Modern battery for KHK

[Coolbreeze]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a modern 6V battery for my '56 KHK?

[jmanjeff]

Take a look here and see what Dave Swanson did with his battery my 57 sportster is the same way and it works great

[DaveSwanson]

There was a guy showing his reproduction early Sportster and K battery at Davenport last year. It was absolutely amazing. A perfect repro! It has a modern sealed battery on the inside and when mounted on the bike is indistinguishable from the real deal.

Contact info

k-battery@cox.net

[jtp1955kh]

This one is a repro 6V and very accurate

http://kcint.zoovy.com/product/80-66...GHT_6VOLT.html

[Coolbreeze]

KH replacement battery

There was a guy showing his reproduction early Sportster and K battery at Davenport last year. It was absolutely amazing. A perfect repro! It has a modern sealed battery on the inside and when mounted on the bike is indistinguishable from the real deal.

Contact info

k-battery@cox.net

I tried contacting the battery guy, but he did not respond to my e-mail. I just ordered the battery suggested in a later response to my inquiry. I hope it is what I want.

BTW, Dave, I tried sending this in an e-mail to you, but it bounced. I guess your spam filter works!

George

[Coolbreeze]

$50 later, my old battery is now a cell ready to receive a new gel cell insert. This week, I shall hit the battery stores see what I can find that fits.

Does anyone know the amp-hour rating of the original 6V battery the '56 KHK used?

[Coolbreeze]

KH battery amp hour rating

"Does anyone know the amp-hour rating of the original 6V battery the '56 KHK used?"

I found a couple of 4.5 amp/hour 6V sealed batteries that will fit in my battery shell. Connected in parallel, these would give 9ah. I also found a ~14ah sealed battery that might fit in the battery holder, but definitely would not fit in the shell. I would love to know how the ah rating of these batteries compare to the original battery. It would also be great to know if the generator output on the '56 KHK is too much for either battery arrangement.

When I called my local H-D dealer today, I was told that Harley does not publish the amp-hour rating or cold cranking amps of their batteries. The Madbull Tinku battery sold by Sporty's Specialties and KC International also does not indicate amp-hour rating.

Again, if anyone knows the ah rating of the original battery, please let me know.

[chibobber]

kbattery

George,Try contacting Great Plaines Cycle.They seem to be very knowledgable about batteries.I run a 18 amp 6V in my servi that I got from them.They have a smaller 14amp version that might fit the k.They might know what a stock battery amp was.
Good luck from a fellow citizen of the Peoples Rebublic of Illinois.

[Coolbreeze]

I like Great Plains Cycle's battery a lot. It is not suitable for shows, but it should make a very good rider battery. I wish I had bought their battery before trying to have a reusable shell made.

Are you ready for my tale of woe? The technician I hired to created the shell that would accept sealed / gel cell battery inserts was able to create a show quality battery with the pieces I gave him. It contains 2 6V 4.5ah sealed batteries and it looks good.

Here is the unhappy part: My technician sealed the new battery with some sort of rubber / epoxy that makes it impossible to remove the inserts without destroying the whole thing! He claims he was not told why I wanted to have the thing made. I guess future instructions (if I ever use him again) will have to be in writing.

The second unhappy part is the cost:
unused battery with broken terminal post --- $30
reworking battery into a shell ---------------230
sealed battery inserts -----------------------21
Total cost --------$281

The folks at Mr. Battery think they may be able to create a shell. I wish them luck, but I'll use the Great Plaines Cycle battery the next time I need one.

[panheadron]

Hi. You can go to any Home Depot-Lowes in the electrical dept. Look for "Emergency Lighting". You will find the 6v 4amp sealed batterys for $10-$12! As mentioned before, hook them in parallel to each other. They have spade connections. When I made the Shell from an old stock battery, I drilled the lead posts underneath. Made up two lengths of wire. Each about 4 inches long. One end bare, the other end, spade connector. When you drill the lead, go slow. Your drill bit may get stuck! Screw the bare ends to the lead posts & you're all set. I did this to my Panhead battery. I forgot to mention that I cut the original casing about 1.5-2 inches down from the top. When installed, you can't notice the split line---Perfect. I used the larger size 18amp. The brand was Eagle Pitcher, purchased from www.batteryweb.com.

[Coolbreeze]

After 4 years of use and storage whilst connected to the Harley in an unheated garage, my battery has crapped out. Now, I need to decide whether to try to cobble together another gel cell battery, buy something from Great Plains, or go the lithium ion route. The bike has a Cycle Electric solid state voltage regulator; so, it should be able to charge any of those choices with no problem.

My question is: Has technology advanced to the point that I can trust a Lithium-ion battery? Is it worth the cost.

I no longer show this bike; so, appearance is not critical.

[Coolbreeze]

Turns out the battery may be OK after all. We found a short that could explain all my problems. Hopefully, I'll get a few more years out of this battery. I still would like feedback on lithium ion batteries. I would hate it if I used one that caught fire!

[PRG]

Howdy George,

I converted m 32E to 2 brush, installed a V-Tronic which set the stage for modern battery install (still at 6 volts). I purchased an Erdos box, cut a window in the side and installed 2 Shorai Lithium Iron batteries wired in parallel for an unpredented 36 amps. This system has performed flawlessly since with a standby voltage of 6.6 volts which in conjunction with my Quick start 2000 ignition makes for painless starts. These batteries are noted for their shelf life without discharge and the depth of their discharge without damage.

Note, when comparing amperage ratings to LA's, Gels or AGM's it is not apple to apple, they use an index based discharge rate, ie, a wet cell can discharge as little as 40% before performance falls off whereas these will go to 90% thus their elevated cold crank amp rating. On the bottom of these batteries the "real" rating is listed as 6 amps which I regard as more important when viewing a battery as a capacitor against the strength of it charging source. And in this case, fitting in the palm of your hand I view that capacity as small. Make sure you install one/some with a total amp rating near the output of your generator or you'll be continually cycling your voltage regulator causing the voltage to rise over time which they don't like.

If they have a drawback it is they are super efficient and you must fuse your system or a short can be spectacular with a discharge rate that can almost be described in terms of muzzle velocity. I chernoble'd one at Bike Week on a previous install gone wrong and it was an eye opener.

[MJW]

I was thinking of trying two of these batteries inside my gutted H2 shell, they could stand on end, wired in parallel and have a total of 24ah which would exceed the original capacity of 22ah. http://www.exitlightco.com/product/B6V12A.html

[PRG]

Howdy sir,

Not a real fan of spade terminals when handling real amperage in the vibratory environment of an m/c app. but I reckon if firmly crimped and the connections taped to the battery they'll be ok.