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Need Advice: Anyone replaced battery with Li Ion battery for 2022 or later model 1250cc BMW bikes ?

B

bikejunkie

New member
My dealer suggested to not use Li Ion battery - said might cause error codes to show up. My 2022 1250 RT has 24,000 miles and needs a new battery. Any advice would be appreciated on if I can use a Li Ion battery and if so which one.

Thanks much.
 
Welcome to the forum! A long discussion about Wethead batteries here:

Replacement Battery Info for R1200RT WetHead/R1250RT ShiftHead

There are lots of forum threads that contain individual users' experience with what battery they use to replace the OEM battery on the 2014-2018 R1200RT WetHead series of BMW. This info is also probably applicable to the 2019-on R1250RTW as well, since the only real change with the ShiftHead was...
forums.bmwmoa.org

And from what I've read, if you go Li-Ion you may need a specialized trickle charger.
 
And here's a good deal of info about Lithium in particular (not wethead specific):

EarthX Lithium Battery 7 year review

Since moving to the desert almost 19 years ago now, I've experienced more battery failures, car and bike, than ever before due to the heat. Simply put, heat kills lead acid/AGM batteries, usually in 3-4 years. I've had 2 die in 13 months. Nothing, car or bike, ever lasted more than 4 years...
forums.bmwmoa.org
 
Question for the electrical engineer or guru types: If a Li Ion battery requires a specialized charger, how well does the bike's charging system work? Why does one source of charging work and the other does not?
 
bikejunkie said:
My dealer suggested to not use Li Ion battery - said might cause error codes to show up. My 2022 1250 RT has 24,000 miles and needs a new battery. Any advice would be appreciated on if I can use a Li Ion battery and if so which one.

Thanks much.
Click to expand...
Did the dealer provide any substance behind "might cause error codes"?

I can't speak specifically to an 1250RT. But I switched to a LiFeP04 (LFP) battery (Antigravity with ReStart) on my K1600 a few weeks ago. I was waffling between the Antigravity and an EarthX. The Antigravity won out, as the ReStart feature saves me from packing a jump starter while away on road trips. Quite a number of other K1600 owners seem to have switched over to Antigravity, many of whom years ago. I have heard of zero issues. Modern Pb based batteries seem to have increasingly become a gamble as to how long any given battery might last before a plate breaks free internally. I won't be going back to Pb batteries in the bikes.

If you do go with a LFP battery and you normally keep your bike on a trickle charger when not in use, be sure to use a LFP compatible trickle charger, else you can damage the battery.
 
rhbike said:
Did the dealer provide any substance behind "might cause error codes"?

I can't speak specifically to an 1250RT. But I switched to a LiFeP04 (LFP) battery (Antigravity with ReStart) on my K1600 a few weeks ago. I was waffling between the Antigravity and an EarthX. The Antigravity won out, as the ReStart feature saves me from packing a jump starter while away on road trips. Quite a number of other K1600 owners seem to have switched over to Antigravity, many of whom years ago. I have heard of zero issues. Modern Pb based batteries seem to have increasingly become a gamble as to how long any given battery might last before a plate breaks free internally. I won't be going back to Pb batteries in the bikes.

If you do go with a LFP battery and you normally keep your bike on a trickle charger when not in use, be sure to use a LFP compatible trickle charger, else you can damage the battery.
Click to expand...
I just installed an Antigravity with Restart on my 2019 R1250RT. Easy install, love the extra set of terminals, soooo much lighter and cranks much stronger. No error codes or issues.

I did purchase the recommended charger. But unless the bike sits for a month + without use you don't have to keep it hooked up (another plus for me). I did replace the battery previously with an AGM because the OEM crapped out and I was in a pinch. I find they dont crank as well and just don't last (2-3) years for me. My last bike was a 2009 GSA and I ran a Shorai Lithium battery in that for 6 years before selling the bike. Battery was working perfectly when I sold it.
 
PGlaves said:
Question for the electrical engineer or guru types: If a Li Ion battery requires a specialized charger, how well does the bike's charging system work? Why does one source of charging work and the other does not?
Click to expand...
Not an EE, but I have stayed at a HI Express...

On a "modern" bike, say anything less than 25 years old, it works just fine on a "good" lithium battery.

Early lithiums (think Shorai) did not have good (or any, like Shorai) battery management systems (BMS) that would "balance" the cells of the battery. Most modern lithiums take care of this with an on board BMS. EarthX and Antigravity definitely do.

You can't use a lead acid charger b/c those charges have a "desulphate" portion built into their charging curve that helps a lead acid battery reach full charge. That cycle will damage a lithium battery.

Your bike's charging system does not have a desulphate cycle, and the battery's BMS will balance the cells.
 
bikejunkie said:
My dealer suggested to not use Li Ion battery - said might cause error codes to show up. My 2022 1250 RT has 24,000 miles and needs a new battery. Any advice would be appreciated on if I can use a Li Ion battery and if so which one.

Thanks much.
Click to expand...
Your dealer wants the ongoing battery business...
 
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