RTW X-Challenge Adventurization

Other than the time to connect it, any other items to watch for and do all the BMW sensors and lamp outputs directly connect ?

nothing "directly" connects ... you have to find what wires mean what on the BMW loom and connect them to the appropriate input on the acewell. For things like tacho and oil temp which are not present in the oem wiring, you need to add that to the loom yourself.

Thats why its a bit of work. I did mine together with an auto electrician, but it took over a day.

Apologies if you mis understood my use of "directly connect", you have answered the question though as it sounds like you did not need to invert any signals or use adaptor electronics between sensors and the Acewell

Oilt temp yes realised there was no sensor on that, tacho is easy as it comes off BMS output to COP

Walter,
Have you thought of using a cell phone (or iPad) screen protector on the Acewell?

Ok..thanks for the info! One More question please: In one of your videos on youtube i can see this speedometer showing rpm. Which type of connection is needed to take the signal.. Is there a stock cable plug or something else?


..using Tapatalk

You just need to connect the sensor wire to something which pulses like for example the spark plug (would probably not use that).

(I also gave that one a lot of thought before I found the information somewhere).

Casper

I am wanting to go to a 14t counter shaft sprocket. in the thread index, there is some talk of bad 14t sprockets. i am wondering what brand you guys are using that is working. some claim stripped counter sprocket splines due to poorly made sprockets. tried to search for the answer with no luck. thanks

I had my splines strip out due to a poorly manufactured front sprocket; it was a Drive Systems USA sprocket which was sold as Touratech's in-house brand.

My advice would be to make any gearing changes by going up in size on the rear sprocket, then nothing will be damaged if the sprocket is a little out of tolerance.

Did you have it mounted with the flange out?

You can tell that the sprocket was installed correctly with the flange out by the missing teeth on the sprocket.

i would just think with Walter and a bunch of other guys using 14t sprokets that there must be a brand that is working. i was hoping to just have a 14t and a 15t so i could easily switch.

Hi Colebatch,

I've been reading this thread with great interest and awe over the past few weeks (too long to read in one sitting). Makes me want to mod my Dakar.

I was wondering how you fund not only your long trips away but flying to Netherlands every week, working on the bike and all the associated costs that go with that like accommodation etc..

Did you mention you're a moto photographer? As a terrible amateur photographer myself, I'm curious how did you get into that, and what equipment do you carry on your tours?

@Colebatch .. originally installed LFX09L2-BS12 is a tiny battery in terms of actual AH. then if I understand correctly you upgraded to LFX14 which is still a tiny actual AH battery.

Shorai now offers 6 different 14AH pb/eq batteries with completely different weight (1.46lb to 2.31lb). what exact model/weight did you take?

interested in feedback if LFX14 battery have enough actual AH for long/cold trips?

if I missed this with my poor searching skills, I'm sorry, but if you have the xtank installed and you ride until both tanks are nearly empty, do you have to fill up both tanks individually or will both tanks fill from just the xtank. I understand how it works with the motor running, but most gas stations in the US are not too stoked if you are running your bike while putting gas in it.

You fill both individually. I always fill the main first, then optionally fill the xtank.

While riding, the fuel pump will actually pull fuel from the xtank into the main, to fill it above the level of the main gas cap. (Beware opening the main cap before you're sure you burned off enough fuel!) I never* store my bike with fuel in the xtank -- I'm testing my theory that submerging the main tank gas cap overnight or for extended periods is the cause of most or all failures of the main gas cap seal that some xtank owners report. Skeptics abound, hard to disprove, so far so good.

Off the top of my head, and looking at their page, its this one: LFX14L2-BS12
(small case, positive on the right, 1.46 lbs)

I went away for over 3 months with it into remote areas, so I made the decision to take with me the charger / balancer unit (1.65 lbs) as it was very much a trial run with these batteries for me on a long distance trip and I wanted to be sure I didn't run into trouble in the middle of nowhere.

I didnt have any issues with it for the first half of the trip (about the first 6 weeks), but just for good orders sake I plugged it in for a balance about every 2 weeks.

About 6 weeks into the trip, a deep water crossing resulted in river water being ingested into the fuel tank, contaminating the fuel. Rather than be smart and disconnect the HP fuel line and just squirt the water/fuel mix out with no resistance, I just turned over the engine until the water in the fuel was processed through the whole cycle - which meant all the resistance of the engine including compression. I effectively turned over the starter for about 10-15 mins - probably damaging my starter and starter clutch as well. The battery became totally discharged (as in down to 6 volts).

It took about 10 hours of mains charging to restore the battery. It seemed never quite as strong or reliable after that extreme discharge. I was now balancing it weekly. I didnt have any further issues with it, and prima facie it was still holding above 13.2 V when charged, but it didnt feel like it had the same power.

So my experience is this:

(1) I didnt have any problems with it until my own stupidity resulted in deep discharge of the battery. The battery had ample starting power, and I never needed to use the starting reserve. The generator always produced more power than the bike consumed except on startup. And pior to the deep discharge the bike always started within 10-15 seconds.

(2) I was glad I took my charger / balancer. Even together with the balancer my set up was half the weight of the lead acid battery it replaced. Having the charger / balancer with me meant I always had a solution to any battery issues.

(3) The battery superficially was giving similar voltage numbers after the recovery from the discharge, but the starting power seemed down. There were occasions after that point when the bike was harder to start. I suspect this is probably battery related, but certainly starter damage could not be ruled out as the cause.

