I replaced my OEM battery last month. It lived on a tender it's whole life, when the bike wasn't running, the tender was hooked up. It started to crank a bit slow a while back, and I replaced it before I rode over to Daytona. We hooked it up at the parts store and it failed a load test.

Anyhoo, the little manual that came with my new Exide battery stated that a battery tender is NOT recommended.

So, I won't use one. We'll see how long this one lasts...

 

Is it a gel battery or acid? Acid they dont want it to get hot,fumes vaporize and bye bye paint. Just a thought.

 

I have an '02 with a sealed battery and have never had a tender
on it, or any of my others with sealed battery's. With snow around
here for months they sit idle for a long time. They don't seem
to need one, but when they do get tired they give up quick.

 

I have to agree with (JD), I've had many M/C's over ther years and my battery last as long as my friends with tenders, but once it gives me that sign of slow to start or slightly weak, I get a new one, don't wait long or you find yourself pushstarting it quick.

 

my 03 has had a tender on it since it was new, and just replaced the battery 2 months ago....8years old, not bad

 

I just had a thought. In the manual from Exide did it say anything about
a difference between a trickle charger and an automatic charger? I know
they don't like a battery to trickle charge, but I know of no reason to not
use automatic. They do have a cheap one that just trickles, not good.

 

It's a known fact a battery's plates will sulphate over time & the cranking voltage will drop. Charging will not remove the sulphate coating. A tender will do the same thing as your bike alternator, charge only when the voltage drops below 12V & not overcharge. Why they would not recommend tender use I can't figure..

 

Does seem a bit odd, why would a manufacturer not want their battery to remain at full charge? To sell more batteries? I don't know, just weird.

 

You beat me to the punch (line) by 4 minutes...

 

I used a battery tender on my last dirt bike, 4 years old and still using the original battery. Now I didn't have it plugged in all the time, just when I knew it would be awhile till my next ride. Not bad when you consider the abuse that thing took. I plan on doing the same thing on my new '10 ultra, when the rides are gonna be limited, I plan on having it plugged in since I know the security is gonna sip on a little juice. As for winter storage, I usually pull the batteries and bring them down to my basement workshop. I would never plug the battery tender everytime I park the bike in the garage.