I've used Shorai for a few years now, on a BMW K1200LT, Harley Softail, Harley Street Glide, Sportster 48, Suzuki Burghman 650, etc.
Initially, I am a little skeptical. Will something that small power my bike? With such a new brand in the industry, will I get good service?
As you may experience, whenever you change the battery of your bike, one of the reasons is because you may have a faulty electrical system. On my BMW, the bike does not charge the old battery well, and my Shorai could power it for weeks, and eventually run out of juice. It was hard to diagnose as the battery was so powerful that you do not feel anything wrong. And finally, when the fault was found, there were a few shorts in the way and the battery was dead as well.
This was a 3 month old battery in Singapore, and when I got new wire harness, voltage regulator, coil, etc, the battery still could not hold charge, and when checked, there was cell imbalance and the battery was dead.
It created a little stress and unhappiness, but once everything was fixed and I got a new battery (from warranty) I slowly gain confidence.
The exchange was simple. I went to Racewerks -- where I got the battery -- they checked that battery failed, ordered a new one, and I got a new battery, no questions asked.
I could see the improved CCA, ability to hold charge for a longer time (without riding) and light weight and small size, I decided to try out when my batteries are too old.
A few Shorai later, my Harley had electrical problems after installing new Shorai battery, and I decided to change the coil and voltage regulator after the Shorai ran out of juice after a week -- problem solved.
On my Softail, the Shorai lasted 18 months, and somehow could not hold charge. I checked for shorts, wiring but everything looks ok. I brought the battery in again, and there was a battery error, and I had to pay 25% of the battery price to get a new one!
Come Sept 2016, I bought a Shorai for my Shovelhead in Boston. It was a much older Carb bike. Works good until I kept it for the winter and had power problems since.
When I check the battery again on the BMS-01 charger, it had errors - 4 flashes - cell imbalance. I discharged the battery and charged it again and the same thing happened. After spending 1 day, I gave up, contact Shorai USA and sent in some information to request for them to check my battery.
I sent in the request on Saturday 13th May and I received a new Shorai Battery on Tuesday 16th May.
I did not expect the turnaround time to be this quick and efficient and the exchange was rather hassle free.. I send in my old battery (with all the fittings attached) and I hope the warranty conditions was valid as the battery seemed to be only 9 months old, and stopped working.
Of all my other Shorai batteries, this was least expected, but I could see that manufacturing flaws do happen, and Shorai was standing by the quality of its products.
However, the service and experience was very fast and efficient, better than my expectations and I would totally recommend Shorai batteries as they are high quality, and the Shorai Service in Singapore and USA seems to be excellent as well.
Thank you Shorai.
-- Robin Low
