Riders Of Vision

My buddy Charlie brought me 2 Shorai batteries for my fleet when he visited a couple of weeks ago. What a cool product! I put one in the '83 and it really brings the electrical system to life. The lights are brighter when you turn on the ignition and the starter really spins the motor. The thing I like most about them is that you are supposed to be able to leave them for a year without charging and they keep enough charge to crank the bike . . . and the one for the Vision only weighs 1.6 lbs.

They come with a lot of padding to put in the batt box so the batt doesn't rattle around in there since they are so much smaller. I'm going to put them in all my bikes as the acid batteries go bad.

As you can tell, I'm sold on them.

Never heard of them.  What is their technology?  What is the amp capacity?  Can they be mounted in non vertical positions?  Are they maintenance free?

http://www.motorcycle.com/products/shorai-lfx-lithium-battery-review-91165.html

Excellent report.  Thank you Lucky.

And what a cool buddy Art has! lol!

Here it is for our Visions:

http://www.shoraipower.com/s-174391-XZ550R-Vision.aspx

210 CCA is good but since the terminals are opposite than stock the battery will have to be mounted with them facing inward instead of outward.

What is the cca rating for a standard lead acid V battery?

Here is the battery from Yuasa:

http://www.yuasabatteries.com/motorcycle.php?action=showListing#formanchor

  I was hoping someone would get one, i am glad to hear you like it!  I though they migh not crank long enough to start the v. Looks like it is working ok though. The stuff i read is that they only putt out good for only a few seconds, course apush start could fix that if necessary.

 i really like all that I've researched on this battery, but here is a bit of caution when using a Shorai with a non MOSFET R/R. The fella Tweety on this link has some good info. http://superhawkforum.com/forums/general-discussion-30/r-r-shorai-battery%3D-epic-fail-24934/

  I heard one time that all wires are filled with smoke, the object is not to let it out. 

I've got the Shorai in my 83 in MX which I haven't ridden since I installed it. I had a hernia operation and was on the "don't ride motorcycles" list for 60 days. That's over now and I'm ready to ride. I guess I'll take a fire extinguisher with me (and a camera) I can't believe that guy took the time to take a picture while his bike was going up in flames.

Also, Tweety got way too technical for me. I couldn't tell if he knew what he was talking about or just blowin' smoke (pun intended.) I've always found that in theory, practice and theory should be the same, but in practice they usually aren't.

Thumbs up Artbone! Glad to hear you'll be riding again. If ya haven't done a MOSFET conversion yet, it'd be good with any battery choice for the long cooler run. I put one in a couple of weeks back in my other bike and it is great. They'll all end up with them at some point.

Post some MX ride pics if you get the chance.

Rich 

Okay guys, I didn't want to open my mouth and show my ignorance but now I'm forced to. What the hell is a MOSFET R/R and where do you get such a device?

  Art, many newer bikes come with them . They use a newly invented type of switching transistor, to control the AC current before it is sent to the R/R, thus making them run cooler. I will put one someday, but I have too many bikes, needing attention.

Quote from: artbone on March 30, 2012, 10:10:18 AM
Okay guys, I didn't want to open my mouth and show my ignorance but now I'm forced to. What the hell is a MOSFET R/R and where do you get such a device?

A walky talky so you can talk and buy one from the Mothership..  ;D

There are plenty of write ups on bike sites across the web doing the conversion process, pretty simple. The most ROV relevant one was posted by Tiger with a link to a site showing the conversion and folks chiming in http://ridersofvision.net/rovforum/index.php?topic=13270.0 . The model for the Vee would be an FH008 which is rated up to 35amps. There are larger models, but the Vee will never put out even the 35 amps and the higher capacity units are also larger and thus harder to fit. They used to be availbale for around the $40 to $50 range used. I got mine in the 60's shipped a month or so ago. There are some on eBay currently, but with the growing interest they are priced up around $100. They are always being listed and you should be able to pick one up for less.

As they run only warm to the touch as opposed to the earlier heat sink version there is some thought that on the Vee it could be mounted in the stock location, even with it being generally a hot location with the exhaust and cylinder heat flowing into that area. Or as some might still prefer, to locate it out in the breeze near the left rear passenger peg where the previous shunt style R/R seemed to fair better with longevity. Which ever location, it is a good idea to upgrade the connectors between the stator and the R/R. I went the solder, shrink tube, and tape route for less expense. If I need to test the stator wires later, the benefit of using a coupler, I have some extra length built in to do so. Hope this helps.

