Ugh.

 

Not only do I "disagree," but your claim is simply wrong. If your voltmeter displays a voltage of 13+ volts, your battery is charging. The charging system in my street glide is more than sufficient even at idle to charge the battery, even with the radio blasting and the heated grips on. If yours isn't, you need to troubleshoot it.

Batteries don't last as long in motorcycles because they are physically undersized compared to car batteries. I had a car with a battery that was too small for the engine it had and its battery never lasted more than about 3 years. If there was room and I could have installed an appropriately sized battery, it would have lasted a long time. The original batteries in my diesel truck lasted 13 years before they finally were too weak to start it, because there are two huge batteries.

 

The Batteries Plus website is pretty wonky. The battery I ordered online and picked up last week isn't for my Heritage, but it is for my Street Glide so I kept it. I just went to the local store and picked up the correct one for my Heritage. For anyone interested, this is it ---

 

My motorcycle lithium battery experience: 1) Original HD touring lithium in a street glide 3 yrs ago - dead after 9 months. Replaced with the new model lithium about 2 yrs ago. I never use a tender on a lithium battery and only charge the battery out of the bike if necessary while the bike is in storage for 6 mo. 2) Original HD lithium in a Sportster for the last two years - same storage and charging scenario. 3) Non HD lithium in a Dyna for 18 months - saw on line that they were no longer recommending these for use in a Harley, so replaced it with AGM, and have been using the lithium in a Can Am SxS that only sees occasional use. Again same storage and charging scenario. The touring battery has gone dead - like 2.6 volts twice when transport mode was not used - and required a special charger at the dealer to bring it back to life.
I also have lithium/solar systems in two campers. Im only using Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePo batteries, and never Lithium Ion batteries (which are more energy dense, but can have “thermal runaway”)

I am fine with Lithium house batteries for the campers - that is their best use. But I’m going back to AGM for starting batteries. Between the temperature extremes of storing bikes and batteries in Arizona and Minnesota, its a hassle, and not worth the risk for me.

Quick Google search found this:Do not charge lithium ion batteries below 32°F/0°C. In other words, never charge a lithium ion battery that is below freezing.

Doing so even once will result in a sudden, severe, and permanent capacity loss on the order of several dozen percent or more, as well a similar and also permanent increase in internal resistance. This damage occurs after just one isolated 'cold charging' event, and is proportional to the speed at which the cell is charged.

But, even more importantly, a lithium ion cell that has been cold charged is NOT safe and must be safely recycled or otherwise discarded. By not safe, I mean it will work fine until it randomly explodes due to mechanical vibration, mechanical shock, or just reaching a high enough state of charge.

The bottom line is that your safety is entirely dependent on the BMS - battery management system - doing its job to prevent battery damage. If the manufacturer whet cheap on the BMS electronics, you will never know, until its too late.

 

Well lucky me, I have had no issues when starting and riding at that temp.

 

@Traildale Thank you for taking the time to write all that - very informative! My comment was more towards your comment that lithium batteries will put out below freezing. It's often 20 - 30°F in the winter here and AGM batteries have a hard enough time starting my bike after it's sat outside work for 12 hours. I have been focusing on the inability of Lithium tech to put out amps at low temps (according the the manufacturers), but if they get damaged being charged below freezing, it 100% means it's no good for winter use because the bike starts charging as soon as the engine starts.

 

Can you please share the source for this information?

I find this odd since HD sells them for HD motorcycles.

 

Ok, Bike batteries are NOT lithium ion -Li-ion, they are Lithium iron phosphate - LiFePO4

 

I have read this whole thread and am considering the NOCO Lithium NLP20, Group 20, 600A Lithium LiFePO4 Motorcycle Battery, 12V 7Ah. Will this fit my 1989 FLHTC I am seeing conflicting size measurements.According to a picture of the box a reviewer sent in it looks like it will.


TIA
C

 

The NOCO website has all of the dimensional data.

https://no.co/nlp20