Antigravity Lithium Battery Review

[capnzim]

I was excited to try a high powered, light-weight lithium battery for my 2001 Ducati 996 and decided to go with Antigravity (http://antigravitybatteries.com/). They’re made in the US and seemed to have a good warranty. I looked for reviews, but at the time there weren’t many available so I went ahead with my purchase. To summarize, in about 2 years I went through 4 Antigravity batteries and spent about $400.00. Here’s my personal experience for anyone that might be considering them.

12/05/11 - I paid $195 (179.99 + tax)
The original purchase of an Antigravity 8 Cell (YTZ7-8) from Motostrano Redwood City, CA.

01/03/12 - I paid $43 upgrade to an Antigravity 12 Cell (YTZ10S-12)
I realized that the 8 Cell battery wasn’t powerful enough to turn over my 996 effectively, so I paid for an upgrade. I understand that this was my fault because I didn’t read the spec’s carefully enough - according to Antigravity the 8 cell battery is “capable of everyday use in bikes up to 600cc”.

10/12/12 - I paid $75.00 for another upgrade, 12 Cell to 16 Cell.
9 months after the upgrade, I noticed that the upgraded 12 Cell battery started to perform poorly and I was having difficulty starting my 996. Shortly thereafter, the 12 Cell battery completely died and wouldn’t hold a charge at all so I returned it to Antigravity for testing. The technician claimed finding no obvious damage and didn’t provide an explanation why it wouldn’t hold a charge. I thought that perhaps even the 12 cell didn’t have enough power to start my bike repeatedly over a long period of time so I paid Antigravity the purchase price difference to upgrade from the 12 to 16 Cell (the YTX12-16, retails for approx $289.00 + Tax)

04/01/14 - I paid an additional $91.00 for a warranty replacement on the 16 Cell.
The 16 cell battery died and wouldn’t hold a charge so I returned it to Antigravity for testing. Again, the results were that there was no verifiable damage and no reason why it didn’t hold a charge. Antigravity didn’t offer to replace the battery at no charge so I paid the fee for a warranty replacement. In my case I was given a 75% discount as per the 3 year warranty plan (6-12 Months — 75% discount from retail MSRP)

I should note that I ride my bike about 3 times a week for an hour or two under normal road conditions. I live in reasonable weather here in Northern California and I don’t race it. The charging system was tested to be normal around October 2012 by Nichols Sportbikes in Milpitas (who are awesome btw . Also, I didn’t opt for the $120.00 charger that Antigravity sells and am of the opinion that a battery should last more than a year if you operate it normally - especially at those prices!

Personally, I’m going back to a regular battery after my experiences with Antigravity and Lithium batteries.

 

[Aluisious]

I just put a Shorai in my cbr. So far so good, one trip over mt hamilton and a track day. The terminals are annoying though, not the same as a standard battery and I had to go buy nuts and bolts to make a solid connection.

If I were you is have got a free replacement on the 12 cell and no upgrade. Also, buy a voltmeter for 10 bucks and know what's going on with batteries and charging systems.

 

[Hoho]

I just put a Shorai in my cbr. So far so good, one trip over mt hamilton and a track day. The terminals are annoying though, not the same as a standard battery and I had to go buy nuts and bolts to make a solid connection.

If I were you is have got a free replacement on the 12 cell and no upgrade. Also, buy a voltmeter for 10 bucks and know what's going on with batteries and charging systems.

Huh. I replaced my standard battery on the Street Triple with a Shorai and didn't need to replace the bolts... maybe they've fixed this issue since you bought yours?

I did have an issue of coming back to the bike the next day to find the battery dead. Recharged the battery and it's been good since. That was last year, the battery is still going strong.

 

[MCCRASH]

Damn, that sucks. I've only had goodness and light from my Ballistics over the past couple years.

 

[Lunch Box]

I have had good luck so far with my antigravity battery in my KTM. Time will tell, I suppose.

 

[Aluisious]

Huh. I replaced my standard battery on the Street Triple with a Shorai and didn't need to replace the bolts... maybe they've fixed this issue since you bought yours?

I did have an issue of coming back to the bike the next day to find the battery dead. Recharged the battery and it's been good since. That was last year, the battery is still going strong.

I could have used the stock attachment, but the contacts to the terminals were going to be only at a few points. Not something I felt good at running 200 amps through.

 

[russ69]

It's hard to say what the issues are. You had four batteries that wont hold a charge but check out OK. The odds of four batteries being NFG are about a million to one, maybe more. The odds of a 10 year old Ducati with charging problems is fairly common.
So we are left with a quandary? Bad batteries or something else? The battery guys are saying the battery is OK, is that right?

 

[ratsblast]

Are lithium batteries even DOT legal? I thought there were issues with fire or something.

 

[capnzim]

russ69, I did mention in my post that the charging system was checked (and working correctly) by Nichols in 2012. Also Antigravity acknowledged the (2) batteries as being bad in both cases but did not provide a reason for it. In the second occurrence, they didn't offer to replace my 16 cell free of charge. Given my history and lack of explanation for the failures, I think they should have. Now I have a warranty replacement 16 cell battery ($91.00) which I expect will fail within 12 months.

