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Battery - Lithium or AGM

Any one recently tried or are using a Lithium battery for their K1200? Pros / Cons? I need to replace my battery now and am torn between the two.

I don't have a K but came across this while looking for a Garmin battery. A bit late for you, but useful to others...

My opinion having worked in a battery lab for years and using common sense. My 2016 R1200 GSA needed a battery this past September and looking at the battery date code, I got 7 years 4+ months out of the original BMW-YUASA battery. A short life in my books and it is an AGM battery, my first AGM battery in any vehicle.

I replaced it with the same YUASA YTZ14S for US$92 (it was on sale). I highly doubt you can get a quality Li-Ion battery for double that and I highly doubt I'll get double the life out of it or nearly 15 years. I look at cost vs service time.

Typically I get 9 full years out of a seasonal motorcycle battery and 14 and 16 years out of a car battery. Both of them were conventional flooded lead acid batteries and none of this high-tech crap.
 
I don't have a K but came across this while looking for a Garmin battery. A bit late for you, but useful to others...

My opinion having worked in a battery lab for years and using common sense. My 2016 R1200 GSA needed a battery this past September and looking at the battery date code, I got 7 years 4+ months out of the original BMW-YUASA battery. A short life in my books and it is an AGM battery, my first AGM battery in any vehicle.

I replaced it with the same YUASA YTZ14S for US$92 (it was on sale). I highly doubt you can get a quality Li-Ion battery for double that and I highly doubt I'll get double the life out of it or nearly 15 years. I look at cost vs service time.

Typically I get 9 full years out of a seasonal motorcycle battery and 14 and 16 years out of a car battery. Both of them were conventional flooded lead acid batteries and none of this high-tech crap.

What do you do that you believe gives you such long life from your batteries that others may not be doing? Fourteen to sixteen years out of a car battery is *very* impressive, and I've only gotten nine years or more out of a bike battery after I switched to Odyssey. Thanks.
 
What do you do that you believe gives you such long life from your batteries that others may not be doing? Fourteen to sixteen years out of a car battery is *very* impressive, and I've only gotten nine years or more out of a bike battery after I switched to Odyssey. Thanks.

For starters, they are conventional batteries meaning I can add distilled water every two years or so. BTW, there is no such thing as a "maintenance free" battery. They all need to be charged and maintained in the off season or while parked for long periods. Obviously a GEL and AGM cannot really be opened up.

I have vehicle charging systems that operate correctly based on voltage and temperature and battery type (which does not change because I use the same battery chemistry for replacements). I have a voltmeter in all of my cars & motorcycles. The R100 GS has been stored for years, but it will get a voltmeter when it is back on the road. By the way, none of my cars were ever on a battery maintainer and they were parked for 6 weeks at a time.

I do not live in the deep south and need to put up with ultra-high temperatures which is a battery killer. I see -15F to 85F. General rule is every 8°C above standard 25°C (I think it was) cuts battery life in half.

Other than that, I do not let the battery voltage drop below ~12.5V and I buy quality batteries. I also do not leave my batteries on a maintainer all the time unless I am gone for very long periods and cannot monitor them. My YTZ14S probably died early likely because it was always on a maintainer. I prefer to spot charge the batteries and then disconnect the charger. And if they are not used, I disconnect the battery to reduce drains.

My BMW Mareg battery in my R100 GS always lasted 9 full years.
 
For starters, they are conventional batteries meaning I can add distilled water every two years or so. BTW, there is no such thing as a "maintenance free" battery. They all need to be charged and maintained in the off season or while parked for long periods. Obviously a GEL and AGM cannot really be opened up.

I have vehicle charging systems that operate correctly based on voltage and temperature and battery type (which does not change because I use the same battery chemistry for replacements). I have a voltmeter in all of my cars & motorcycles. The R100 GS has been stored for years, but it will get a voltmeter when it is back on the road. By the way, none of my cars were ever on a battery maintainer and they were parked for 6 weeks at a time.

I do not live in the deep south and need to put up with ultra-high temperatures which is a battery killer. I see -15F to 85F. General rule is every 8°C above standard 25°C (I think it was) cuts battery life in half.

Other than that, I do not let the battery voltage drop below ~12.5V and I buy quality batteries. I also do not leave my batteries on a maintainer all the time unless I am gone for very long periods and cannot monitor them. My YTZ14S probably died early likely because it was always on a maintainer. I prefer to spot charge the batteries and then disconnect the charger. And if they are not used, I disconnect the battery to reduce drains.

My BMW Mareg battery in my R100 GS always lasted 9 full years.

Living in Az. temps for months at a time are over 100F [ I think this year it was over 100 days over 100F, we see 110+F for a week or two every summer. Regarding the bolded. That would suggest my batteries lasting 5 years out here in the motors would have a lifespan of over 10 years if your calculations are correct and I lived in BC.

When living in NE, my batts would last 5 years as well on the motors and maybe 7 in the cages. Not much of a difference in the world I've lived in. I never got 10 years out of a motor battery.
 
Living in Az. temps for months at a time are over 100F [ I think this year it was over 100 days over 100F, we see 110+F for a week or two every summer. Regarding the bolded. That would suggest my batteries lasting 5 years out here in the motors would have a lifespan of over 10 years if your calculations are correct and I lived in BC.

Its been 10 years since I retired from the battery lab and I had to check on the above that I had written about temperature. Close enough....

BU-806a: How Heat and Loading affect Battery Life
 
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