Motorcycle battery charging? Lithium..

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

And the other side

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

An AGM battery can be charged with any small smart charger, my Suzuki Burgman 400 has one laying on its side. I bought a Motobat as they are the only ones with two sets of terminals which is a very handy feature.

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

I’m presuming that any battery suitable to be fitted to a motor vehicle with a charging circuit will be able to be charged with the fitted system..

its just a raw lithium iron battery that needs a special charger?

it remains to be seen as to whether my bike charges the fitted battery at a fast idle the battery voltage reads 13.8v

putting my meter on the starter motor, that draws about 150 amps for a few seconds before the beast snarls into life

I wonder how many starts i can manage with only short journeys and no overnight topping up?

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Are Lithium batteries like Lead Acid and fail if left in a very low or discharged condition?

Being on a motor cycle, I would imagine that it would be small and so a low Amp Hour capacity, so unable to stand many high current draw starts.

Where, once, a small petrol fuelled car would have a 75 A/Hr battery, now, they tend to be 37 A/Hr, relying on a high capacity alternator to provide a quick recharge.

Howard

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

A lithium battery should have safety circuitry built in that prevents the cell voltage falling below a certain level. Without that, a cell will be scrap. I don’t know how batteries which are expected to run high loads such as engine starting achieve this.

Petrol cars are tending to have smaller engines now and don’t need very high compression ratios either, because they have turbochargers to get their power. I had a new Hyundi i20 on loan recently, 1litre and 100hp. The turbo did a lot of work, especially as at 70mph on the motorway in 6th gear the engine was only running at 2000rpm.

My Suzuki Burgman  has a 400W alternator.

[colin branniganParticipant @colinbrannigan54160]

Absolutely stunning, nothing like this finds it’s way into my shed they usually come in many boxes and not all the same model or even make, ’tis a work of art.

Any chance of a few more photos.

Kind regards Colin

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

Here’s a few more then Colin…I’m still looking in awe at it myself and what I’ve let myself in for…

[colin branniganParticipant @colinbrannigan54160]

Thanks Ian, my Triton now looks cheap and shabby along this master piece, I understand your trepidation but I hope you enjoy it every aspect of owning such a machine

I used to ride a B31 around the farm when I was thirteen or there abouts and a Postman called Flippo would help out at busy times and he rode a Vincent, I was in awe of the marque then as I am now

Colin

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

Well Colin if you ever sheffield way call in and have a look /ride?

[Ian Parkin]

On Ian Parkin Said:

Well Colin if you ever sheffield way call in and have a look /ride?

I nearly bought a house on Vincent road many years ago; I can’t find a Ducati Avenue in Buxton for a similar photo, and it’s a bit too far to Le Mans for a Guzzi photo.
Bonneville Salt  flats are a long way off, but I wonder if there’s a Yamaha piano dealer around, so I could play it that way.
Drop in if you’re ever over this way on a ride out.

Bill

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

I will do bill

i’m still doing shakedown rides at the moment

[colin branniganParticipant @colinbrannigan54160]

I think the shake down rides are a great part of a rebuild with the nervous thoughts of will it or won’t it, how does it handle, will it stop so much goes through your mind at these times.

First run to the shop and back about a mile then Sandy Lane and back, then far as the Church with a quick stop to check for oil leaks and nothing fallen off and does it start when hot

I rebuilt a 1930 Douglas last year and it has finally reached the stage where I am happy with it, but don’t mention the brakes.

Colin

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

No worries about braking for your Norvin, if you are worried about having the battery getting hot, you might look at the possibility of fitting it in the seat hump, it’s hard to gauge from the pictures whether there would be enough room.

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

I went into deepest Lincolnshire yesterday to Maughans the manufacturer of almost all Vincent parts you would need and bought this lot

So thats all the parts to fit a kickstart and valve lifter..

the chap at maughans said that the kickstart lever itself was forged rather than some which are cast..

what does forged mean in this application? Drop forged into a die? A blacksmith hitting a bar of steel until its close?