I am no expert on new battery technology, so I leave further thoughts and analysis to you, but going forward, I personally do not have a problem with the technology based on my experiences so far. Quite the opposite. I like the battery. I think it was a good call to take the charger with me and I would recommend others doing long distance or remote adventure travel with LiFePO4 batteries do the same - take the dedicated charger. Its an insurance policy and its still saving you over half the weight vs lead acid. Travelling in a group of guys, all using the same brand LiFePO4 batteries would mean only one charger is necessary between 3-4-5-6 guys, meaning you are saving 75% of the weight vs lead acid, even with the charger. While I have read of some Li based batteries being more reliable than others (in terms of brand), are there any I would take on a 3 month trip to Mongolia and Siberia without a charger / balancer? No, I would always take the dedicated charger - over three months of constant riding, stopping, starting, I think you will always need occasional balancing and you never know when you will need a more comprehensive charge.

I am not sure of the relevance of the power reserve (amp hourage). Assuming you do start your bike up within 5 mins, and assuming your generator produces enough power to run the electricals of the bike, it seems to be cost and weight that isnt theoretically necessary. As a battery expert, please share your views on that one?

I'm particularly interested in your feedback .. as you are traveling into remote places far from any support. LiFePO4 motorcycle batteries are still in their infancy with folks like yourself on the bleeding edge willing to take the risk of using brand new technology.

the most common failure for LiFePO4 is sizing for starting requirements only. other factors equally important like how is the bike to be used? Adventures bikes for RTW duties far from support have severely different AH size requirements.

your story above on the amount of cranking and cranking and cranking after dunking your bike on a water crossing is where extra AH capacity shows it's advantage. IMHO the correct size LiFePO4 for your bike would be 2x to 3x larger AH actual than what you took.

parasitic drain uses real AH, too small battery means less time before battery dies from sitting. another factor is max charge rate LiFePO4 battery is exposed to should not exceed 4C. (c = actual AH)

if/when one gets a bad load of fuel .. cranking and cranking and cranking after dumping bad fuel .. hopefully will get you going again. having large AH capacities comes in handy.

unfortunately original battery tray will barely fit smaller LiFePO4 batteries. a 12 cell Antigravity (7.5AH actual) is the largest LiFePO4 battery that will fit without modifying battery tray. Shorai LFX14 (about 4.5AH actual for 1.4lb version) is way too small for RTW duties. the 2.3lb LFX14 version would be about 6AH actual, but I've not tested so cannot vouch for performance.

LiFePO4 loses about 1/2 it's AH capacities at 8f .. running current through battery does warm it up, but that takes spare AH capacity. cold weather below 32f is usually when too small AH LiFePO4 shows. smaller Shorai has not perform well on my brutal 200amp crank tests vs EarthX and AntiGravity has performed well on same brutal 200amp continuous cranking tests. Shorai LFX36 did an outstanding job on 200amp continuous cranking tests.

all PB chargers without desulfate mode will work fine on all 12v LiFePO4 batteries or your bike's charging system would not work. just don't leave it hooked up after reaching full charge at 14.6v. target voltage after putting up bike for the night is 13.3v (90%) ... 13.2v (75%) is not optimal.

knowing your batteries' state of charge when you stop .. tells you if bike will start next morning.

chart below show full charge at 14.6v .. at first current draw, voltage will dip to 13.3v (90%) .. don't drop below 12.85v (20%) for max life.. battery will keep on cranking until it's got about 5% capacities left.

if battery stays dead for very long, permanent damage will occur. stop cranking immediately at first sign of starter slowing down to avoid running battery down too low.

Thanks Cy, as always very useful, thoughtful info

My comment on that would be that it was my failure to recognise early enough that the easiest way to get the contaminated fuel out of the tank would have been just to disconnect the fuel line and pump the fuel water mix into a plastic bottle (an idea I hit upon during dejected contemplation after I killed the Shorai). In the end I connected up a co-riders battery to my bike, pumped batches of fuel from the HP fuel line into a plastic bottle we found by the road, until we stopped seeing two layers - till it was just fuel - That was only about 5-6 pumps, each lasting about 3 seconds. The only drain was a light 18 seconds of fuel pump running. Then the bike started straight up and we transferred over the battery to the dead shorai - with the bike running, it was generating enough power to keep running, even with a dead battery. The LiFePO4 battery was properly charged up a day and a half later from mains power via the dedicated charging balancing unit.

In my particular case (1) had I hit on that idea at the beginning, I would not have damaged or drained my LiFePO4 battery - there would have been no issue and the reserve it had would not have been particularly relevant. (2) had I had double the reserve battery, I would still have run it till it was flat with no gain. The problem was my "technique" to dealing with the issue was all wrong. A different brand or larger capacity battery would not have made a difference to the outcome.

So I think my particular experience is not an ideal example for illustrating the utility of a larger battery. (it primarily illustrates that I am often too impatient and sometimes need to stop n think more when dealing with issues on the road). I am sure you will find many more useful real world examples than the one above.

But I hear what you say in general and like many of us now using / trying LiFePO4 batteries, I am most grateful for all your work and always enjoy reading up on the test results.

FYI there are now some LiFePo4 batteries with a built-in battery management system so they will balance automatically. EarthX has it, maybe other brands too? This would negate the need to carry a charger if your bikes' charging system generates enough excess power, as long as you have a way to get a jump if you drain it after excessive starting. If you are not sure that another vehicle will be nearby, for the lone traveler one of those mini jump starter battery packs like the Micro-Start from AntiGravity would be nice. Around 350 grams and unlike a charger it will also work when you are out in the boonies and far away from a plug.

Very interesting comments on batteries. I went to a 9AH Shorai after draining an Odyssey PC310 riding the LAB2V last year. Lights + aux lights + fan + everything else knocked the battery voltage down enough that the bike would only bump start. I'm about to do that ride again, this time being more prudent about running with all my lights on. I am considering carrying a spare Shorai battery that is normally in another bike as a spare. The Micro Start looks like a potential solution to my paranoia as well, but the price is just a bit too high.

m