I've gotten into the habit of hooking the bikes up to battery tenders after I finish riding. On the FXDL, depending on the ride distance, how many times I start and stop the bike, etc, it typically takes between 15 mins and an hour for the tender to go to a solid green light indicating the battery is fully charged.

On the last few rides, it's been taking much longer (6 or 7 hours or more), but eventually goes green.

Battery is only a year old and still starts the bike, and the green light indicates full charge, but I wonder if I should swap out the battery before it takes a dump.

Anyone have a similar experience?

 

That doesn't sound like a good sign. I am religious with my battery tender and it goes to green on the new (year old) bike within 10 minutes for sure. I think your battery is on the way out.

 

i have had the same battery in my bike for 6 years because i only charge it when it starts hard. if you put the battery on a charger all the time it will develop memory and kill the battery life premature.

 

Check your bike's charging system.

 

This isn't true for mc or car batteries. Nicad or nickel metal hyd batteries yes but these types of batteries are NOT used in MCs or cars.

 

ya, it could be the charging system on the bike.

 

You don't need to charge the battery after every ride. Only if it is getting real cold , winter lay over of course, or if your not riding for a week or more. I was about to buy a new battery last week but took it to harley and had them test it, They told me it was still good, i left happy.
On the other hand the charger you are using may have a glitch going.

 

Lead acid batteries have "memory" refrain from constantly charging....

 

Its not reqiured to charge after every ride.

 

Negative Ghostrider - lead acid batteries DO NOT hold memory...otherwise you'd have little/no runtime while operating (alt constantly charging system). They operate on a separate principle that your radio, phone, etc. batteries and short/long charging cycles have "0" affect on memory.

For OP - if this was the "pre-sealed" battery days I'd say check your water levels, but can't on these newer units. Check your volt levels before/after ride & see what they read...maybe your bike has elec/charging system problems...?