Through my own inattention and stupidity I managed to run the battery all the way down to zero and leave it that way for a week. Left the ignition switched on while working on the bike and walked away. A week later I got home and noticed and hooked her up to the battery tender. It appears charged again but I'm wondering what impact this will have on battery life, not to mention anything done to the ignition. The battery is two years old and has spent its life on a battery tender and has never given a hint of a problem up til now. Any experience with this? Thanks in advance.

 

"Usually" when batteries are drained and left that way for an extended period of time they will incur permanent damage. In your case, the duration might not have been long enough to cause you a problem. I'm sure there was damage to a degree, but not enough to warrant replacement. I'd unhook it from the tender for a week or so and see if it discharges. If it does, you will have to replace it.

As for the ignition and onboard electronics, I'd consult your dealer for an opinion, or perhaps someone here has knowledge of that probability.

 

Thanks, good idea. I think I'll give it a few more days/cycles on the tender and then try to see if it will hold. I actually had it in the accessories position so maybe less chance of anything important going wrong.

 

No it just drained it and will recharge without damage to anything; should make the key not removable in accessory-did that once on the XL. Tenders should not be used to charge (hence the name "tend"); use a real trickle charger (until at least 60%charged for the tender if ya really gotta use it).

 

The only way to be sure is to have the battery tested with a motorcycle battery load tester, as opposed to a car type. Any reptubale shop will have one and should not charge you for checking it. The newer type AGM batteries, can suffer some damage if they totally discharge.

Stroker

 

Thanks to all. Too late to do the charger vs tender. She's back up to speed after a couple of days on the tender, now just have to wait and see if it holds. Thanks again.

 

I did the same thing on my sportster but caught it 2 days later....put it on the tender all was fine.