New battery

[Grumpy Goat]

... The disadvantages are the cost, the cold start performance and in my opinion, at least for the Shorai, the need for a Shorai charger. I don't remove my batteries (also have a Shorai in the 1600 GT - 13lbs actual weight savings) during the winter. The charger maintains my batteries through the winter as I typically rotate the charger between the two bikes.

Thanks John. The cost appears to be close enough for me so that is not an issue. What cold start performance issues have you had?

The need for another (special) charger is perhaps the tipping point for me. The Revzilla page states:

• Shorai Batteries require a charging system output of 13.1 Volts or higher at idle and must not exceed 15.2 volts at maximum output.
  
• Shorai recommends NOT using a charger or tender if it has a desulfation mode which cannot be turned off. Shorai has confirmed that the Battery Tender brand does NOT have a desulfation mode and are OK for use with Shorai LFX batteries. However the best possible charger/tender for the Shorai LFX is the Shorai SHO-BMS01 Battery Management System.
  

Well the Shorai SHO-BMS01 adds another $76 to this battery purchase bringing it to $282 Not cheap.

I have the Battery Tender Plus 12V 1.25 Amp Battery Charger which I like and which works well for the current batteries I have.

There is a Battery Tender Junior 12V 800 Selectable Lead Acid/Lithium Charger at $45 that may do the trick with the Shorai battery. However for neither battery do I see a voltage range so that I might ascertain whether it is between the 13.1V to 15.2V noted on the Revzilla page.

Looking for those kinds of answers I went to YouTube and the search box came up with "charging shorai with battery tender" as I typed (suggesting others had similar questions …?). This video seems to suggest that it is not a problem.



One of the reasons I am cool to the Shorai charger (aside from extra cost) is that the pigtails have connectors that require pulling the battery out (completely or at least partially) whereas with my Battery Tender I already have a pigtail connected to the battery, so plug and play.