• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Kickstart-only Battery Delete capacitor vs tiny Ballistic/Shorai Li-Iron battery

Chuck78

Forum Sage
Past Site Supporter
I'm needing to replace my dead battery now, and I've been hung up on kickstart engines quite a lot since I got into motorcycles, for the rider to machine connection, potential weight savings, nostalgia, etc. I dropped my '77 GS750 from 552 lbs wet weight now to 500lbs, & more weight savings would nicely offset the hefty crankcase contents of these overbuilt engines. 16-17 lbs weight savings deleting the battery, starter, and starter gears on my dieting large-cc corner carving machine would be excellent!

http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/BEC.html Oregon Motorcycle Parts says that much less than a 22,000uf capacitor is no good for trying to smooth out the gaps in the stator pulses on ignition startup & idle on a smaller or 2 cylinder engine., & are working on a 40-60,000uF cap kit for 4 cylinder bikes.

I see very large 22,000uf and larger caps in the 35 to 70 volt current handling capability for $10-$40 on ebay, and I thought about running two of those in parallel in order to have more power and have 2 in case one blew, so for $30-$80 I could have 40,000+uF of electrical ignition assist in kickstarting, and keeping the lights from flickering at idle (plus no battery/starter weight).
1000x1000.jpg


Downside I hear is that the caps (maybe just smaller ones?) are bad at soaking up high revving voltage surges from your charging system at it's peak output, and you blow light bulbs much more often. The other downside to this is that if I run out of gas (or the bike breaks down) at night in the hills or in low lit areas where there may be traffic, I am totally without lights as soon as I pull in the clutch or the bike comes to a stop. I go camping with the bike, so lights with the battery off would be nice.




Ballistic and Shorai have been making Lithium-Iron Phosphate batteries (similar to Li-Ion) for motorcycles that cost quite a lot, are a little smaller, and weigh SUBSTANTIALLY LESS. Comparison: http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcy...ai-vs-ballistic-li-ion-motorcycle-battery.htm
How much power/amp-hours do I really need to adequately power the Dyna-S ignition and one or two indicator lamp bulbs when kickstarting?
I am looking at tiny 4 cell Ballistic batteries, with no starter motor draw, how small can I go? A 50cc-scooter-spec 4 cell battery should do it, right? May be able to afford one of those, and have some quick headlight power still after the engine is off.


5vBrTNsBiG.jpg

Ballistic 4 cell battery, this thing might be the ticket for a kickstart only, what do you guys think?:
http://www.ballisticparts.com/products/batteries/4cell.php
Ballistic 100-009 $58 ebay shipped (2"x2"x3.25"), or the slightly larger Ballistic 100-010 (2.5"x2.5"x4.25" 2.3 amp/hours) $87 shipped.



CAPACITOR(S):
+slightly lighter than LiFePO4 battery
+much cheaper (~$30-60 ebay)
+substantially smaller than lead acid battery
-may burn out light bulbs more frequently on higher rev's (inability to act as a large cushion for charging system spikes)
-no lights when engine off, no lights when bike dies from no gas or mechanical issues (danger in traffic)

SMALL LIGHTWEIGHT LI-IRON-PHOS BATTERY:
-substantially more cost, $100+
-does not tolerate charging more than 14.4 volts, will fail
-does not tolerate running it dead below 9 volts, battery is shot if you discharge it less than 6 volts
+smaller to much smaller than lead acid battery
+lights still work when engine is not running (safer if bike dies, handy when parked in the dark)
+probably makes starts and idling better/smoother than caps


Any users of very large capacitors on here to comment on the downfalls of them (reliability, light bulbs blowing, etc)? Also, just how small can I go on the battery and still have enough voltage spike cushion, as well as electrical capacity to easily start up my 4 cylinder Dyna-S ignition powered bike??



 
Last edited:
With Points, you can get away with a capacitor. With electronic ignition, I think you need a solid 10 volts to make them fire reliably. I've gone with a dead battery for years at a stretch on a British bike, then I put on an electronic ignition and needed a good battery. These new ones are powerful and dense, but I've heard of them getting ruined by incorrect charging. Its a pretty cool idea though.
 
With Points, you can get away with a capacitor. With electronic ignition, I think you need a solid 10 volts to make them fire reliably.

YES, I could not get my bike to start today at all, battery had barely enough voltage to light the oil&neutral indicators, headlight would not even light up at all... Got one backfire, but otherwise no ignition.

With a big enough cap, I bet the dyna would fire up alright enough. I guess you woyld be limited to the voltage that the speed of a single kick could provide the engine/stator.
 
With points ignition and a good flick of the wrist on the kickstarter, my bike will start with a 9 Volt transistor radio battery. With electric ignition, not do much.
 
Back
Top