You convinced me! I just ordered one from ebay. Now I want to change to the 100/135 W headlight and add an oil cooler.  :)

if you need any help with my oil cooler design, let me know, i'll pm you my number

I have a oil cooler on my bike.
Could post a photo if you wanted

Iain
NZ

Art, the headlight upgrade is a no brainer.  A TIP: give the male headlight prongs a light coating of grease to keep corrosion (and hence, resistance generated heat) at bay.

Quote from: iain on March 30, 2012, 10:26:38 PM
I have a oil cooler on my bike.
Could post a photo if you wanted

Iain
NZ

Thanks Iain. Yes, I'd like to see where you tap in to the oil system for the cooler.

Quote from: QBS on March 30, 2012, 11:46:04 PM
Art, the headlight upgrade is a no brainer.  A TIP: give the male headlight prongs a light coating of grease to keep corrosion (and hence, resistance generated heat) at bay.

What is the number of the bulb I need to order?

Will do, Satuarday evening here, will take photos tomorrow morning,,
Iain
NZ

Just buy an H4 rated at 100/130.  Not aware of any particular "number".

H4 is the number (vs. an H2 for instance) and they come in different lo/hi beam wattage. You'll sometimes see 9003 or HB2 used when referring to H4 bulbs and they're for the most part interchangeable. http://candlepowerinc.com/pdfs/H4_9003.pdf (http://candlepowerinc.com/pdfs/H4_9003.pdf)

Some manufactureres use certain noble gases (xenon krpyton) in addition to the halogen fill gas to change color temperature and/or efficiency.

As I said Pictures



Iain
NZ

Brilliant mate ;) Quite lovely I might add.

Roro, please tell me you've installed one too! :laugh:

 :o So THAT'S what a pair of Shorai Batteries look like :P

                   

I thought they were supposed to be compact?

Lovely Sheila there, Lad!

I'm sure those dual batteries are the heavy duty high cranking model.  Maybe iain should have show us the battery posts as well.   ;)

Sorry vadasz1 but her posts are not on show, but it is  positive viewing,,

I thought I would show you what we look like

Iain
NZ.

Quote from: iain on April 02, 2012, 04:37:54 AM
I thought I would show you what we look like

Iain
NZ.

:) Great picture of the two of you... 8)

           

Quote from: iain on April 01, 2012, 01:24:32 AM
As I said Pictures



Iain
NZ

Nice pictures but . . . where is the oil cooler?

Look up the page and they are there

Iain
NZ

Quote from: iain on April 02, 2012, 02:20:04 PM
Look up the page and they are there

Iain
NZ

Carol and I are really looking forward to getting back to NZ. We took a tour with gotournz.com several years ago and it was one of the defining points of our lives. Three weeks on the South Island and a week on the North Island. Carol came back and retired from her job. NZ is the most beautiful place I've ever been and the people are among the most hospitable I've ever met.

You can always stay here if you come back over, and I'm sure roro [rohan] would have beds for you to

Rohan lives in the rich part of town on the hill that's where people have lots of letters after there name,,

Iain
NZ

Nice pic of you both. Looks like good times on the harbour/water. I spent a week camper van touring the South Island a few years back on my return to the states and had a great time. Spectacular scenery and great people all along the way. I just went looking to see if I had a pic of me waving with a background you might recognise, but no go. I do have a bike realated pic though, of a collection of old postie bikes taken in a small town along the west coast. Pretty far gone, but unique non the less. Look to all be Hondas.
(http://advrico.smugmug.com/photos/i-4bjz25z/0/L/i-4bjz25z-L.jpg) (http://advrico.smugmug.com/Other/Vehicle-Pics/15610468_5mWTBw#!i=1778501086&k=4bjz25z&lb=1&s=A)

Cheers, Rich

what town

Iain
NZ

 ??? This was back in Jan'08...
Another perspective of the bikes
(http://advrico.smugmug.com/photos/i-fvSwdCQ/0/L/i-fvSwdCQ-L.jpg) (http://advrico.smugmug.com/Other/Vehicle-Pics/15610468_5mWTBw#!i=1778572416&k=fvSwdCQ&lb=1&s=A)

Sorry I can't recall more Iain.

