Battery - Lithium or AGM

[globalrider]

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.

 

[gregfeeler]

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.

 

[globalrider]

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.

 

[brownie0486]

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.

 

[globalrider]

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

 

[brownie0486]

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

Thx for the link sir