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I need a new battery

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Well I bought a NOCO NLP14 from Amazon for 149.00. Taking off for the first two weeks of June to New York and BDRs up and back!! Hope I don’t catch on fire!
I’ve been racing RC cars and trucks for years with Lithiums and never had a fire issue but I’ve heard of it happening and pray it never happens to me!
Thanks for all the input and comments and wish me luck!
 
Boulder Ed said:
I would totally disagree. It was a classic management failure on multiple fronts and a quality collapse on top of it that took them down. The story is not over yet either.
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William Wolfen said:
A good one should have circuitry onboard to prevent over charging or discharging the battery.
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Yep...I'd never run a lithium ion or lithium iron phosphate battery that didn't have a BMS...battery management system. Antigravity models come with them and Shorai started putting them in their lithium ion batteries in 2022. The decent ones with a BMS can detect a short, overcharging, overheating, etc. I have lithium ion on my motorcycles and lithium iron phosphate in my RV. I prefer Antigravity brand lithium ion batteries for my bikes, especially the ones with the restart circuit built in.
 
John Bennett said:

Cool looking battery, but it bothers me that NOCO doesn't say which formulation of "lithium" is used in their batteries.
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From the link you posted under the specs:
Screenshot 2025-05-24 215641.png


and from another page on their site:



lifepo4.jpg
 
John Bennett said:
Bah! Thank you Nolan! I swear I scanned for that. 🙂

Something is wrong. My understanding is that Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries do not ignite when punctured like Lithium Ion batteries do.

Pedro's NOCO NLP-20 above was a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery.

noconlp20.jpg


So I asked Grok A.I. ...



grok.png
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Less likely, but not impossible.

As I said before, most of the issues I have seen with these is from late '90's to around 2010 Harley's or things like 4 wheelers.
I am not sure if it is something with older charging systems and the batteries charging/battery management system being incompatible and causing the issue or what.
I also think it shows up more on Harley's because they benefit a lot more from the higher cranking capability of LiFePo4 batteries vs flooded/AGM batteries, so get used more on them than things like older Japanese and Euro bikes. Maybe it is the higher amp draw they use as well vs the other brands?
 
To each thier own .. AGM for me , with 10 - 15 bikes , it's much cheaper in the long run ..
Always 2 in stock , ready to go ..Most are same size ...All from Caltric ...
Never a problem , lasting 3-4 yrs. And if bike sells , away it goes ... Never a fire ,
Tricle chargers about $ 8 ea. Probably 10 laying around shop , or on the vehicle ...
AIN'T PAYIN FOR Something I don't need ....
 
It's battery time again. My "new" R12 came with a PLATINUM AGM EverStart from Wal-Mart.

It was installed in November of 2024 (16 months ago). It's already dying.

Wal-Mart's EverStart batteries used to be "fair". Now they really are "bottom of bin". I maintain six cars. I've been getting about 1 month past the warranty period out of them.

That's fine if you can swap them in the Wal-Mart parking lot like I do. Not so much if you are Elderly, a Woman, or Busy.


So I go shopping...

Revzilla wants $129 for a Yuasa AGM Lead Acid.

yuasa.jpg



Yuck.

centextom said:
Well I bought a NOCO NLP14 from Amazon for 149.00.
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I think I will follow your lead Tom.

NOCO has the NLP14 on their website for $130. Nowadays about 50% of the products on Amazon are counterfeit.

  • Cranking amps: 500A peak starting power
  • Weight: ~2.58 lbs
  • Chemistry: LiFePO4 with built-in BMS (Battery Management System)
  • Warranty: 5 years
  • Brass terminals
I ordered one from their website and will report back how it performs.

Thanks man!
 
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PTgeologist said:
Get a LiFePO4 battery with its own BMS (battery management system), much safer than Li-Po batteries.
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John Bennett said:
That part was like Breyer Rabbit begging not to be thrown into the briar patch.

Corporations have received about a Trillion dollars in Taxpayer Subsidy since 2010 to "Develop EV's".

These came in the form of "no payback" loans, direct cash payments, tax breaks, and Buyer incentives like the "Cash for Clunkers" program.

As the Communists are fond of saying... "but... but!... That wasn't REAL Capitalism!" LOL A thing is what it does.

I like EV's a lot. If allowed to develop naturally, we would probably already have EV's that can charge to 500 miles of range in 5 minutes.

Check out this video on the cool new batteries Nerds are hooting about...

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This is the key ^^^. LiFeP04 technology with a good BMS is the best and safest battery for motorcycles and most other applications. I use an Antigravity Restart ATZ-10 in my XR650L. I'll replace the OEM lithium battery in my CRF450RL with the same style when the time comes. For riders who go off in the boonies, that restart feature is pretty cool.
 
John Bennett said:
It's battery time again. My "new" R12 came with a PLATINUM AGM EverStart from Wal-Mart.

It was installed in November of 2024 (16 months ago). It's already dying.

Wal-Mart's EverStart batteries used to be "fair". Now they really are "bottom of bin". I maintain six cars. I've been getting about 1 month past the warranty period out of them.

That's fine if you can swap them in the Wal-Mart parking lot like I do. Not so much if you are Elderly, a Woman, or Busy.


So I go shopping...

Revzilla wants $129 for a Yuasa AGM Lead Acid.

yuasa.jpg



Yuck.