I must say all the parts are very well made and beautifully finished and individually not too bad in price..but the whole was eye watering price wise

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

I bet the cast ones are painful as your heel impacts the ground

[Ian Parkin]

On Ian Parkin Said:

…

the chap at maughans said that the kickstart lever itself was forged rather than some which are cast..

what does forged mean in this application? …

Drop forged for sure.  Apart from traditional work blacksmith forging is rarely done these days.  Welding does a better job most of the time.

Drop forging is common whenever strength is important.  Whacking metal into a die with a giant hammer improves the metal by compressing the grain.

Dave

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

Your a brave man – kicking that over ! Wonderful machine, reminds me of my youth and a friends father having a Vincent. Noel.

[colin branniganParticipant @colinbrannigan54160]

Maughan have a very good reputation for quality parts so it’s money well spent and you are not allowed to skimp on a machine like that, it’s just beautiful. Colin

[CirclipParticipant @circlip]

Wot’s the lump? Yep I know it’s a Vinny but which one? Sixty years ago, going through Pudsey to get to Post Hill, we ground to a halt to inspect an immaculate  Rapide – C with a fer sale sign on it. Me mate collected it the following night, cost? One hundred pictures of HRH QE2. He later emigrated to Aus., bike was sent over packaged in two oil drums.

Regaards  Ian.

[Ian ParkinParticipant @ianparkin39383]

Ian

the engine number suggests its a black shadow ( so white shadow)

Ian

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

When it’s all done, Ian … an outing to Stevenage, and a quick blast up Jack’s Hill might be in order 🙂

MichaelG.

[andy198712Participant @andy198712]

What’s the max output voltage? That’s what you want to know for fitting lithium battery.

im a massive Noco battery fan, spins my 950 v twin much better then Lead acid and lasts longer, doesn’t go flat ect.

 

just has a max charging volatage of 14.6 as I recall? So worth checking that, the BMS will not allow higher voltage in apparently

[peak4]

On peak4 Said:

On Ian Parkin Said:

Ive ordered a AGM and will see if that will start the snarling beast…

It’s probably the best option to be fair; the Lidl chargers seem  to work quite well for the occasional top-up over the winter.
For a bike with only little use, I found adding an easy method of draining the carb to be advantageous.
My XT 600 just doesn’t want to fire up if left unused for a couple of weeks with modern fuel, so I made a brass extended drain screw for easy emptying before starting; rather than draining after use and letting the seals dry out.
It’s a moot point as to whether the ethanol in the fuel attracts water and corrodes the internals, or whether to let it run dry and have the seals harden.
I’ve been filling up with Esso Supreme, as that didn’t have any ethanol for most of the UK despite being labelled as E5, though I think it may have changed recently. I may have to resort to StarTron for longer term storage.
Esso didn’t cause internal corrosion problems, but did go off and prevent starting easily.
Be careful comparing prices of StarTron, as it used to come in different strength/dilution ratios, so the more expensive options might work out cheaper.

Bill

The spec for E5 gas is “up to 5% ethanol” so it very well may have zero ethanol.

I run SP 98 for everything petrol fuelled here in France for the last 3 years, which is both motorcycles, several mowers. chainsaws, strimmers, dump truck and most importantly the generator.

So far supermarket SP98 (sans plomb) passes the ethanol test.

Both cars are diesel.

[Ian Parkin]

On Ian Parkin Said:

Ive ordered a AGM and will see if that will start the snarling beast…

You might consider fitting a bikestart kit from Motorworks.

https://www.motorworks.co.uk/bikestart-kit-tea00001-1.html

My 2001 BMW R1100S starts ok unless the temperature is coldish, then it struggles to swing the two pots over at 11.3 compression ratio on the first start of the day.

To get to the battery is a pain, it’s under the fuel tank.

It’s a well made kit, not over expensive, just plug the the jump start lead into the socket on the bike and clip onto a slave battery to juice the bike battery up.

You could carry the plug and leads under the seat to cadge a jump start from any friendly car driver.

 

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