsepower.
• Not for use with PWC (personal watercraft).

Replace YTX & GYZ Models
The lithium ATX-20-RS is a direct replacement for these OEM battery sizes:
YTX15
YTX15L
YTX20
YTX20L
YTX20H
YTX20HL
YTX20-BS
GYZ20H
GYZ20L
GYZ20HL


Please Note: For Custom V-Twin applications with Motor sizes over 103 Cubic Inches, and when a higher compression, or modified motor is being used we do not recommend the RE-START version of our Batteries due to the extremely high current draw of these Larger V-Twin Motors. Please use the following models for Large V-Twin Applications: YTX20, YTX12-24, YTX12-20, or V-10.

Use only Lithium specific Motorsport Chargers to charge this battery! Do not use Lead/Acid Chargers. How to Choose a Charger

don't forget to get one of these. this little power house unit will start a 7.3 power stroke diesel.... I've done it...blew me away!!!!!

 

[KaptinAmerika]

I love how everyone is an expert on lithium-ion batteries because they bought one, slapped it in and things got messed up.
We have most of our customers here on Lithium and none of them have issues.
Of course, we did the necessary work to provide a quality environment for the battery as they are touchy.
They don't like being overcharged or undercharged and they cannot be used in a 34 degree or lower temp without a heat wrap.
Educate yourself first and then make the decision that is best for you but do not listen to the folks just ranting "DON'T BUY A LITHIUM BATTERY BECAUSE THEY ARE THIS THAT AND THE OTHER".

 

[Jwooky]

You can buy a Deka for ~$100 that performs perfectly.

I just don’t understand the appeal to spend ~$300 on a battery

 

[pknowles]

You can buy a Deka for ~$100 that performs perfectly.

I just don’t understand the appeal to spend ~$300 on a battery

And the baby setting. I'm with you on the 100 bucks.

 

[ChrisS]

I picked up a battery at Autozone something with Gold at the end of its name. Glad I didn't start reading all the battery threads beforehand. So far so good

 

[ChrisS]

Also just figured out I have electric CR. I have been pushing them down before starting.

 

[Coolbreezin]

As a lithium battery user for years. I can attest to the fact that in our (Big Dog) application I don't believe it's the battery. It's Sheldon Coleman selling the public substandard machines. I didn't start using lithium batteries until after I had Chopper City completely rewire my bike. My first battery vibrated loose internally because I didn't strap it down well enough (my fault). My second is still working fine (MMG6).
Something to note is look at all the products that did and didn't burst into flames over the years of lithium use (glucose meters, watches, toys).

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

Something to note is look at all the products that did and didn't burst into flames over the years of lithium use (glucose meters, watches, toys).

Not exactly a fair comparision -- the biggest trouble is with multi-cell lithiums where there ends up a problem with the BMS (battery management system that controls the charging -- very easy to over charge 1 cell and destroy the functionality of the battery.

 

[Coolbreezin]

True about the comparison. Was just throwing it out there.
Whether it resolves my problem, Im looking at r&r the electric CR's to manuals soon.

 

[The idea guy]

So I know this thread is a few months old, but if anyone is researching to possibly upgrade to lithium I will share my experience and findings. Maybe it might help.
I have an 09 K9 that had a fairly significant parasitic draw going and would easily drain the battery if not constantly on the maintenance charger. Then it advanced to a point that I needed a jump pack to assist in starting if the bike had been sitting for any length of time.
So, I read as many threads and articles as I could find and then made the decision to buy a Anti-Gravity Lithium battery. I also purchased the charger that Anti-Gravity recommended on their site. Before I installed the battery I tested the Stator and the Voltage Regulator/Rectifier to ensure they were both good and working correctly. I installed the battery and was blown away on how the bike jumped to life the second I hit the start button. It was amazing. I took the bike for a spin but due to Oregon weather it was cut short after 20 minutes. I came home and parked the bike in the garage without hooking it up to the maintenance charger (one of the advantages of a Lithium battery). Four days later the rain stopped and I got the chance to try another ride. When I turned the key on there was nothing. I’ve never had a battery go so low that even the power light on the speedo would not illuminate. So I pushed the bike back into the garage and grabbed a multimeter. When I checked the voltage on the battery it read “0”. So I pulled the battery out of the bike and tested it again on the bench. This time the meter showed 11.2 volts. The battery has built in tech that shuts it down in the event of under or over charging. Disconnecting it allowed it to reset explaining the jump from 0 back to 11.2 volts. Next I connected it to the Lithium charger I had purchased. After 6 hours I checked on how it was doing and found that the charger was indicating that the battery was bad and would no longer take a charge. I came into the house and started researching the effects of voltage drop on lithium batteries. It turns out that they are incredibly sensitive to voltage drop and once that happens they are pretty much tits up. In my mind I’m thinking the parasitic draw got me, but I grabbed the multimeter and checked the stator and VR again. The stator was fine, but the VR was now fried.
I purchased a new VR and installed it. I made the decision to go back to lead acid and was going to go with the Deka. But since the shipping time was going to be a couple of weeks I ended up going to my local Harley shop and buying the Harley Brand battery that fit. I brought it home and installed it. I fired the bike up with the stator and the VR disconnected and checked to see that the stator was putting out the correct a/c voltage. That checked good. I hooked everything back up and then checked the voltage at the battery not running - 12.8 volts. Next with the bike running at an idle - 14.5 volts. Finally running around 2500 RPM - 14.8 volts. Awesome!
Finally I disconnected all of the negative leads and tested between them and the negative post on the battery with the bike off. With the meter set at 200 milliamp setting I was getting “0”. No more parasitic draw! And the bike fires right up when cold.
Another point to mention is that the Harley battery has a full 1 year warranty that is NOT prorated. If the battery fails at 11.5 months you get a full replacement at any Harley shop for zero dollars out of your wallet.
If you are running a lead acid battery and you lose a VR or have some other electrical issue, you fix the problem and you are back on the road. With a lithium battery you fix the problem and also have to buy a new (expensive) battery before you get back on the road.

