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Battery sizes

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timtune

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I'm stripping a GL1100 to build a drag bike and the battery in this pig is huge. Yuasa YTX24HL
So two questions:
1) Is the size of the battery strictly to turn the big lump over ? Or is some of that excess to help with all the additional electrics on an Interstate. ( I would think that is handled by a larger alternator)
2) Are there smaller batteries that have the same punch if I'm willing to throw some dollars at it?
 
As lightcycle said, lithium would work well for a smaller/lighter starting battery (although do a little research to ensure your old charging system and a lithium battery play nice together).

Is it feasible to ditch the battery on a drag bike? I guess question one is whether you are keeping the charging system connected. You need at least one of the two.
 
timtune said:
I'm stripping a GL1100 to build a drag bike and the battery in this pig is huge. Yuasa YTX24HL
So two questions:
1) Is the size of the battery strictly to turn the big lump over ? Or is some of that excess to help with all the additional electrics on an Interstate. ( I would think that is handled by a larger alternator)
2) Are there smaller batteries that have the same punch if I'm willing to throw some dollars at it?
Click to expand...
Pm me I have a new lithium starting battery I can give you a great price on I accidentally ordered the wrong size.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
 
I thought about ditching the battery and just firing it up in the pits but it's nice to be able to shut it down while waiting in the staging lanes.
 
Rip out the starter motor and whatever of charging system you can. Lots of people I know run Total Loss systems for road racing. On board lithium battery only runs the spark computer (& fires the spark plugs) and the fuel pump (if present).

Battery is charged in the pits and recharged in the pits.
 
RC-31 said:
Rip out the starter motor and whatever of charging system you can. Lots of people I know run Total Loss systems for road racing. On board lithium battery only runs the spark computer (& fires the spark plugs) and the fuel pump (if present).

Battery is charged in the pits and recharged in the pits.
Click to expand...
While that would be good for racing, if he stalled it or shut it down in line while waiting, bump starting a wing seems like it would be some work.
 
timtune said:
I'm stripping a GL1100 to build a drag bike and the battery in this pig is huge. Yuasa YTX24HL
So two questions:
1) Is the size of the battery strictly to turn the big lump over ? Or is some of that excess to help with all the additional electrics on an Interstate. ( I would think that is handled by a larger alternator)
2) Are there smaller batteries that have the same punch if I'm willing to throw some dollars at it?
Click to expand...
The stock battery is rated at 350 CCA, but that's cold cranking amps. Presumably you're not racing in freezing conditions, so you could probably get away with a little less CCA if you're only starting it in warm temps. Lithiums (LiFePO4) are perfect for that because they have high warm temp cranking amps and low capacity, which you don't care about if it's not a street bike where you might accidentally leave your lights on when parked or, as you said, overrunning your stator output with additional lighting, heated gear, etc.
 
I made a cardboard mockup of @Scuba Steve 's offered battery to check for placement.
I am correct that lithium can be mounted in any position?
Lastly do lithium batteries have a shelf life? The battery I get from Steve wouldn't be used likely to next spring.
And no issues charging with 80's electrics?
 
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"Normal specs for the bike....
Measured directly at the battery posts...
12.5 low idle..< 900 rpm
13.5-14.3 volts as the rpm changes from 1000 rpm to 3500 rpm."
 
Relax said:
12.5 low idle..< 900 rpm
13.5-14.3 volts as the rpm changes from 1000 rpm to 3500 rpm."
Click to expand...

Those are very iffy numbers, especially at idle and low revs. If you're throwing money at upgrading to Lithium, spend a bit more on upgrading the charging system.

Or, be diligent about keeping the battery topped up in the pits between runs.
 
Lightcycle said:
Or, be diligent about keeping the battery topped up in the pits between runs.
Click to expand...
I'd just go full loss on a drag bike. Don't need to worry about dodgy 80 electronics hurting your expensive battery. Save a small amount of power to turn into speed. Easy enough to charge the bike in the pits. I suspect the battery may be sufficient for quite a few runs before it needed juice.
 
GreyGhost said:
I'd just go full loss on a drag bike. Don't need to worry about dodgy 80 electronics hurting your expensive battery. Save a small amount of power to turn into speed. Easy enough to charge the bike in the pits. I suspect the battery may be sufficient for quite a few runs before it needed juice.
Click to expand...

Agreed, especially if the battery isn't powering a headlight, which is the biggest draw on a bike.
 
The cooling fan will draw more than a headlight. -- something else that can be deleted on a ¼ (or ⅛) mile vehicle.
 
Uhmmmm... if you're drag racing a land barge and worrying about the weight of your battery I think you're missing the big picture.
Mount a great big battery behind the rear wheel... and hang a wheelie down the track MAXIMUM TRACTION
Weight is NOT your enemy... wrongly placed weight is a sin. Any weight MASS you remove in front of the COG is a good thing (to maximize weight transfer rearward)... think twice before you remove mass from behind the COG... unless you have the power to pull the front wheel, then you can start moving mass forward again. As long as you can transfer the mass to the rear wheel at launch you're winning.
Decide what you want to do before you build the thing: are you going for low ET? or high trap speed (you're gonna need to spend a boxful to get both).
Low ET? Work on launch
Trap speed? build a motor and CHANGE THE REAR GEAR RATIO... and reduce mass

I used to run 2 HUGE fork lift batteries in the trunk of all my cars... till it was dis-allowed (because it is an advantage). Then we started using a battery out of a excavator that takes two guy to lift (rule book says ONE battery, doesn't say how big it is).
Donny Cloak was famous (infamous?) for running two rear bumpers sandwiched together... and he'd take the front bumper and fill the back of it with sulfuric acid till there nothing left but chrome and run that... flapping in the wind. Back before fuel cells, Donny would remove the gas tank, put it on the floor and jump on it till the center was caved in, then fill the dent with lead, then wrestle the thing back in and run that. Nobody could figure out how he was hanging the front wheels for so long... he got caught. (If you don't know who Donny was, ask around at the track, he was a local hero, NHRA Superstock champ at least twice) (I went to school with him, I've worked on a couple of his cars)
Learn how to use the mass. Dropping the front end 2" will negate any effect your stock battery mass has (and if you don't understand the difference between mass and weight... start there)
 
I checked the competition, full battery delete.

1725831669137.jpeg
 
What am I trying to do???

First and foremost - to have fun! Second build a good looking bike. I pulled the gas tank and now the big battery just looks wrong.
Going fast is not the most important thing. Last time I did I had a personal best of 12.67 @ 105MPH. Is that fast??? It sure was fun.

I'm really hoping to build a good looking and semi reliable bike that I can take to the track and have a bunch of friends beat on to see who can set the fastest time. Although the battery swap means dropping a few pounds it's as much a styling exercise.
 
Any of the normal 8-cell lithium starting batteries will do the job unless there's something dumb with the starter motor or the compression ratio that the rest of us don't know about. Easy check, swap in a smaller battery from some other bike (I know you have multiple) as a test and confirm that it starts OK.

I have lithium starter batteries in all of my bikes.

Based on your charging-voltage observations ... you should replace the voltage regulator with a modern one that will reliably put out 14.2 volts minimum. If it is a permanent-magnet alternator (same as most bikes) then the voltage regulator from anything modern that is designed to work with a sealed maintenance-free battery should be fine. If it is a wound-rotor alternator (automotive) then you're into a research project.
 
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