I think I will follow your lead Tom.

NOCO has the NLP14 on their website for $130. Nowadays about 50% of the products on Amazon are counterfeit.

  • Cranking amps: 500A peak starting power
  • Weight: ~2.58 lbs
  • Chemistry: LiFePO4 with built-in BMS (Battery Management System)
  • Warranty: 5 years
  • Brass terminals
I ordered one from their website and will report back how it performs.

Thanks man!
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Hope we are still around for the report .....
I buy standard AGM batteries from Caltric .. always 1 in stock for those rare times when they might fail .. most last 3-4 years. Bikes usually get sold before failure ....
Not in to buying high priced batteries ...
 
Bweighmaster said:
Hope we are still around for the report .....
I buy standard AGM batteries from Caltric .. always 1 in stock for those rare times when they might fail .. most last 3-4 years. Bikes usually get sold before failure ....
Not in to buying high priced batteries ...
Click to expand...
Everyone should use what they feel is adequate and what they feel comfortable in spending. One other major advantage I would mention about lithium batteries is the very noticeable weight reduction you get with them. On a street bike this won't be as big an issue, but on many dirt bikes and DS bikes, this is an added benefit. The 10 amp conventional battery in my XR650L was a heavy beast. The 10 amp Antigravity unit with restart feature was a load lighter, and the restart feature was awesome in considering bikes without kickstart sitting out in the boondocks of Utah.
 
Just a data point. My bike had a Noco "14" size battery in it when I got it last year. The bike has been sitting for most of that time and as such the battery was flat this week when I decided to un-mothball it. I bought the cheapest lead acid from amazon and now the bike has power.

BUT I wanted to know if the LifePO battery would come back from a 0-volt condition. I hooked it up to a benchtop psu and current limiting to about 0.1 amps I kept raising the voltage. At about 30vdc it came alive and started accepting charge. I charged it for hours at 14v, 0.1 amp and it did indeed accept the charge. Eventually I was charging at 3 amps (the limit of this psu) and it levelled off at 13.4 volts. It kept that voltage overnight.

I want to drain it and see what kind of watt-hour performance it has now after being "dead".

While charging this dead Noco battery. When you get closer to 12.5/13 volts the battery itself was cycling the charge current on/off. In fact it wouldn't accept 14 volts at all towards the end of charging. So it obviously has a charge controller built in. It would not allow itself to be "cooked" while at max charge with that high of an input voltage.
 
TNC said:
Everyone should use what they feel is adequate and what they feel comfortable in spending. One other major advantage I would mention about lithium batteries is the very noticeable weight reduction you get with them. On a street bike this won't be as big an issue, but on many dirt bikes and DS bikes, this is an added benefit. The 10 amp conventional battery in my XR650L was a heavy beast. The 10 amp Antigravity unit with restart feature was a load lighter, and the restart feature was awesome in considering bikes without kickstart sitting out in the boondocks of
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No way you can feel the difference in 2-3 lbs. You carry that much in equipment and other things .
 
Bweighmaster said:
No way you can feel the difference in 2-3 lbs. You carry that much in equipment and other things .
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Not sure where you're getting your numbers, but the Yuasa 10 amp lead acid battery in my XR was 7.5 pounds. The Antigravity battery with restart was 2.5 pounds. My DS bikes...XR650L and CRF450RL...are kept as decently light as is practical. You're right that if you ride these DS bikes in the real, honest-to-goodness boondocks you will be carrying some repair and survival items...if you're smart. However, every pound dropped on a bike like this allows that extra equipment to be not as onerous in affecting handling and picking up the bike when it takes a nap. Weight lost is weight lost, and it will offset any added, necessary weight of accessory items.

Again, I'll say that this just isn't as critical in some/many instances. I had two Goldwings over time, and I doubt I'd necessarily spend the difference in dollars for that application. Wrestling a pure dirt or DS bike around out in the rough...I'll take off that 5 pounds or whatever any time.
 
TNC said:
Everyone should use what they feel is adequate and what they feel comfortable in spending. One other major advantage I would mention about lithium batteries is the very noticeable weight reduction you get with them. On a street bike this won't be as big an issue, but on many dirt bikes and DS bikes, this is an added benefit. The 10 amp conventional battery in my XR650L was a heavy beast. The 10 amp Antigravity unit with restart feature was a load lighter, and the restart feature was awesome in considering bikes without kickstart sitting out in the boondocks of Utah.
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The other thing with Lithium is they stay at higher volts.
A lead acid will degrade and be at 12.5-12.6v, rather quickly sometimes.
Some bikes it is not an issue, but many bikes need the full 12.8v to really crank over quickly.
I noticed on my K1600 I was having issues with the starter sprag not always engaging with the older lead acid battery (not even 2 years old, on a trickle charger most of the time), especially when ambient temps were in the 40's or lower. Battery read 12.5-12.6v.
I put in the Noco and in the 18 months it has been it, have had zero issues with the starter sprag not engaging, and the engine turns over much quicker, even in temps in the mid 30's.

I mentioned I had left a 12v outlet connected and it killed the battery (well, it was reading 9.4v, bike would power on for about 5 seconds and then shut off), after 13 hours on a 2 amp lithium charger, it is fine.
Right now, not having been started in 36 hours and not on a charger, reads 12.8 volts.
 
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