I own a K7 1000 with a WPS featherweight Lithium battery (490-2516) that has been great to me. Welll I made a really stupid mistake two nights ago when I was resetting the clock and picked up a phone call. I walked away and forgot the key was still in the ignition and decided to go to bed. I woke up the next day to ride to work and saw the key was still there and the bike was completely dead. I looked online to see what I could do and read that my battery could be trash. I don't own a charger because it never needed one, starts right up everyday. So I just ordered another battery $128 after taxes and thought I might ask you guys what you would do if you were me? I have read so many conflicting opinions online that I really don't know what to believe. Is it too far gone to save? Is there something I can do to bring it back? Should I accept I was stupid and install the new one I ordered? Would sitting all night with the key on damage anything on the bike? Any information you can shed would help me understand these batteries more and maybe help others like me who don't know what to believe. Thanks everyone.
WPS Lithium Battery Dead?
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I own a K7 1000 with a WPS featherweight Lithium battery (490-2516) that has been great to me. Welll I made a really stupid mistake two nights ago when I was resetting the clock and picked up a phone call. I walked away and forgot the key was still in the ignition and decided to go to bed. I woke up the next day to ride to work and saw the key was still there and the bike was completely dead. I looked online to see what I could do and read that my battery could be trash. I don't own a charger because it never needed one, starts right up everyday. So I just ordered another battery $128 after taxes and thought I might ask you guys what you would do if you were me? I have read so many conflicting opinions online that I really don't know what to believe. Is it too far gone to save? Is there something I can do to bring it back? Should I accept I was stupid and install the new one I ordered? Would sitting all night with the key on damage anything on the bike? Any information you can shed would help me understand these batteries more and maybe help others like me who don't know what to believe. Thanks everyone.
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Batteries don't really like being deep-cycled like that, but doesn't always kill them outright.
Not sure where you are located, but here in Minnesota, we have a number of auto parts stores and battery specialty stores that will charge it and test it for you for free.
Not sure where you are located, but here in Minnesota, we have a number of auto parts stores and battery specialty stores that will charge it and test it for you for free.
Who knows? Buy a charger and see what you have.
The parasitic drain can wreck a lithium if the bike sits for very long. You really need a charger (Battery Tender Jr.) and a decent multimeter (measures to .001 V) if you're going to use one. I find that a quick disconnect is invaluable. Beware of parts store testing as they're geared to lead-acid car batteries that are much more powerful and rugged. You might find some information here. But the motorcycle batteries are LiFePO4 and most comments there are about higher density types.
Tennis shoes? Come on! Suggest that you also buy a decent leather jacket. ATGATT
P.S. I don't think that the MSF will allow you to ride their bikes without foot protection.
The parasitic drain can wreck a lithium if the bike sits for very long. You really need a charger (Battery Tender Jr.) and a decent multimeter (measures to .001 V) if you're going to use one. I find that a quick disconnect is invaluable. Beware of parts store testing as they're geared to lead-acid car batteries that are much more powerful and rugged. You might find some information here. But the motorcycle batteries are LiFePO4 and most comments there are about higher density types.
Tennis shoes? Come on! Suggest that you also buy a decent leather jacket. ATGATT
P.S. I don't think that the MSF will allow you to ride their bikes without foot protection.
Thank you for the replies, i bought a new one and should arrive on Wednesday. I will also order the battery tender jr even though i enjoyed making fun of my friends expensive bikes that need the tender often. What really bugs me is that the day before it died i had installed a new radiator, rk gold chain, new pads all around, bled both front and back brakes and clutch with my new mightyvac air compressor bleeder, oil, filter, air filter, ngk plugs etc and it was night and day different! I hope she will be running exactly the same when i start it up Wednesday. This is what the battery is showing right now. The other pic is a list of my modifications.
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I'm no expert on batteries, but I think that although Li ion batteries don't mind being deep-cycled (contrary to lead-acid) they can't tolerate being completely drained, i.e. down to zero volts. On most devices that use them, like mobile phones etc. there are protection circuits in the battery, or, more likely, in the phone, that don't allow the battery to drain completely. The bike's charging system wasn't designed for such battery chemistries of course, so it won't bother about it and will happily drain it all the way, unless there's protective circuitry in the battery itself.
I have no idea whether that is the case and have often idly wondered. Your experience seems to suggest otherwise. (I wonder what sort of protection such a battery could have. Anything that disconnects it from the bike when its voltage drops too low, would have to have some sort of relay that can withstand the high currents produced during cranking for instance, without dropping too much voltage. I would be very curious as to whether and how that could be done.)
I have no idea whether that is the case and have often idly wondered. Your experience seems to suggest otherwise. (I wonder what sort of protection such a battery could have. Anything that disconnects it from the bike when its voltage drops too low, would have to have some sort of relay that can withstand the high currents produced during cranking for instance, without dropping too much voltage. I would be very curious as to whether and how that could be done.)
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I had an alien motion that was drained all the way down to 6 volts. I thought it was done for but I bought a charger and it came back to life. That was 3 years ago. It just finally died 2 months ago.
Update.. I got my bikemaster lithium charger for $35 today and hooked it up to my battery. I had been checking the volts with my multimeter since it completely died and before i hooked it up it to the charger had 8amps! When it was dead the meter read 5amps. Well it charged and started the bike right up. Measured at 13amps.
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