It's more just heavy draw use. Some of the foamys that we fly won't ever pull close to enough load to drop the cells under 3 volts unless you almost completely drain the battery. That's the reason we don't need over 15C batteries on them. Start going over 80 percent drained and even these batteries go south pretty fast. If any cell gets under 3.3 volts per cell my ESCs are set to cut the throttle. Even staying above that voltage my Cellpro 10 chager still shows a pack going below 80% now and then.

 

It's a fun hobby, I don't get the time to fly like I used to. I hope to get some of my big gliders up this year.

 

Based on this would you say then that maybe Lithiums aren't really a good choice for motorcycles? Given the motorcycle environment of rapid discharge while cranking the starter, discharge while running lots of electrical lights, stereo, GPS, etc. and sitting idling, winter layover, etc. this may all lead to a shortened battery life for the Lithium?

I've decided to go with the AGM battery this spring from J & P Cycle who I've dealt with for years and never had any return issues the few times I've had to return items. Seems reasonably priced around $100 with 340 CCA.

 

These guys make all the HD batteries...mine was $79

http://www.dekabatteries.com/

 

I'm not an expert and can't say either way. The battery is used for start-up, so sitting at idle, using the radio, lights and accessories while we ride would have no affect on a battery.

All I can say is that with my experience using lithium polymer and lithium ion batteries with my other hobby, that they would not be a choice I would make for the motorcycle. Whatever that's worth.

 

Actually, BrunswickOH, it's worth quite a bit. I was seriously considering buying one and now am not. Thanks.

 

We have a tendency to want to fix things that aren't broken, this can be seen in every oil thread and a million other places on this forum. Maybe it's just human nature to want to tinker.

With the lithium batteries, like I said I'm no expert but I have spent more money than I would ever care to admit on lithium batteries, computer chargers, and other electronic devices to monitor and tune my electric airplanes. Lithium was the best thing to happen to the RC hobby in my young (cough cough) lifetime but they can be nasty when abused or somehow caused to fail and I don't see any benefit of putting them on our bikes.

My current everyday bike is an '08 Electra glide with about 30k on it and the original battery. When it fails, I'll replace it with a similar one.

 

It'll add 1 horsepower. You'll go faster.