Antigravity 8-Cell Light Weight Lithium Battery

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06 April 2016 | Andrew Nguyen | Gear

ADVMoto’s Honda CRF250L project bike is going on a diet to achieve a better power-to-weight ratio. One of the easiest ways to shave some weight is replacing the stock battery with a light-weight lithium battery. Antigravity sent us their 8-Cell Nano-Phosphate Lithium YTZ-7S to help us with this task. A 4-Cell unit would have turned over our little bike just fine, but we figured we’d boost cold cranking amperage while we were at it. The standard battery put out 100cca while the 8-Cell gives us a whopping 240cca.

There are no special instructions to install the battery and Antigravity thoughtfully placed big, colored positive and negative decals on the top. The new battery is the same width as the stock one and slides easily into the battery box. It is quite a bit shorter than the stock unit which in our case caused a very minor installation issue. The CRF250L’s negative battery lead is angled in such a way that the negative battery terminal needs to sit towards the top of the battery box. Many light-weight battery manufacturers include foam in their packaging that can be cut and sized to take-up slack, but unfortunately Antigravity did not send us any foam. In order to take up room at the bottom of the box, we simply shoved a sponge underneath the battery.

Drag racers used to calculate that loosing approximately 7 pounds would equate to gaining 1 horsepower. By installing the Antigravity Battery, not only did we shave 8 precious pounds off the bike, we removed weight from a high location which should result in lighter handling characteristics, especially when transitioning from side to side. At a recent rally in Tennessee we fired the bike up during various types of weather, from sunny and 70°f to 32°f and frost on top of the seat. So far the bike hasn’t hesitated to spring to life on the first crank. I can’t say that I initially noticed any weight difference, although I did feel especially comfortable flogging the bike through twisty mountain gravel roads.

A standard acid-based replacement for the 250L costs around 60 bucks. The Antigravity YTZ-7 4-Cell retails for $119.99 and the 8-Cell unit we installed costs a steep $179.99. That may seem like a lot for batteries, but what you’re really paying for is weight savings. For comparison purposes a slip-on muffler for a CRF250L costs up to $400, gains 1hp and shaves about 8lbs. The pro’s outweigh the con’s and for the money the Antigravity Battery starts our weight-reduction project off on the right foot.

MSRP: $179.99 AntigravityBatteries.com

PROS	CONS
▲ 8lb weight reduction	▼ Cannot be used with de-sulfating chargers
▲ Massive 240 cold cranking amps	▼ Costs twice as much as an acid battery
▲ Can hold a charge for up to a year	▼ Spacer foam would be much appreciated