There are plenty of people out there running lithium batteries that do just fine. But does anybody really trust the electrical system on their Big Dog. That’s the gamble you take.

 

[Jwooky]

So I know this thread is a few months old, but if anyone is researching to possibly upgrade to lithium I will share my experience and findings. Maybe it might help.
I have an 09 K9 that had a fairly significant parasitic draw going and would easily drain the battery if not constantly on the maintenance charger. Then it advanced to a point that I needed a jump pack to assist in starting if the bike had been sitting for any length of time.
So, I read as many threads and articles as I could find and then made the decision to buy a Anti-Gravity Lithium battery. I also purchased the charger that Anti-Gravity recommended on their site. Before I installed the battery I tested the Stator and the Voltage Regulator/Rectifier to ensure they were both good and working correctly. I installed the battery and was blown away on how the bike jumped to life the second I hit the start button. It was amazing. I took the bike for a spin but due to Oregon weather it was cut short after 20 minutes. I came home and parked the bike in the garage without hooking it up to the maintenance charger (one of the advantages of a Lithium battery). Four days later the rain stopped and I got the chance to try another ride. When I turned the key on there was nothing. I’ve never had a battery go so low that even the power light on the speedo would not illuminate. So I pushed the bike back into the garage and grabbed a multimeter. When I checked the voltage on the battery it read “0”. So I pulled the battery out of the bike and tested it again on the bench. This time the meter showed 11.2 volts. The battery has built in tech that shuts it down in the event of under or over charging. Disconnecting it allowed it to reset explaining the jump from 0 back to 11.2 volts. Next I connected it to the Lithium charger I had purchased. After 6 hours I checked on how it was doing and found that the charger was indicating that the battery was bad and would no longer take a charge. I came into the house and started researching the effects of voltage drop on lithium batteries. It turns out that they are incredibly sensitive to voltage drop and once that happens they are pretty much tits up. In my mind I’m thinking the parasitic draw got me, but I grabbed the multimeter and checked the stator and VR again. The stator was fine, but the VR was now fried.
I purchased a new VR and installed it. I made the decision to go back to lead acid and was going to go with the Deka. But since the shipping time was going to be a couple of weeks I ended up going to my local Harley shop and buying the Harley Brand battery that fit. I brought it home and installed it. I fired the bike up with the stator and the VR disconnected and checked to see that the stator was putting out the correct a/c voltage. That checked good. I hooked everything back up and then checked the voltage at the battery not running - 12.8 volts. Next with the bike running at an idle - 14.5 volts. Finally running around 2500 RPM - 14.8 volts. Awesome!
Finally I disconnected all of the negative leads and tested between them and the negative post on the battery with the bike off. With the meter set at 200 milliamp setting I was getting “0”. No more parasitic draw! And the bike fires right up when cold.
Another point to mention is that the Harley battery has a full 1 year warranty that is NOT prorated. If the battery fails at 11.5 months you get a full replacement at any Harley shop for zero dollars out of your wallet.
If you are running a lead acid battery and you lose a VR or have some other electrical issue, you fix the problem and you are back on the road. With a lithium battery you fix the problem and also have to buy a new (expensive) battery before you get back on the road.

There are plenty of people out there running lithium batteries that do just fine. But does anybody really trust the electrical system on their Big Dog. That’s the gamble you take.

