Shorai....."Meh"

Haven't posted in a while, but figured I'd post this up and give a fair warning to anyone considering Shorai batteries. Keep in mind, this is just one experience from one person, take it for what it's worth.

In early January of this year, I got a Shorai battery for my FZ6. The stock battery was pushing 6+ years old, and had been deep-discharged several times(see also : battery abuse). I figured it's time to replace it before I get stuck at work or something similarly annoying. I get it, and install it. First impressions are good. This sucker is light! The FZ6 fires right up. I go for a decent one hour ride, mostly at mid-to-high RPMS(6K-12K). I then parked it for a while, about three weeks, now Feb.

I turned on the key, everything came on as normal, and I went on another one hour ride. All is good, the FZ6 seems to running nice and strong. Parked again, until today.

Today, I decide to go on a ride, as the weather here at home is finally not sucking. It's actually clear, warm, and no icy-cold coastal wind! Hooray! I turn the key to "ON", and, well, nothing. Absolutely nothing. No response from the dash. WTF? Next, I go through the wonderful task of accessing the darned battery. I look for any signs of mice, thinking maybe they chewed some wires, like they did to my truck. Nope! All the wiring checks out a-OK. Next comes the meter! Wouldn't you know it, the battery is sitting at, get this, 1.6V. How'd that happen?! No excess drains, charging system works fine(checked that before I installed the Shorai). Great. Bad battery!

So I decided to search around the web, and see what's up with these things. Sure, I got a bum one, it happens. But now I don't trust the dang things. I wanted to see who else didn't, and why. I found this : [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySNbSZTgplA]Actual load tests, Shorai battery fail - YouTube[/ame]

So, Shorai's are basically over-rated race batteries. I think when I get it replaced under warranty, it's going straight to the "for sale" pile, and it's back to the stock Yuasa for me! Too bad, they are neat pieces of tech, but they're also pieces of something else. I seriously doubt one of these would last 6 years or more on my FZ6, even less so for those of you who commute year round.

Sounds crappy, but I thought with the Lithium you had to continually crank them if they have been sitting and got cold. Also I've read more of these stories like yours on the Fz6 site and pretty much only good things on the Fz1 site. I wonder what gives. Maybe you need the bigger duration version of the Shorai if you are going to sit longer than a week.

Problem was, I couldn't crank. At 1.6V, the dash doesn't even work. There's no saving a Lithium battery once it drops below 3-5V, and stays there. Even the big one wouldn't have helped there. I just got one with a bum cell or a shorted cell. I still don't trust them though, especially after seeing that video proving their ratings are nonsense.

That sucks

So far I'm happy with mine, but I haven't even had it for a full season yet. Battery access on FZ1 is dead-easy, so at least I have that going for me if mine craps out

Check out the chart in the middle of the page: Shorai FAQ

The say not to let it drop below 12.86.. nevermind 1.6

This is one of those "upgrades" that just makes me thing...why bother? There seems to be a short list of "pros" next to a long list of "cons" for going that route...unless you're racing, which of course is a different ball game.

Can't wait to see what the next battery purchase is once a few riders have worn through their fancy new batteries - spend the money on another fancy battery or back to standard?

CavDoc said:

This is one of those "upgrades" that just makes me thing...why bother? There seems to be a short list of "pros" next to a long list of "cons" for going that route...unless you're racing, which of course is a different ball game.

Can't wait to see what the next battery purchase is once a few riders have worn through their fancy new batteries - spend the money on another fancy battery or back to standard?

Click to expand...

Shorai cost me much less than OEM battery from Yamaha (and only slightly more than aftermarket gel one). It weighs less and holds charge better than lead acid / gel. :don'tknow:

I've heard no issues with them until now. If mine goes belly up, of course I'll be going back to old technology, but if it doesn't, I doubt I'll ever go back to the heavy stuff.

Erci said:

Shorai cost me much less than OEM battery from Yamaha (and only slightly more than aftermarket gel one). It weighs less and holds charge better than lead acid / gel. :don'tknow:

I've heard no issues with them until now. If mine goes belly up, of course I'll be going back to old technology, but if it doesn't, I doubt I'll ever go back to the heavy stuff.

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Well hey! Never would have guessed that - thanks for straightening me out!

Aren't these the batteries that you need to have a special charger for? Or am I getting my batteries all mixed up now... :ban:

CavDoc said:

Well hey! Never would have guessed that - thanks for straightening me out!

Aren't these the batteries that you need to have a special charger for? Or am I getting my batteries all mixed up now... :ban:

Click to expand...

Yes and no.

Full details here: Shorai FAQ

Very cool! I'll be keeping my eye out to see what people have to say - don't foresee having to replace my battery anytime soon, but when I do I guess I should have these on my radar!

Yep, that's one of the reasons I went with the Shorai, is because they supposedly hold a charge longer than the other types. So much for that! lol

Hopefully they get back to me soon. I've got an open ticket with them. I'll keep y'all updated with what happens.

Also, if you search around the web, you'll see plenty that have failed. Luckily, when they fail, they seem to fail very early on, within a few months.

Ssky0078 said:

Sounds crappy, but I thought with the Lithium you had to continually crank them if they have been sitting and got cold.

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COLD?? We run them in our Yamaha Apex's (snowmobiles), in the cold.. And they Rock! It can be -20 and they spin the 1000cc apex motor over like its nothing!

The_Paragon said:

COLD?? We run them in our Yamaha Apex's (snowmobiles), in the cold.. And they Rock! It can be -20 and they spin the 1000cc apex motor over like its nothing!

Click to expand...

I wonder what they do different for the different models/sizes such as for the snowmobiles. I've heard that too about the snow mobiles. I guess the point I was trying to get to is that if it is cold and you keep cranking the lithium it actually warms up and gets stronger as opposed to the AGM/Gel which get weaker with continued cranking.

Found this vid : [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJX4TlaSY58]Shorai battery test - YouTube[/ame]


So, with the slower self-discharge rate of these batteries, the lower capacity isn't too big a deal. In the real world, with actual current drains, such as clocks, ECU's, and alarms, these things don't inspire confidence. And the cranking amps aren't to impressive either. Good enough for my WR250R, and good enough for the FZ6 as well. Bigger bikes I'm not to sure though. Might need the bigger Shorai's.

For the update, no contact from Shorai so far. Looks like I'll have to call them and give them a nudge. In the meantime, I took a meter to the battery, and found it had self-recovered up to 4.6V on it's own. I then hit it with a charger, and it seems to be holding voltage on it's own. It's held steady at 13.35V for several hours now. I'll let it sit and see what happens. Now with a constant draw may be another matter entirely. It just might discharge in hours with a small load. I may just hook it up to the FZ6, turn on the alarm, and see how long it takes to drop to 13V.