Are Li-Ion batteries and motorcycles a match made in heaven? As time rolls on and positive user-experience grows, it seems it may just be the case. There are real benefits to be had when adopting Li-Ion technology for your motorcycle, and at Mad4bikes.co.uk, we've been bringing together owners and these amazing new batteries for more than 8 years.

At Mad4bikes we have a full range of Skyrich Lithium Ion Powersport Batteries ready to be delivered from stock.

Skyrich has over 20 years experience at the cutting-edge of battery development and manufacture. As the whole motorcycle industry has moved to embrace the benefits of Li-Ion technology, Skyrich batteries have been used as original equipment by Aprilia, Ducati, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM, MV Agusta and many others.

What exactly are the benefits of Li-Ion battery technology on your motorcycle? Well, let's look at three of the biggest reasons in more detail, and an important sub-benefit that affects us all, whether we buy one or not:

1. Weight
2. Low discharge rate
3. Long life cycle
4. Environmental 

1) Weight

There's something beneficial about using a Li Ion battery for almost every biker, but the simplest one to identify is simply how small and light these units are - on average they weigh around one third of an equivalent lead-acid unit with equivalent cranking power. Being able to drop 2-3Kg or more from the weight of a performance motorcycle would cost a fortune if done with titanium fasteners or replacing parts with carbon-fibre equivalents, but the simple swap from lead-acid to Li-Ion can achieve it in moments, without any performance loss. For trackday and racebike owners, this really is a swap that delivers bang for its buck, and it takes just a couple of tools and a few moments to complete.

2) Low discharge rate

The way a Skyrich Li-Ion battery can retain punch is another positive difference from a typical lead-acid unit, which will discharge at around 3 or 4 times the speed if left unused. For the occasional use motorcycle this is a real boon - You can expect just a 1% reduction in the available charge from a Skyrich Li-Ion battery in a month of inactivity, and they are much less fussy about storage temperatures too, with a specified range of -20'C to +40'C. Because they also have a flatter discharge curve than lead-acid, you can still enjoy functional cranking power at higher levels of discharge too - that's double the amount of reasons that they're brilliant for those bikes that just get out a few times a year on the nicest of days!

Keeping tabs of the battery condition with a Skyrich unit is simple - they come with a built in multi-light indicator to show the available charge:  

One light -  An immediate charge is necessary.

Two lights -  50% capacity, battery is still available for cranking vehicle and a charge is not generally required.

Three lights - Battery is in ideal condition and ready to go.

3) Long life cycle - including 2 year warranty

As well as being quick to recharge, with up to 90% available in 6 minutes using an appropriate quick-charge protocol, these units can still function normally after 2000+ charging cycles, which is several times that expected from a similar lead acid product. 

For extra peace of mind, every Skyrich battery from mad4bikes.co.uk comes with a 2 year return-to-base warranty, AND 60-day free returns as part of the standard online store offer. Terms can be seen here.

4) Environmental

No lead, no acid, no possibility of leaks and a longer life-cycle before redundancy. Put all this together and making the switch from lead acid stops being just about your choice of motorcycle battery and becomes something that makes just a tiny (but really important) bit of difference to the environment, for all of us.

This independent owner-made video from Italy shows the results of a simple swap from lead-acid to Skyrich on a Honda NCX750 - video should play with English captions, if it doesn't just hit the "CC" button