Aluisious, I also had trouble at first (with the 8 cell) getting the terminals to fit right and tight. I did rectify that issue years ago though. It's odd that the terminals don't fit better out of the box because Antigravity markets for sport bikes and the stock terminal connections on sport bikes don't vary that much.

ratblast - no idea about them being DOT legal - no fires yet!

 

[antidote]

Are lithium batteries even DOT legal? I thought there were issues with fire or something.

Better hope no one tells the feds about spark plugs and fuel tanks....

 

[Aluisious]

russ69, I did mention in my post that the charging system was checked (and working correctly) by Nichols in 2012.

This is what Nichols did to check your charging system:

Measure battery voltage at idle.

Measure battery voltage at 3-5k rpm.

If both were above 13.5V, it's good.

That's hardly an exhaustive check, because it'd be impractical to do that. If you really want to know what your bike is doing, buy a volt meter from an auto shop, wire it to the battery, and put it somewhere you can see it while riding. Your charging system might be crapping out when it gets hot, or when something vibrates, or god knows what. Also, it would be smart to measure the drain current when the key is set to off. Modern bikes have parasitic draws from computers, clocks, etc. It is really easy to toast a lithium battery with a small draw for a couple days, they hate being discharged deeply.

I'm not worried about parasitic draw for my bike, because it's relatively ancient tech with carbs. Doesn't even have a clock.

 

[russ69]

I have two Shorai batteries. Both have been working good so far. The one in my KTM works better than the undersized factory battery and has worked much better at starting the bike and holding a charge. So far so good.

 

[louemc]

This is what Nichols did to check your charging system:

Measure battery voltage at idle.

Measure battery voltage at 3-5k rpm.

If both were above 13.5V, it's good.

That's hardly an exhaustive check, because it'd be impractical to do that. If you really want to know what your bike is doing, buy a volt meter from an auto shop, wire it to the battery, and put it somewhere you can see it while riding. Your charging system might be crapping out when it gets hot, or when something vibrates, or god knows what. Also, it would be smart to measure the drain current when the key is set to off. Modern bikes have parasitic draws from computers, clocks, etc. It is really easy to toast a lithium battery with a small draw for a couple days, they hate being discharged deeply.

I'm not worried about parasitic draw for my bike, because it's relatively ancient tech with carbs. Doesn't even have a clock.

 

[PetrieJ]

I could have used the stock attachment, but the contacts to the terminals were going to be only at a few points. Not something I felt good at running 200 amps through.

200 Amps? At 13.5V (charging voltage) that's 2.7kW! Even at a modest dip in voltage during engine start-up (11.5V) that's still 2.3kW. What are you powering on your bike?

 

[Hoho]

200 Amps? At 13.5V (charging voltage) that's 2.7kW! Even at a modest dip in voltage during engine start-up (11.5V) that's still 2.3kW. What are you powering on your bike?

Lasers. Frikkin' lasers.

 

[Aluisious]

200 Amps? At 13.5V (charging voltage) that's 2.7kW! Even at a modest dip in voltage during engine start-up (11.5V) that's still 2.3kW. What are you powering on your bike?

A starter motor.

 

[EEL]

I have a receipt showing I bought my Shorai on May 10th 2011.

No issues. Even with the bike sitting during the winter months without being on a trickle charger ever or being disconnected or stored in the fridge. They just work year after year.

Money well spent in my opinion. Once I've crossed the 5 year mark in 2 years there's no reason I wouldn't buy another. We'll see if it can get there with the way I treat it.

 

[ratsblast]

I thought there was a hazard if a Li battery catches fire and you try to put it out with water the battery will burn more. I'm just a chemist what would I know about chemicals. Does the Li battery have DOT approval or not? Pretty fucking simple question. I was pretty sure it is illegal to run one in a car but not sure about a motorcycle.

 

[Sharxfan]

I don't know the exact chemical notation but there are various types of Lithium Ion formulations. There is one type that is susceptible to catching fire if overcharged or left charging too long. I think that formulation has been phased out and most are using the better formulation.

I did a quick Google to check and most Hybrid cars are using Lithium Ion batteries.

you may be thinking of the faulty laptop batteries that were out there awhile ago that were exploding/melting on discharge.

 

[EEL]

I thought there was a hazard if a Li battery catches fire and you try to put it out with water the battery will burn more. I'm just a chemist what would I know about chemicals. Does the Li battery have DOT approval or not? Pretty fucking simple question. I was pretty sure it is illegal to run one in a car but not sure about a motorcycle.

Read the safety section on wiki link below. Most Liithium Automotive batteries are LiFePO4. Its not completely impossible to ignite one but its reduced to the point where its considered safe as long as you have some sort of air flow. You dont need a lot of airflow.

DOT approved Battery? Are lead acid DOT approved? Only the sealed AGM ones. So does that mean regular fill up lead acid batteries are unsafe? I dont think so but to each his own.

If you're riding a motorcycle your level of risk is much higher from other factors to make that consideration a moot point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery