since its quite cold here in Philadelphia, and that i havent been riding my personal RKC as much as i would like to- i figure its about time to break down and buy a battery tender. [:@]

before i go to Sears, what amperage/voltage should i get?

 

It's all automatic with a battery tender, check 'em out here: www.batterytender.com

 

I got mine at the HD dealer a few years ago. The ring terminals were included and I think it was $10 cheaper than now. The Jr. is all you really need. Works great. I think Battery Tender lables for HD so you might be better off going that route. But, here's the link to the HD labled unit anyway.

http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/g...bmLocale=en_US

 

Battery Tender?? I thought this was for a Bartender. Never Mind.

 

Don't just buy a battery charger. it needs to be a battery tender that is compatable with the battery in your Harley. Yes there is a difference in batteries.

Harley's version.

A cool site to read up. http://www.batterystuff.com/

You can spend a little or a lot on a charger maintainer.

What is the best. It should have the following features.

Multi Stage charging cycle

Stage 1: Deep Discharge Charging Pulse Mode
The Charger starts charging at 0.5V and give pulse current up to 5V. This has effect of removing loose sulphation formed during deep discharge state of the battery.

Stage 2: Constant Current Mode (CC)
The charger changes to constant current 3A. When the battery voltage reaches to 14.4V, the charging stage changes from (CC) Constant Current to CV (Constant Voltage) mode.

Stage 3: Constant Voltage Mode (CV)
The charger holds the battery at 14.4V and the current slowly reduces. When the current reaches at 0.5 C (C= Battery Capacity), this point called the Switching Point. The Switching Point is one of the great features of this battery charger that it can adjust the current automatically according to the battery capacity. Other chargers without microprocessors are not capable to adjust the current automatically.

Stage 4: Standby Voltage Mode
The charger maintains the battery voltage at 13.8V and current slowly reduces to zero. Charger can be left connected indefinitely without harming the battery.

Recharging:
If the battery voltage drops to 12.5V, the charger changes from any mode to Constant Current mode and restart charging. The charging cycle will go through Stage 2 to Stage 4.

Good Luck

 

I have a Battery Tender Jr.(well actualy three of them) Bought it on e-bay for $25.00
Use it on the bike,lawm tractor and four wheelers. Oh yea, and sometimes the cars if one sits alot. Works great.

 

We got one for each bike /trike now . Keep in mind the long extension cord voltage drop issue. I blew the 7.5 amp inline on mine when I had it charging in the mower/ bike little house. 25 foot 14 guage 13 amp (at 125 v) didn't make nice. Blew the fuse on an over night charge after a local ( batterey draining red light waiting) run here in NorVa.

 

I run two of them off a 100 foot extension cord
(sorry don't know what gauge, cheap Walmart special)
out to my shed. No problems here...yet.

 

I bought one from the dealer with a giftcard I got for christmas. I took a ride on saturday it was 50 degree's here and it did make a diffrence when starting it!

 

Got the HD Jr with pig tail. So far no problems.