Bought an AGM battery today!

[Bonz]

Thanks TC for the link and the cool history lesson!

3Phase, thanks for the battery tip. I checked battery case temp and it stayed room temp the entire time.

For the oil, what you say is all true in one context or another at one time or another. I am not concerned about cold startups with good oil over the course of the winter for the handful of times I ride the bikes. Have always run 15W40 or 20W50 in the ZRX and XS. Today's 15W40 certainly will flow and even 20W50 will work in an otherwise healthy engine at 32 deg F with margin to spare.

The scenario you bring up is the WORST imaginable, 32 deg F isn't gonna do that with 10w40. In any case, I am running a 10W-40 in the ZRX for the continued break-in of pistons/rings and bores because I feel that will facilitate what I am doing vs using a 15w40 or 20w50 that I typically run.

[3Phase]

Bonz, I wasn't sure if you were just having a few rides for fun or planning to ride regularly, it makes a big difference. I wouldn't and haven't worried about it for a few cold weather rides either!

I've still got the 'first' fill of semi-synth 20W-50 that I put in the XJ and it cranks and runs fine. My bike is my only ride but if it got cold in California the way it gets cold in Colorado I'd be looking around for a 0W-20W oil for blasts on the bike and finding a reliable car with a good heater ASAP.

[XJOK2PLAY]

"The BS means Battery Sealed"

All this time, I thought it meant something else...

[Bonz]

Yeah, my routine is to get the bikes out once or twice a month during the winter months. That way I don't have to winterize them and it keeps my riding skills somewhat in tune.

I put 20w50 Castrol full synthetic motorcycle oil in the SG before you rode it for the rally. So that oil change has about 800-1000 miles on it now. And I would count on that 20w50 full synthetic to flow better than a dino 15W40 or 20W50 at 32 degrees.

I ain't going to lie, when I drained the 20W50 dino (right at 2000 miles) I put in just before the rally out of the ZRX to put in the non detergent 30 weight for break in, at 35 degrees it was not a speedy process. I did not want to start the engine up until I was ready to ride and break it in, thus I drained the oil cold.

It did give me a new perspective on how cold temps affect oil flow, especially dino oil. Definitely would not want to make a regular habit of 20w50 anything in the bike if I rode regularly in the winter.

[3Phase]

I read it on the Internet!

"The BS means Battery Sealed"

All this time, I thought it meant something else...

[3Phase]

Isn't your Z liquid-cooled? They're both motorcycle engines but XS11 air-cooled clearances go to extremes that don't or at least shouldn't ever happen in any liquid-cooled engine.

I doubt the clearances on your Kawasaki are the same as a Toyota Camry engine but from experience, my bikes love the 20W-50 oil even during mild weather. My Camry lost power, ran hot and tended to overheat with any 50 weight oil. The clearances were too tight even in the summer during trips to Aridzona and a 40 weight was the highest I could use in the summer, winter had to be a 30 weight. I got around 500K miles out of that Toyota engine before I scrapped it but it never could go from 0 to insanity in a couple of seconds like your Kawasaki either.

[TomB]

I was enjoying reading a very informative battery thread, though really not sure how it turned into an oil thread and where the ships cannon balls came in!?? I'm lost.

Also not sure how you lads all buying Chinese batteries will sit with your new boss.

[Bonz]

TomB, That is hilarious, and that is also right!

You have to know all of us characters involved to know how we can digress so freely without conscience.

In any case, the ZRX is liquid cooled and Kawasaki calls for a 10w-40 year-round, 20W50 is shown for warmer temps (lower temp for 20w50 is 32 deg F).

I'm happy to start another thread or just call off the discussion as to remove confusion. Thoughts?

However to get this somewhat back on topic the AGM battery in the ZRX will need replacing this spring. Going to go with lightweight lithium replacement should drop 9 pounds of weight from the bike.

[3Phase]

Mmm... lithium. I can't wait to see Yuasa's new Galaxy 7 Series of vehicle batteries.


Tom, oil is very important to batteries. The battery manufacturers all warn about damage or explosions if you charge their little darlings at more than 1 or 2 Amps. Those same batteries will work fine and live long, explosion-free lives when charged by a vehicle charging system that supplies far more than 1 or 2 Amps.

Obviously, the correct engine oil helps all the extra the electrons slide into the battery without damaging it like an unlubriicated wall charger.

[IanDMacDonald]

Going to go with lightweight lithium replacement should drop 9 pounds of weight from the bike.

Don't buy it, if you ride in temps below 50 degrees, u'll be sadly disappointed. Lithium batteries do not do well in colder temps. Buy a good AGM battery (I recommend something manufactured by East Penn, i.e. (Deka, O'Reilly's). The weight savings is not something to be considered on the XS1100.

[Bonz]

Thanks for the post.

Lithium is for the ZRX. Not the XS. Guys running the lithium crank the battery a few times to get the battery "warmed up". Let it sit for a short time then start up the bike. I think that's a fairly standard procedure for lithium batteries in the cold.

The AGM that started this thread is for my XS11. Definitely not worried about saving weight on that bike. The ZRX is down to 500 pounds from a stock weight of 540. Another nine pounds will put me sub 500. That's been my goal.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Thanks for the post.

Lithium is for the ZRX. Not the XS. Guys running the lithium crank the battery a few times to get the battery "warmed up". Let it sit for a short time then start up the bike. I think that's a fairly standard procedure for lithium batteries in the cold.

The AGM that started this thread is for my XS11. Definitely not worried about saving weight on that bike. The ZRX is down to 500 pounds from a stock weight of 540. Another nine pounds will put me sub 500. That's been my goal.

+1 Howard. That's how I understand it works.
They act dead in extreme cold the first time you try to crank it. But loading it, waiting, then it cranks great.

I haven't gone that way in my C14... yet. May in the future.

I have been using 18 v. lithium ion batteries in my work power tools now for the past 4 years, and I love them. I leave them out on my work truck, even in the cold. Haven't had any problems. One of those are equal to 4 ni-cads!
They're lasting far longer, and I believe that's due to far fewer recharge cycles compared to ni cads were. (4-1.)
I have noticed they go and go... and w/o warning, they don't. (Unlike a standard battery that slows as it's used up. That might be a surprise in a bike.
Works great, then it doesn't, and your stuck with a dead battery suddenly.

If one for a bike is comparable to their smaller power tool counterparts, then they're worth the extra money.
Saving 9#'s is like, what? Gaining 1 1/2 hp to boot?

[Bonz]

To my mind the lithium doesn't cost a lot more than an AGM and the weight savings on a 540 pound bike that is already down around 500 pounds starts to add up.

[IanDMacDonald]

Guys running the lithium crank the battery a few times to get the battery "warmed up". Let it sit for a short time then start up the bike . . . That's been my goal.

I edited your post for what you're in-store for, and let you ponder if that's what you're interested in doing, in the cold

I'll take the AGM that starts my bike right up in the cold, and keep the 9 lbs.

[Bonz]

Putting a load on the battery by cranking a few short bursts then waiting a short minute while I put on my gear and starting once I'm geared up is "cool" with me. No pun intended.