Lithium Battery and Winter Time

Hello Everyone,

I am new Ducatista SFV4s here for about 5 months now. Absolutely loving it so far!

However, winter time is here and I need to store the bike in the garage due to snow and bad weather. The garage where I picked the bike from, had already installed a lithium battery.

First question is why would they replace the normal acid battery with a lithium one? Is there anything suspicious? (To note the bike has heated grips) This is more of curiosity question.

Secondly and most importantly. What advice would you give me with regards to battery maintenance? Should I switch on the bike for 2 min every 3-4 days? Should I "abandon" the battery connected and charge it after 2-3 months? Should I remove the battery completely and charge it every 1.5 weeks and before I start riding again put it back fully charged?

I would appreciate your help and advices.

Thank you in advance.

Lithium battery much,much lighter in weight and has little more power than stock battery,Needs Lithium Ion specific charger.

lotus7 said:

Lithium battery much,much lighter in weight and has little more power than stock battery,Needs Lithium Ion specific charger.

Click to expand...

Get an Optimate lithium battery charger/maintainer and keep it connected to the battery during storage.


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• +1 on all those above. You got a good battery out of it. Don't blow it up with the wrong battery charger.
I'm also looking into this. It's the first time I've ever had to store a bike.
• Gas is the other thing to think about. Alcohol vapor in the gas will suck in water which sinks to the bottom of your tank and that will mess with your sensors when you start it and see steam out the tail pipes if it will even start. This just happened to me. I had to go to the dealer to reset the warnings. Doesn't do anything in a month but it's a pain in the butt, however 6 months, ya your gas will be pretty bad and need to be changed before starting the bike. Gas will start to turn into varnish and really screw things up after 8-12 months.
1) Find no alcohol gas if possible.
2) Fill gas tank to the very top, so there is no air in the tank.
OR -
3) Drain the tank completely. If your winter is more than 4 months, I'd think about this option.
3.5) Some say add gasoline-additives, or gas cleaners that block water though someone posted a test on them and turn out most do nothing good. I'm just going to fill the tank.

Manual says to:
4) Clean and cover the bike with breathable cover such as canvas.
5) Put bike in track stands - 2-3 months is not a big deal if it's just on the kickstand, but tires will get a memory flat spot if left for a long time.
6) Others suggest stuffing air intakes and tail pipes with rags etc to block critters, dust, humidity from entering.

yup. 50F is the best storage temp and it is advised not to charge at low temperatures. There are plenty of battery web sites for lithium battery care and charging rates specifically for this type of battery.


Luckily, real fuel is available in East TN

Pretty much everything others have said. My first Ducati SF overwinter, but on my other bikes I always ran the tank dry and I did so on the SF this year. I run the bike dry, put in a splash of non-ethanol and then run that dry. I found that filling up and sitting for 4 months or so here in NE, I end up siphoning out all the gas anyway in spring just to be safe. Also I pump up the front tire to about 45# which helps with flat spots. Rear is off the ground.

If your garage isn't heated, I prefer to take the battery inside and keep the trickle charger on it.

Thank you guys for the responses and advises! Highly appreciated. The bike will stay for 2-3 months so its not too long before I hit the road again.