Topic: Moving the battery: my two possibilities?

[stereosilence]

I am thinking about where I am going to put my battery. I am keeping the stock seat and clearing out the triangle. I already have a plan for the electronics.

I have heard people say that you can put the battery under the swingarm. That sounds like a pain.
I noticed there are nice threaded holes where the horn goes. I was thinking of making a battery holder and sticking it right there. It might be vulnerable to the elements, but so would the swingarm location.

Any thoughts or advice?

[camelman]

How about using a smaller gel battery and putting it under the seat?  You could make a tray that would mount under the seat and which should only protrude an inch or so below the frame rails. If you go with a cafe seat with an open hump, then you could weld a small shelf to the rear hoop and use velcro to hold the battery in place (zip ties give added peace of mind;) ).

I used a gel battery and the second method i mentioned. The batter was less than half the size and had plenty of power. It cost $60 or so online. I can't remember the website though.

Camelman

[Jerry E.]

I put my battery on it's side, under my seat in a tray. I am using a full size, stock, gel battery, to keep the power up- don't want to need a trickle charger every time I park it. There's enough clearance under the seat, that the tray only sticks down 1" below the frame tubes. Not very noticable, really. I am using a cafe seat which uses the original seat hinge/mounts, in case I want to go back to a stock seat someday. Of course, I am not using the stock oil tank, either, so that is out of the way.

[stereosilence]

I have a tray like you are saying worked up to put the electronics in. It is too small for the battery. I have a 550, not sure if you guys are talking about a 750. The lead acid battery I have would not fit. I do plan to get an AGM but I'm not sure they are smaller.

[camelman]

The project i mentioned above was a 350 twin. I totally agree with keeping sufficient battery power. It seems the gels can offer the same power in a smaller volume, but you might still have enough room for a full size battery laid flat under the seat.

[davis96]

Back before I sold my 350f chop, I fabbed a mount for the battery which hung from the stock center stand brackets.

Naysayers gave me a million reasons why that location wouldn't work and swore up and down that mounting the battery so low would cause all kinds of damage, but it worked like a charm and I never had any problems with it. Somebody will always be there to tell you not to try something new, but I suggest you take all that precautionary advice with a big grain of salt.

[Dimitri13]

http://www.ballisticparts.com/products/batteries/8cell.php

Not cheap, but TINY, just as strong as a standard lead-acid battery, and will last longer.

Dimensions (Standard): 4.5" (L) x 2.5" (W) x 4.25" (H)
Weight: 768 grams (1.7 lb)

[matt mattison]

My 8 cell LifePo lives underneath the tank. When I had the alloy tank made, a spot was left open for it. I don't know if this if even relevant for you, but I'm just saying .

[jamesb]

I know a guy who used the "exit" sign battery in his cb175  beings it was 6volt it keeps a good charge and runs his lights. I'm wondering could you run these in a series to make 12volts  like you would with car batteries to get 24 and 72 volts

[IAmCitizenMe]

Hooray for battery questions. 

I've been looking into positions for my electronics as well. I keep reading about all these different types of batteries (8-cell, gel, lithium) but they always come pared with both positive and negative reviews for running them on our bikes. So, I don't know what to believe. I'm going for the very stripped down approach. I thought about building one bracket to house all the electronics under the seat, and another to hold the battery on the side of the triangle closer to the engine to keep it more upright and avoid acid spillage. Then I would cut off the seat cowl (would that jeopardize the structural integrity of the frame? Would I have to apply some sort of support between the left and right sides of the rear frame like a cafe seat loop?) in order to fit a brat-style leather seat.

Some of my inspiration: http://e3mc.us/E3MC/E3MC_75_CB550.html

I still have two years before I have to get it re-registered and I have since moved from Missouri to New York--where a bike is required to have all four turn signals to pass inspection. Until then, I'll be running a headlight and taillight and I'll only be using the cool-guy kickstarter. As far as batteries go, are there tiny batteries that would necessitate my current electrical situation? (I understand electricity like I understand wizard magic.)

[Franky]

 My battery on my 550 is attached to the center stand brackets - check this out: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=100698.msg1124590#msg1124590

5 amp moped battery. Works great.

[cougar]

Stereo ; You mention building a battery holder. I would think a box of some sort will protect the bat. from most elements. My battery is mounted between my frame rails in front of my rear tire. Now my bike is hardtailed but it's mount is "Very" strong (I could stand on it) and in the past year that I've used this design I've had NO problems with anything associated with it's placement.   ...cougar...

[Dyrden]

My shorai battery has been awesome, light, powerful and tiny.

[stereosilence]

Hooray for battery questions. 

I've been looking into positions for my electronics as well. I keep reading about all these different types of batteries (8-cell, gel, lithium) but they always come pared with both positive and negative reviews for running them on our bikes. So, I don't know what to believe. I'm going for the very stripped down approach. I thought about building one bracket to house all the electronics under the seat, and another to hold the battery on the side of the triangle closer to the engine to keep it more upright and avoid acid spillage. Then I would cut off the seat cowl (would that jeopardize the structural integrity of the frame? Would I have to apply some sort of support between the left and right sides of the rear frame like a cafe seat loop?) in order to fit a brat-style leather seat.

Some of my inspiration: http://e3mc.us/E3MC/E3MC_75_CB550.html

I still have two years before I have to get it re-registered and I have since moved from Missouri to New York--where a bike is required to have all four turn signals to pass inspection. Until then, I'll be running a headlight and taillight and I'll only be using the cool-guy kickstarter. As far as batteries go, are there tiny batteries that would necessitate my current electrical situation? (I understand electricity like I understand wizard magic.)

Standard battery is lead-acid and has to be kept upright. AGM is sealed and uses the same mechanism as lead-acid but doesn't have to stay upright. Lithium Ion is the type that goes in cell phones and laptops and will be very expensive and very compact. Lead-acid is also very tolerant of an inconsistent waveform (high voltage sometimes, low voltage sometimes) whereas Lion is not. I have an oscilliscope in my garage and I was going to measure the alternator waveform, but I never got around to it before I disassembled. Maybe I can do it with someone else's stocker.

Due to the amount of charging issues and such I see around here, I am keeping the full-power battery. I am also keeping the electric starter. Sometimes the kick starter is a real #$%*. On mine, it would kick start pretty easy, but when it didn't want to, it REALLY didn't want to.

If you cut away that frame connector on the back, you need to weld in a support (hoop or whatever). That is why I didn't (that and I am keeping it a 2-up). You will definitely want to get LED signals and tail light (there are detailed threads on this). You may also look into an HiD headlight kit. All of that should keep the current draw down (standard headlight is 40W or something) and allow you to run the smaller battery.

[stereosilence]

I considered the centerstand mount. I am actually keeping the centerstand mount for the centerstand (avant-garde, I know). That thing is so enormously useful when working on the rear wheel, I can't get rid of it. I just keep the centerstand in my garage and pop it right in to work on stuff.

I am not getting rid of the inner plastic fender either. It stops an unfortunate amount of stuff from flying up in there. Since I am going to be riding this bike as much as possible, I don't think I can get rid of it to mount the battery there.

We'll see. It is still a pretty long way off. Stay tuned to my build thread if you want to see how it turns out in the end.