Keeping battery weight down

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bob

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This probably isn't of much relevance unless you're building a special or a track bike. My bike runs on straight 40 oil and if the temperature is very low it can be a bit of a struggle to get the motor to turn over for the first start of the day. If it doesn't catch in the first two or three attempts the battery struggles with the 11.8 compression and tends to throw its hand in. Once the oil is warm or the temperature rises there's no problem.
I didn't want to fit a bigger battery and I hate arsing about with car jump leads on motorbike batteries so I got some cables made up with an Anderson mini connector.  For the first start of the day just plug in the slave battery for a bit of extra oomph and off you go.
Might be a good tip for Zane owners who are faced with a half day job to remove the battery !


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Battery002.jpg
 
For what ever reason Bob,the first thing I saw was your breath pipe that appears like its about to part company with the housing.Just thought I'd mention it.

Andy
 
Well spotted Andy! I knew about it but didn't think anybody would be eagle eyed enough to notice. It's on this weekend's to do list.
I think the problem is that the Atlas motor breather has a stacking piece underneath which I should probably junk. Ideally I'd like a 90 degree hose connection so I find a suitable route for the hose
 
Bob,
Have a look at battery packs based on the A123 cells.  An 8-cell A123 should provide more cranking power (for a short period, bike needs to be basically a good starter) than the Odyssey and is less than 1kg.  The wonders of modern technology...
Check out your local hobby shop, all the rage in electric helicopters etc.  Some mobs are marketing them for bikes but generally with 300% markup.
Cheers
Steve B
 
bob said:
Well spotted Andy! I knew about it but didn't think anybody would be eagle eyed enough to notice. It's on this weekend's to do list.
I think the problem is that the Atlas motor breather has a stacking piece underneath which I should probably junk.  Ideally I'd like a 90 degree hose connection so I find a suitable route for the hose 
Click to expand...

Bob,

Find yourself a breather exit from a Zane model.  Unscrew your hose fitting and screw in the 90? Zane elbow, finished!

Shouldn't be much air movement in the cases with the pistons always moving in opposing directions, you may manage without the packing, although it was carried on to the Zanes.

piet
 
There is a battery co. out there called Shorai that have feather weight batteries that aren't based on cells from power hand tools.Was at a motorcycle show and talked to the rep and examined the product,has carbon fiber casings and are using components developed for Nasa and the military.Supposedly doesn't require any special rechargeing equipment either. Was told that they were considering making a larger size than the currently 14ah  one available. The pricing is not cheap but not too out of line for what they are offering when compared to the Odyssey products. 
 
I am on the Racetec mail list and they just posted about a crowd who race electric bikes,won the US based series last year,they make a starting battrey,1.8lbs,115mm wide,75mmdeep,65mm tall,sold through a US basedcrowd called Trackaholics,760 481 3263,and Made by Lightning Motocycle.no leaking,start the space shuttel,quick charging with no special gear etc etc,price $200us on some special offer
 
Steve,

intrigued by your post, spent most of the night surfing the web on A 123 batteries.

Never heard of them before, but found out that they have been discussed on other motorcycle forums, and are already widely used on motorcycles.
There are even a few tutorials on you tube no how to make a battery pack. Great stuff.

Already thinking of using those for my ongoing project.

Thank you.

Boba
 
Piet/Rob, thanks for the tip, the problem with the breather on eBay is that the vendor is aksing a fiver for it, which is a little bit more than I'd like to pay............ :D Only joking, I've bought it, should be problem solved. As Phil once said , it's good this forum ....

Steve , thanks for the heads up on the batteries , very interesting. I'll do some googling.
 
Pleasure Bob, good team work Piet   ;)

Maybe you should buy them both and flog the 2nd one for a tenner as a performance upgrade !  :D
 
H Bob, I can't quite see if the battery is rubber mounted in anyway, but if not, it might be worth it - even thin sheet of rubber can make a big difference vibe-ing a battery to a DNF disappointment. P.
 
Hi Paul, almost all the ancillaries are isolated in various ways. The battery sits in a carefully cushioned cradle and doesn't seem to be unhappy in any way. The bike is still relatively untested in many ways so I'll be keeping a careful watch on all that stuff in the next few months. All these superficially unimportant things can be race losers of course.
Bob
 
wdietz186 said:
There is a battery co. out there called Shorai that have feather weight batteries that aren't based on cells from power hand tools.Was at a motorcycle show and talked to the rep and examined the product,has carbon fiber casings and are using components developed for Nasa and the military.Supposedly doesn't require any special rechargeing equipment either. Was told that they were considering making a larger size than the currently 14ah  one available. The pricing is not cheap but not too out of line for what they are offering when compared to the Odyssey products. 
Click to expand...

I just purchased one of these batteries for my Aprilia from Shoria. They are real closed to home. The battery weighs only a few pounds which is a reduction of almost 10 pounds over stock. It comes with foam pads to use as shims and is supposed to have more cranking power than stock ones with a much longer life. They are not cheap however.
 
May be of help for race bikes, when I raced karts I found the 12 volt battery from a burglar alarm ran my kart for the whole weekend and more. Weighed very little and was a dry cell so the scrutes loved it.

Andy
 
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