The nice part about living in Mexico is that as soon as you let the clutch out you're riding in Mexico. A few of the Motoclasico members went for a ride Sunday to the little town of Pozos, about 35 miles away for lunch. Here we are getting ready to leave from in front of my house.
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-q_8xR9pcQ0g/T3poHlV0OoI/AAAAAAAAIEM/zxb0riy6UWM/s720/IMG_5452.JPG?gl=US)

It was an interesting mix of bikes. I was on my Vision, my friend Mike P. was on his Norton Fastback, his wife Loretta was on her new BMW 650 GS which is really an 800 (go figure), Mike E. was on his 65 Triumph 500, and Peter M. was on his Hausaburg.
We had a great lunch and were joined by the hotel/restaurant owner, David, who bought us each a shot of Mescal and showed us around his place and his soon to be opened Spa.

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-qgZMKr6eNGQ/T3poIsnMZuI/AAAAAAAAIEU/wuWbRtnQB7w/s720/IMG_5453.JPG?gl=US)

[imghttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-UImj1w8yrFY/T3poKJVKUNI/AAAAAAAAIEc/h4eGudIEuV8/s720/IMG_5454.JPG?gl=US]http://[/img]

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-axDq8Xer518/T3poUitlUoI/AAAAAAAAIFc/Qq1YlG5nfAk/s576/IMG_5464.JPG?gl=US)

Then we rode up the hill just outside of town and looked around an abandoned silver mine, then headed home. It was a very nice way to spend a day. And my new battery didn't go up in smoke.

Very Nice Artbone! Glad to hear all is well with the Vee's new battery and looking good in the last pic.

  Thanks for all those pictures!!! 

Art, where in Mexico? 

 Artbone, MOSFET= metal oxide semiconductor field effect transister. There are several in the later regulators.

Quote from: fret nut on April 05, 2012, 01:30:34 AM
Art, where in Mexico? 

I live in San Miguel de Allende GTO. It's about 150 miles northwest of Mexico City. It's 6500 ft. elevation so it never gets very hot and it's far enough south that it never gets really cold. There are really nice roads in all directions. It's a great place to live.

I spent a night there once, then went to Guanajuato for a week and enjoyed the fiesta de la presa.  It was all interesting country to me.

Hello Art.
I know this is an old thread but thought I would enquirer how the Lithium battery is holding out? If you ever come back to NZ to ride you are welcome to call in to stay with us in Rotorua in the North Is.  I might even have a bike going by then.

Thanks
Steve

Art , I may have  confused San Miguel de Allende, with another town , but I saw a travelogue on TV the other night  and I seem to remember that name . They said that the Mexican revolution started there  and that the Priest was  responsible for  getting it started . It is a charming little town,

That's the town I live in. They had the 200 year celebration of the War of Independence in 2010.

The battery is doing great. The engine spins over much faster than it did with a regular battery and the lights are much brighter when I turn on the ignition.

Thanks for the update artbone.  :D Both of my bikes now have MOSFETs and one will be needing a battery soon. I'm becoming more interested in these batteries.  :)

I've bought a Mosfat (or most fat) regulator but haven't installed it yet. I think I'm going to do what several folks suggested and mount it out in the airstream somewhere. I think I saw where someone mounted it by the left rear foot peg. That looked nice and would be out of the way. It would have to be better than the stock location. That has to get really hot.

I'm not 100% certain on this however the MOSFET R/R will run happily in the original location from what I've read. They run very much cooler than the old transistor ones. So you don't have to muck about extending the wiring to get it in the airflow. I don't have one yet so can't comment from real life experience just what I've learned vicariously reading the forum and others experiences:).

Yes, the MOSFET RR unit should do well in the original mounting position.

Yup, no reason to jump through hoops - MOSFETs will do fine in the original location.   ;)

That's what I love about ROV! Thank you all so much for that info. That will save a lot of work and time.

What's the saying? "In theory, theory and practice should be the same. In practice, they're not."