Weight loss - really?

tgessner said:

Admittedly, the Rocket 3 does not lean itself toward tuning measure involving weight reduction. On the other hand, one of the first measures I am taking with my lightweight builds (The T509 Speed Triple Build, if anyone is interested in an example), is to replace the stock battery with a lightweight lifepo battery. That must be the cheapest way to lose several kgs of weight on any bike.

Would that not be pointless on a bike with a curb weight of 320kg? I thought so - until I removed the stock battery from the bike for winter: The things weighs shocking 6.2kg! I quickly decided to make the usual swap for a Shido lithium battery, which weighs about 1.2kg. A five kg weight save is not a small amount on any bike, I would say (add to that the rider's effort to match the five kg weight loss).

Why would anybody try to shed weight from a cruiser motorcycle? My answer would be: Because the R3r is not a cruiser, but a very capable roadster that does much better on alpine roads and passes than I hoped it would.

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Hatata said:

I wanted to ask you a couple of questions. Did you have to change your battery tender to accommodate the new battery ? I live in a
Climate that could have quite cold spring mornings and from what I understand lithium batteries don’t provide optimal cranking power when they are cold. Let me know what your experiences are as this is a big win in weight savings alone obviously.

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tgessner said:

Yes, the lithum battery requires a different type of charger that charges with a maximum current of 15V. You cannot use a charger for standard batteries.
Starting in cold weather is not a forte of lithium batteries. What does help though, is switching the ignition on and waiting a few seconds before hitting the starter button.
So far, my experience with lithium batteries has been mostly positive, looking back at six or seven bikes I have used them on.

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tgessner said:

Yes, the lithum battery requires a different type of charger that charges with a maximum current of 15V. You cannot use a charger for standard batteries.
Starting in cold weather is not a forte of lithium batteries. What does help though, is switching the ignition on and waiting a few seconds before hitting the starter button.
So far, my experience with lithium batteries has been mostly positive, looking back at six or seven bikes I have used them on.

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Tal said:

Weight loss?...i recently had the Cat box removed on my GT...we weighed it and it was 13kg!...The boombox we put back on was about 6kg so a 7kg loss of weight was achieved. In the racing world, 1 kg of weight removed is equivalent to 1hp gained.

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