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Can the Spyder's battery be changed to lithium? Pro's & Con's?

Yes, you can use a Lithium battery with the correct capacity and amp hour ratings.

If you are using a battery tender/charger make sure it's made to handle Lithium batteries.
 
A battery is a battery. The ECU doesn't know, or care, where the juice is coming from. It only cares that the voltage is correct and if there is enough of it. The Spyder is power greedy so it pays to get a good battery. A lithium battery will work just fine if you follow the advice given above.
 
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I recently changed over and quite frankly I haven't seen any cons yet.

But I do not have a lot of equipment and lighting so I don't have any issues.

In the case of the noco I bought from lamonster along with the genius 2 charger I am plenty happy with it in the manner that I use it.

Basically with the noco you get a higher cold cranking amperage and it is a lot lighter than the OEM battery but with that comes a trade off with capacity where the lithium has less capacity.

So if I were to have an RT or a F3T or L with a lot more lighting and some people throw on amps for audio, lightning, lcd displays ,chargers,heaters and yada yada yada.

Basically with the heavier load I would stay with a lead acid for the additional capacity to drive those items without depleting the capacity of the battery.

Hope this helps.
 
Pros of a Lithium Battery:
1-Much Lighter
2-Typically more power
3-Will give you 100% of it's rating until it's nearly dead (Lead Acid will start to fall off of it's rated capacity almost as soon as it starts discharging)
4-Life span is usually better than Lead Acid if maintained well
5-Self discharge is less than Lead Acid
6-Less susceptible to parasitic drawdown because of #3

Cons of a Lithium Batter:
1-Good ones can be much more expensive
2-Have been know to catch fire or explode. Especially if damaged or defective (though this has largely been addressed)
3-Can be more affected by extreme temperatures than lead acid (but this also applies to Lead Acid to a lesser degree)
 
A battery is a battery. The ECU doesn't know, or care, where the juice is coming from. It only cares that the voltage is correct and if there is enough of it. The Spyder is power greedy so it pays to get a good battery. A lithium battery will work just fine if you follow the advice given above.
Understand that end of functionality, however please someone explain how needs specific charger but not screw up with alternator charging??!
 
So if I were to have an RT or a F3T or L with a lot more lighting and some people throw on amps for audio, lightning, lcd displays ,chargers,heaters and yada yada yada.

Basically with the heavier load I would stay with a lead acid for the additional capacity to drive those items without depleting the capacity of the battery.
Can you explain why a higher capacity battery is needed? Seems to me that these additional loads are switched on only while the motor is running. And while the motor is running, the alternator is providing all the power to run all the loads on the bike, plus keep the battery charged. Am I missing something?
 
Can you explain why a higher capacity battery is needed? Seems to me that these additional loads are switched on only while the motor is running. And while the motor is running, the alternator is providing all the power to run all the loads on the bike, plus keep the battery charged. Am I missing something?
Technically yes it would be charged by the alternator while running, but what if you were to have a lot of short start/stop cycles where the battery doesn't get enough time to fully charge in between stops. Each time you start you are pulling off the capacity of the battery.

And as I stated it would just be my own personal preference if I owned a Spyder that was running more electrical accessories. And as Ron Stated above "The Spyder is power greedy so it pays to get a good battery."
 
Understand that end of functionality, however please someone explain how needs specific charger but not screw up with alternator charging??!
A good point. That is why you need to get a "smart lithium" battery with a built-in BMS (Battery Management System). This is basicially a built in converter which delivers the correct DC voltage and current that the lithium battery needs.

Can you explain why a higher capacity battery is needed? Seems to me that these additional loads are switched on only while the motor is running. And while the motor is running, the alternator is providing all the power to run all the loads on the bike, plus keep the battery charged. Am I missing something?
Not necessarily needed. Just better. If you're replacing the battery anyway, why not go better if you can. The Spyder has a relatively high parasitic draw. This means you're battery is being depleted at a significant rate when parked compared to most other vehicles. A fully charged battery on a tender or maintainer is one answer. But a more powerful battery can't hurt.

Lithium, with its ability to deliver rated power even when depleted, is an advantage. Especially with the power hungry Spyder.
 
Might this probably be the best Lith Ion for a power hungry Spyder?
I have this in mine, the only negative is the initial cost $400. on amazon! I have used them in all my bikes for years without problems, it works fine in my lowly old tech KLR650...
 
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