Chuck78
Been Around the Block
I've been hung up on kickstart engines quite a lot since I got into motorcycles, for many reasons - the rider to machine connection, ability to kick it when battery is dead, the novel antiquity/nostalgia, and potential weight savings which really make it alluring. I dropped my very stout and tough '77 Suzuki 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 anything less than a 22,000uf capacitor is no good for trying to smooth out the gaps in the stator pulses on 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 toyed with the idea of maybe two of those in parallel in order to have two in case one blew, so for $30-$80 I could get a whole lot of electrical ignition assist in kickstarting, and keeping the lights from flickering at idle.
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 may 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, Shorai, and others have been making Lithium-Iron Phosphate batteries aka LiFePO4 (similar to Li-Ion) for motorcycles that cost quite a bit, are smaller, and weigh SUBSTANTIALLY LESS.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-battery/li-ion-motorcycle-battery/shorai-vs-ballistic-li-ion-motorcycle-battery.htm
How much power/amp-hours do I really need to adequately power the ignition and two indicator lamp bulbs when kickstarting?
I am looking at some tiny 4 cell Ballistic brand batteries, and wondering 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.
Ballistic 4 cell battery, this thing might be the ticket for a kickstart only, what do you guys think?:
http://www.righttoolusa.com/p/New-Ballistic-Performance-Lithium-Evo2-12v-4-Cell-Motorcycle-3314810.html?gclid=CMXuybTs3r4CFVQiMgodRlQAIg
CAPACITOR(S):
+slightly lighter, two 22,000uF's I'd guess to be around 1lb or less
+much cheaper (~$30-60)
+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)
-may not supply enough voltage to electronic ignitions to start, may have to downgrade to points.
SMALL LIGHTWEIGHT LI-IRON-PHOS BATTERY:
-substantially more cost, $80+
-slightly larger to much larger than capacitor(s)
-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
+better starting voltage than a capacitor (especially with a Dyna-S or electronic ignition)
Any users of very large capacitors on here to comment on the downfalls of them (reliability, ease of starting, 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?????
http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/BEC.html Oregon Motorcycle Parts says that anything less than a 22,000uf capacitor is no good for trying to smooth out the gaps in the stator pulses on 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 toyed with the idea of maybe two of those in parallel in order to have two in case one blew, so for $30-$80 I could get a whole lot of electrical ignition assist in kickstarting, and keeping the lights from flickering at idle.
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 may 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, Shorai, and others have been making Lithium-Iron Phosphate batteries aka LiFePO4 (similar to Li-Ion) for motorcycles that cost quite a bit, are smaller, and weigh SUBSTANTIALLY LESS.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-battery/li-ion-motorcycle-battery/shorai-vs-ballistic-li-ion-motorcycle-battery.htm
How much power/amp-hours do I really need to adequately power the ignition and two indicator lamp bulbs when kickstarting?
I am looking at some tiny 4 cell Ballistic brand batteries, and wondering 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.
Ballistic 4 cell battery, this thing might be the ticket for a kickstart only, what do you guys think?:
http://www.righttoolusa.com/p/New-Ballistic-Performance-Lithium-Evo2-12v-4-Cell-Motorcycle-3314810.html?gclid=CMXuybTs3r4CFVQiMgodRlQAIg
CAPACITOR(S):
+slightly lighter, two 22,000uF's I'd guess to be around 1lb or less
+much cheaper (~$30-60)
+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)
-may not supply enough voltage to electronic ignitions to start, may have to downgrade to points.
SMALL LIGHTWEIGHT LI-IRON-PHOS BATTERY:
-substantially more cost, $80+
-slightly larger to much larger than capacitor(s)
-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
+better starting voltage than a capacitor (especially with a Dyna-S or electronic ignition)
Any users of very large capacitors on here to comment on the downfalls of them (reliability, ease of starting, 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?????