Lithium battery question

[ksquared]

I'm contemplating replacing my battery (larger Gold Wing version) with a lithium battery. I have a smaller lithium battery in my 71 SL350 and am quite happy with it. Of course the 350 is kick start only. A big plus in my mind is the weight savings - about 13 lbs. Anyone here already tried this? I'm wondering how the 13lbs affects handling with the lowering of the CG. Is it even noticeable?

[wyly]

every bit of weight reduction helps ,a little here, a little there, a little more somewhere else...it all adds up.
it's usually much cheaper to lose our own body weight, it would cost me a lot to shave 20lbs of my 79' with light light after market parts, doesn't cost me anything but two months healthy eating...

I'm shaving a few kilos of weight with a new swing arm and wheels, it's unsprung weight, I would think the best return on weight reduction dollars spent, my technician says I'll notice the difference...

[Larry Zimmer]

Just an opinion from here: If you are racing the bike, it is worth it. If not racing, not worth it. The few pounds off a 550 lbs bike not enough difference. Get a good AGM and put the savings towards a good road trip.

[ksquared]

Thanks for the responses. As far as body weight, I'm at 16% body fat so not much to be gained/lost there. And no, I'm not racing. My thinking was that it would be useful primarily to lower the center of gravity. Then again, maybe it would be a drop in a bucket. I remember reading the story about the work done to design the CBX and how they struggled to keep the weight down. A lb here and there was a big deal to the engineers. If they had lithium batteries back then, they could have saved around 13lbs.

[wyly]

13lbs is probably the easiest and quickest reduction...you’re right about Honda engineers searching for weight gains anywhere they could...there’s a thread somewhere on the forum on Cbx that had a extreme weight reduction that defies belief...

[desertrefugee]

13lbs is probably the easiest and quickest reduction...you’re right about Honda engineers searching for weight gains anywhere they could...there’s a thread somewhere on the forum on Cbx that had a extreme weight reduction that defies belief...

That I'd love to see. I tried searching for it, but couldn't come up with it. If someone remembers key words from that thread, it would be interesting to visit.

[wyly]

GENERAL DISCUSSION, RALLIES, EVENTS & TRIP REPORTS ‹ Daily Discussion: By, For & About CBXers

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9859&hilit=lionel

Lionel Brancquart's CBX

http://survincity.com/2015/12/cest-bon-cbx/

if you want to get to the claimed weight in the article be prepared to spend a lot of cash

[desertrefugee]

Ah yes, the Brancquart machine. Controversial, but impressive too. Didn't realize this was the one that we were referring to. But, it appears that in addition to horsepower and max RPMs, even the purported weight numbers are being questioned. A shame, really. The bike was extremely well engineered and executed. It would seem to me that no exaggeration was really needed.

[wyly]

As to the rpm of the bike I discussed it with my mechanic/technician who has worked on the world MotoGP and world superbike circuit he said once you remove excess weight from crank/rods/pistons anything is possible...as to the claimed weight of that Cbx, it sounds unbelievable but when you throw enough cash at a project who Knows how much weight can be shaved, I’m sure no one else has thrown as much cash at a cbx as the Brancquarts have done.

For our modest budgets a 19” fr comstar weighs 6kgs/13.2lb a boomerang comstar is 5kgs/11lbs, that’s about 4.5lbs of unsprung weight for both wheels ...I made the switch to boomerangs for about $150 plus shipping...Brancquarts Cbx wheels would likely be 4lbs or less, I imagine in the $2k range...I’ll make the switch to a lighter lithium battery when my current Goldwing behemoth dies...