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Lithium batteries, worth it?


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Thanks I hope I won't need a new battery soon I still have knock on plastic the original five-year-old battery and I run a lot of shit but everything's LED including the turn signal running lights front and rear plus driving lights plus heated gear plus low draw devices I have a voltmeter

I'll check them out when the time comes but I'm intrigued by them

I have a battery tender plus that's great for lead acid a self-balancing lithium would be nice but I think you still need to be careful about maximum charging and not have any wave action

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The replacement Yamaha 850CC FJ-09, 2015-2017 Motorcycle battery is...

I tried to justify the cost of a Lithium battery. But when someone posted this link for a $26 replacement battery (STZ10S), I could no longer justify the cost of lithium. I am using one of these today.

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2015 red FJ-09: Cal Sci screen, Sargent seat, ECU flash, slider combo, cruise, Rizoma bars, Matts forks, JRi shock, slipper clutch

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Weight's always worth losing for performance.  I don't like getting into the "my weight loss vs bike weight loss" as the two are unrelated. Obviously losing weight myself is even better than losing it on the bike even from a performance focused standpoint given the height of the weight, but it's not either-or.  

Now, as I'm not American, US-made means nothing to me, but yeah, I do agree: buy a quality battery and maintain it properly

TBH: I've just bought name brand batteries, whatever the local shops stocked, for 25+ years and 6 bikes.  Even with Canadian winters, I've never had to replace a battery other than ones from other people (Previous Owner Batteries, which interestingly I always have to replace regardless of brand or location of manufacture).  I have literally never had a battery of my own fail.

But I always have batteries on trickle chargers when my bike isn't going to be used for more than a couple days in the winter, or more than a week in the summer.  A $25 battery maintainer attached to an SAE plug saves a fortune in battery costs. 

 

All that random rambling aside, if I only rode in warmer climates, I'd probably get a lithium battery to save a couple kg's and because they're cool, and I like spending money on my babies.  Farkles that have legit performance gains beat farkles that don't, 100% of the time.  But the actual gains per dollar are pretty low here, so I'd probably not do it unless I'd already done so many other performance related upgrades that matter more (HH pads, suspension, good tires, flashing the ECU, etc) unless I already *had* to replace the battery from some reason. 

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30% more expensive than OE replacement in my part of the globe... maybe. Sounds like a bit of a princess of batteries. Manufacture date on my bike is November 2014... OE battery going strong... but still a maybe.

canada.gif.22c5f8bdb95643b878d06c336f5fe29f.gif

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On 7/21/2020 at 7:47 PM, 2and3cylinders said:

You guys are American, North American..Don't know if Canada makes batteries??

Not to my knowledge, but I haven't looked.  I just never assume local manufacturing is better - I've worked in manufacturing my whole life, and I know better. 

But even if we did make batteries here in Canada, that'd be the absolute last factor for me in deciding which to buy - after brand reliability, specs, and price.  

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14 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Uh, I was yoking around...

Why are YOU also up?  I'm on a weird schedule lately...website development & Covid-19 = sleep when you want.

 

I do super awesome rotating shift work, 12 hour shifts, switching between 7am-7pm and 7pm-7am every two weeks.  What is sleep? :)

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12 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

I do super awesome rotating shift work, 12 hour shifts, switching between 7am-7pm and 7pm-7am every two weeks.  What is sleep? :)

Every 2 weeks? That is brutal.  I used to do that 12h on/ 12h off when on deployment in the Navy, except we only swapped day/night shift every 2 or 3 months, that transition period was a killer.  I cant imagine doing that on a regular basis.

***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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3 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

I do super awesome rotating shift work, 12 hour shifts, switching between 7am-7pm and 7pm-7am every two weeks.  What is sleep? :)

Ouch every 2 weeks! I kinda feel your pain though... I work 5 on 4 off.  930pm-630am. Although my shift is consistent, I have kids that wake up at 8am.. so I'm constantly switching my sleep pattern on my off days.

'15 FJ-09 w/ lots of extras...

Fayetteville, GA, USA

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11 hours ago, betoney said:

Every 2 weeks? That is brutal.  I used to do that 12h on/ 12h off when on deployment in the Navy, except we only swapped day/night shift every 2 or 3 months, that transition period was a killer.  I cant imagine doing that on a regular basis.

Yeah, that's my thinking too.  Sadly, I've never been able to convince everyone else to go to slower rotations.  "It's so much harder when you get used to a shift!" they say.   Yeah, no.  Never getting used to a sleeping schedule is way worse overall; you just feel like bloody garbage all the time.  I don't actually mind night shifts at all, in fact I kind of like them, but the changes are horrible every time. 

 

7 hours ago, duhs10 said:

Ouch every 2 weeks! I kinda feel your pain though... I work 5 on 4 off.  930pm-630am. Although my shift is consistent, I have kids that wake up at 8am.. so I'm constantly switching my sleep pattern on my off days.

We used to do 10 hour shifts, 4 on/3 off, which was wonderful.  Even the nights where 3pm-1am, which was pretty fine even with the kids being kids.   Doing 12 hours nights, though, is really rough when the little buggers are up and screaming before I'm in bed.  And really, it's not like I can ask them to STFU, as, well, they're kids and it's the middle of the day.  

Ah well, it's life.  But it does result in my being up and about at what amounts to wholly random times.  It also makes for a lot of riding at kind of oddball times, so I never have to deal with traffic - always a plus.

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Switching every 2 weeks is bloody murder, studies have shown, sorry to say, that the stress significantly shortens your life and can lead to several illnesses and conditions, including metal health issues.  It really should be banned.

I prefer an early to bed early to rise schedule but I married a night person and over 40 years it's taken a toll on me, added to by 3 kids who take after her.  My oldest is an ER doc (yeh, we worry) that likes working 2100 to 0700, usually 4 on 3 off but often only 2 off since the pandemic, AND they cut pay!  A-holes, that's how they show appreciation for our front line life savers!  My youngest is also Vet doc intern at the ASPCA HQ in Manhattan and does 12 ~ 14 hour shifts 6 days a week plus is on call.  Friggin slave labor!  Same everywhere.  Harder to get into a Vet school, more demanding knowledge base, costs the same and also 4 years by make 1/4 as a human doc...

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9 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Switching every 2 weeks is bloody murder, studies have shown, sorry to say, that the stress significantly shortens your life and can lead to several illnesses and conditions, including metal health issues.  It really should be banned.

I prefer an early to bed early to rise schedule but I married a night person and over 40 years it's taken a toll on me, added to by 3 kids who take after her.  My oldest is an ER doc (yeh, we worry) that likes working 2100 to 0700, usually 4 on 3 off but often only 2 off since the pandemic, AND they cut pay!  A-holes, that's how they show appreciation for our front line life savers!  My youngest is also Vet doc intern at the ASPCA HQ in Manhattan and does 12 ~ 14 hour shifts 6 days a week plus is on call.  Friggin slave labor!  Same everywhere.  Harder to get into a Vet school, more demanding knowledge base, costs the same and also 4 years by make 1/4 as a human doc...

Yeah, for sure.  It's a pretty physically hard job too, which takes a substantial physical toll, through wear and tear and injuries.  Kind of racing my aging body to retirement, but there's no options really.  It's ensuring my kids can go to school and have better opportunities, so it's worth it.  

I can't believe they cut ER doc pay, that's insane.  In the middle of a pandemic, at much increased personal risk, they get paid less?  Crazy.  How do they justify that?  Hell, why would they do it in the first place?

 

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I also sacrificed, or should I say my wife and I, as well as our kids to a certain extent, for the kids.

They're all grown now and making definite contributions to society, all three of them, as an ER doc, a family law attorney and a Veterinarian working for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  What more can I ask for, I'm very proud of my kids.  But also like you, my body also goes through a lot of stress and strain, and I've risked my life hanging off buildings, antenna towers, all sorts of crazy high places, for 40 years

Thank God I'm on Medicare now but I can't retire not with the world the way it is so we worry about the kids and they worry about us and just try to get by day by day

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