W

So I know this thread is a few months old, but if anyone is researching to possibly upgrade to lithium I will share my experience and findings. Maybe it might help.
I have an 09 K9 that had a fairly significant parasitic draw going and would easily drain the battery if not constantly on the maintenance charger. Then it advanced to a point that I needed a jump pack to assist in starting if the bike had been sitting for any length of time.
So, I read as many threads and articles as I could find and then made the decision to buy a Anti-Gravity Lithium battery. I also purchased the charger that Anti-Gravity recommended on their site. Before I installed the battery I tested the Stator and the Voltage Regulator/Rectifier to ensure they were both good and working correctly. I installed the battery and was blown away on how the bike jumped to life the second I hit the start button. It was amazing. I took the bike for a spin but due to Oregon weather it was cut short after 20 minutes. I came home and parked the bike in the garage without hooking it up to the maintenance charger (one of the advantages of a Lithium battery). Four days later the rain stopped and I got the chance to try another ride. When I turned the key on there was nothing. I’ve never had a battery go so low that even the power light on the speedo would not illuminate. So I pushed the bike back into the garage and grabbed a multimeter. When I checked the voltage on the battery it read “0”. So I pulled the battery out of the bike and tested it again on the bench. This time the meter showed 11.2 volts. The battery has built in tech that shuts it down in the event of under or over charging. Disconnecting it allowed it to reset explaining the jump from 0 back to 11.2 volts. Next I connected it to the Lithium charger I had purchased. After 6 hours I checked on how it was doing and found that the charger was indicating that the battery was bad and would no longer take a charge. I came into the house and started researching the effects of voltage drop on lithium batteries. It turns out that they are incredibly sensitive to voltage drop and once that happens they are pretty much tits up. In my mind I’m thinking the parasitic draw got me, but I grabbed the multimeter and checked the stator and VR again. The stator was fine, but the VR was now fried.
I purchased a new VR and installed it. I made the decision to go back to lead acid and was going to go with the Deka. But since the shipping time was going to be a couple of weeks I ended up going to my local Harley shop and buying the Harley Brand battery that fit. I brought it home and installed it. I fired the bike up with the stator and the VR disconnected and checked to see that the stator was putting out the correct a/c voltage. That checked good. I hooked everything back up and then checked the voltage at the battery not running - 12.8 volts. Next with the bike running at an idle - 14.5 volts. Finally running around 2500 RPM - 14.8 volts. Awesome!
Finally I disconnected all of the negative leads and tested between them and the negative post on the battery with the bike off. With the meter set at 200 milliamp setting I was getting “0”. No more parasitic draw! And the bike fires right up when cold.
Another point to mention is that the Harley battery has a full 1 year warranty that is NOT prorated. If the battery fails at 11.5 months you get a full replacement at any Harley shop for zero dollars out of your wallet.
If you are running a lead acid battery and you lose a VR or have some other electrical issue, you fix the problem and you are back on the road. With a lithium battery you fix the problem and also have to buy a new (expensive) battery before you get back on the road.

There are plenty of people out there running lithium batteries that do just fine. But does anybody really trust the electrical system on their Big Dog. That’s the gamble you take.

What brand and model was it?

The BMS is ver important. Many were not good.

 

[Doogan]

What is the proper voltage your bike should be putting out at idle and 2000? i am getting about 13.6at id
e and about 13.914 at 2000

 

[Doogan]

13.9

 

[Lou Bornmann]

CHANGING THE SUBJECT
I have a 2009 Wolf I've owned for about a year now. I've recently found out I can't buy a rear tire for it because no one makes it, period. Oh sure there may be a conversion kit that costs an arm and leg that may or may not work or maybe BDM will design a smaller rim all together in 2023 that also cost a fortune. I find it hard to believe that when BDM built their Flagship Wolf in 2009 with only a limited number being built that they didn't get some kind of copyright to the mold to make this tire in the event it being discontinued by Avon. All they cared about was making the money and didn't give a fuck about the riders needing tires down the road. So the BDM people tell the Wolf owners to poll up on how many tires we would buy so they can have some juice to their request to Avon. Fuck that BDM ! Show some integrity and loyalty to your riders and promise Avon to buy the first 500 !
BDM whoever they are now needs to stand up to Avon and do whatever it takes to get the Wolf owners back on the road. This bullshit about making a poll to see how many Wolf riders can commit to sales is bullshit. Sure I'd buy a couple but if BDM had any integrity they would pre order 2 tires for every Wolf they sold from Avon first to help persuade them to make more tires I'm sure the Wolf riders would be more inclined to add to that if that's what it took to get tires for their bikes. It's a pretty shitty excuse to tell the people who spent the 30k for these bike.
BDM should issue a free tire to all the Wolf owners who haven't been able to ride their bikes for years because of this shit. They should have to pay for the dead batteries and dried out cam belt from sitting. How many owners that lost thousands of dollars because of this issue. BDM just says, " take a poll." WTF!
BDM should have given all the Wolf riders free tee shirts when they bought their bikes ,
BDMS BIG DOG MOTORCYCLE SUCKERS.

