Does a lithium battery make a Commando kick over easier?

If it does make it easier, are there any things to look out for (such as particular brands, CCAs, etc) ? Thinking of putting a Series 21 in a 73 850.

They are normally given credit for being physically smaller and of less weight than acid types for a given power. Also if you have some kind of electric starter they can provide a powerful burst of amps that such systems need. But if you have only a kick start such a burst is not required and other factors have effects on starting such as condition and correct set up of ignition system and carbs. Plus there is issue of charging system not being able to keep lithium ion batteries suitability charged which may have the effect of shortening their useful lifespan.

Toppy has it right.
I bought two expensive Ballistic batteries and both were toast by 16 months. The advertised "up to ten year" life expectancy sounded great but in the end they lasted about 25-30% as long as the good old lead acid batteries I normally use.

If you have a charging system that produces 13 volts at idle and more when revved, then the Li batteries might work as advertised. Most old Nortons discharge at idle and Li batteries do not like that for long.

Glen

I bought a Shorai LFX21 and used it successfully in my street MK3 and in my featherbed racer at Bonneville. Now it's no longer usable, won't take a full charge, and won't hold the charge it does take for more than a day or two. It was guaranteed for 3 years, and it lasted 3 years and one month! I did buy the special Shorai charger, so I can't blame the failure on not charging properly. For my purposes, I can't really complain. It is much, much lighter than the equivalent lead acid battery, as well as much smaller. On a road racer, it would be worth the extra cost. For the street bike, I think I'll go back to a conventional AGM battery. For landspeed racing, I think I'll stick with Shorai.

Ken

Its also possibly worth noting that the automotive type lithium batteries are the Lithium Iron type. (Lithium Iron Phosphate).

The Lithium Ion type batteries are the tiny little things they have in phones and laptops and toy helicopters,
that put out HUGE power for a while.
And then burst into flames if you charge them too hard....

There are quite a few types of Li batteries in fact, if you start searching online.
At least 10 varieties at last count (?).

I went to the battery store today for a new AGM battery. I asked the owner if he still sold Li motorcycle batteries. He said they had sold a bunch to racers and they all came back in weeks along with angry owners. I don't recall the brand he was selling, but it wasn't Shorai or Ballistic.
He no longer sells Li batteries of any kind. He mentioned that the Li batteries he had sold came with a warning that in certain situations they could catch fire and burn at up to 800 degrees f.
I mentioned the voltage requirement problem, which he was not aware of, and he surmised that this might be why the batteries failed so quickly.
If I ever do try another Li battery, it will be a Shorai. As with Ken's experience, I have read of a few Shorai batteries actually making it past (just) the warranty period before failing. That would be an improvement over the brand I tried out.
Mine died within the warranty period but the prorated warranty required purchase of a replacement battery directly from the manufacturer at a price that was near double the market price, so no warranty at all really.

Glen

It would be interesting to hear from CnW who , I believe, sells the Shorai lithium battery.

I have a Shorai battery in my BMW race bike, charge it after each days use. I've had it for over 2 years.
Recently run it in my R90s and when it came to using it in my race bike was not happy and needed a good charge.
Suspect 70's regulators are not up to charging them.
bought a heavy yellow motobatt for the R90s.... not a great fan as have had 2 failures

One of the supposed advantages of lithium type battery is that it doesn't need changing when not in use over winter or for other long periods. However then the manufacturers will happily sell you a special charger that is normally very expensive and of course only fits their own brand the product. If you don't use the expensive charger with the already expensive battery then lifespan of the battery is at risk which surly cancels out the claims made for low maintenance and reliable service even after prolonged storage. Also as mentioned it seems the somewhat low powered charging systems of our old bikes are not suitable for these modern battery types even after the electrical systems have been up graded they still fall short of the outputs needed to insure good performance and in some cases this will affect the warranty also. I personally like the idea of the benefits of these batteries but feel they need more development for use with our older bikes which in fairness they were probably not designed to be used with. I think given more time they will improve further and hopefully the price will come down to.

Hi, more info , with Jean Droit voltage regulators , about lithium batteries.......

voltage-regulators-t22113.html

No, A Lithium battery will not make your bike easier to kick over.

You're confused.

Leather'n'iron bootery makes it easier to kick over.

There is a gray area when it come to Lithium batteries. I really think the trick to keep these battery reliable is to shell out for the charger. These batteries need balancing and conditioning once in awhile.

If you choose to use this battery without the $85 dollar investment on top of the $159 investment for a total of a $244 investment, it will be a crap shoot. Whether this circuitry can be implemented into a REG/REC unit would surely cost more than a proprietary charger but the convenience would be awesome.

Also, perhaps a 3 phase system should be a minimum requirement or all warranties would be off the table. "Use at your own risk"

Just sayin.

Living on a hill is the only way I know of to get the kicking effort reduced except for installing an electric start kit or rollers.