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

CHANGING THE SUBJECT
I have a 2009 Wolf I've owned for about a year now. I've recently found out I can't buy a rear tire for it because no one makes it, period. Oh sure there may be a conversion kit that costs an arm and leg that may or may not work or maybe BDM will design a smaller rim all together in 2023 that also cost a fortune. I find it hard to believe that when BDM built their Flagship Wolf in 2009 with only a limited number being built that they didn't get some kind of copyright to the mold to make this tire in the event it being discontinued by Avon. All they cared about was making the money and didn't give a fuck about the riders needing tires down the road. So the BDM people tell the Wolf owners to poll up on how many tires we would buy so they can have some juice to their request to Avon. Fuck that BDM ! Show some integrity and loyalty to your riders and promise Avon to buy the first 500 !
BDM whoever they are now needs to stand up to Avon and do whatever it takes to get the Wolf owners back on the road. This bullshit about making a poll to see how many Wolf riders can commit to sales is bullshit. Sure I'd buy a couple but if BDM had any integrity they would pre order 2 tires for every Wolf they sold from Avon first to help persuade them to make more tires I'm sure the Wolf riders would be more inclined to add to that if that's what it took to get tires for their bikes. It's a pretty shitty excuse to tell the people who spent the 30k for these bike.
BDM should issue a free tire to all the Wolf owners who haven't been able to ride their bikes for years because of this shit. They should have to pay for the dead batteries and dried out cam belt from sitting. How many owners that lost thousands of dollars because of this issue. BDM just says, " take a poll." WTF!
BDM should have given all the Wolf riders free tee shirts when they bought their bikes ,
BDMS BIG DOG MOTORCYCLE SUCKERS.

BDM went out of business in 2011/2012

HDM (BigDogPartsKingpin) who bought the liquidated inventory makes a conversion kit for the Wolf - This is not BDM, this is an entirely separate company keeping us all on the road (thank you Derek, Donna and Eric)

The poll to try and get tires made is again not by BDM -- their GONE.

People who bought the Wolf originally bear some blame for their predicament as they did not do their due diligence in my mind. There is NO WAY I would buy a custom motorcycle that uses a tire that is ONLY used on that model/brand bike and was a minor model as well (The K-9 being the big seller for BDM at the time if I cam not mistaken)

If you have a Wolf, you are lucky that HDM has spent the time and done the research to make an option available for your wolf to once again be a viable motorcycle.

If I misspoke about any of the above, some please correct me.

Mike

 

[Jwooky]

CHANGING THE SUBJECT
I have a 2009 Wolf I've owned for about a year now. I've recently found out I can't buy a rear tire for it because no one makes it, period. Oh sure there may be a conversion kit that costs an arm and leg that may or may not work or maybe BDM will design a smaller rim all together in 2023 that also cost a fortune. I find it hard to believe that when BDM built their Flagship Wolf in 2009 with only a limited number being built that they didn't get some kind of copyright to the mold to make this tire in the event it being discontinued by Avon. All they cared about was making the money and didn't give a fuck about the riders needing tires down the road. So the BDM people tell the Wolf owners to poll up on how many tires we would buy so they can have some juice to their request to Avon. Fuck that BDM ! Show some integrity and loyalty to your riders and promise Avon to buy the first 500 !
BDM whoever they are now needs to stand up to Avon and do whatever it takes to get the Wolf owners back on the road. This bullshit about making a poll to see how many Wolf riders can commit to sales is bullshit. Sure I'd buy a couple but if BDM had any integrity they would pre order 2 tires for every Wolf they sold from Avon first to help persuade them to make more tires I'm sure the Wolf riders would be more inclined to add to that if that's what it took to get tires for their bikes. It's a pretty shitty excuse to tell the people who spent the 30k for these bike.
BDM should issue a free tire to all the Wolf owners who haven't been able to ride their bikes for years because of this shit. They should have to pay for the dead batteries and dried out cam belt from sitting. How many owners that lost thousands of dollars because of this issue. BDM just says, " take a poll." WTF!
BDM should have given all the Wolf riders free tee shirts when they bought their bikes ,
BDMS BIG DOG MOTORCYCLE SUCKERS.

Random rant, doesn’t belong in this thread