I own a 2011 Electra Glide Ultra limited, and I've suffered an attack of the stupids. Working in the garage recently, I turned the engine to Accessories to listen to music. Later, I shut the radio off, but my fancy Garmin GPS apparently did not get the message and stayed on.

Days later, when I came back from a trip, the frickin' Garmin was still on (now running on battery power), but the bike was dead. I tried connecting it to an HD battery tender for a few days, but the tender will not charge it. The only lights I get are neutral and oil. No headlight, no start.

What is the best way to recharge the battery? Can I do it in the bike, or do I need to remove it? Is the battery shot to where I need a new one? I've had it about 17 months.

Thanks,
Nick

 

My inclination would be to just replace the battery. Even if I could manage to recharge (with a charger - not a tender) the battery, it would always be a sore point in the back of my head that it might give me a problem in the future. The reason I say that is because a battery can be run down and discharged to a point. After that point a cell could become weak and become a problem EVEN AFTER RECHARGED!

If you do decide to recharge the battery, a 10 amp AUTOMATIC charger works great. An automatic charger will regulate the amount of charge and taper off to maintenance mode when done. 10 amps will guarantee that you don't overcharge the battery. That is extremely important because these are sealed batteries!

 

Appreciate it, Jeff. Trying to find the DEKA or Big Crank now. Hard to find at a local place (Autozone, Advance Auto, Walmart, Sams, etc.). I can order online, but need to get it done this weekend. May just get it running, then order later. Thanks for the help.

 

As the battery had a gradual discharge I would hold fire on a new one and get a regulated charger on it first. The chargers are not expensive and handy to have anyway. My gut feeling tells me that you will get away with it this time.

 

I agree. A tender will NOT charge a dead battery, you need a charger for that. Go to wally World, buy a cheapo automatic charger, put it on 10 amps and charge away.

 

Thanks for the comments, but still fooling with this. Stripped everything down and got to the battery (downloaded an online repair manual, which was helpful for getting to the battery.)

When I measure the voltage across the battery, I get 4.4 volts, which I guess means the sucker is stone dead. However, when I hook up the battery charger, it will not charge it. It says that the battery if fully charged, in both automatic and manual mode (Shumacher).

 

I'd pull the battery and take it to the dealer/indy and have them put it on a charger, then do a load test on it. It's the only way to be sure that it's still a good battery.

 

Just wanted to thank everyone for the comments. I purchased a new battery that was highly recommended on this (and other) forums, the "Big Crank" EXT30L from www.batterymart.com. (This is not a commercial, but they sent it via FEDEX to me and I received it in one day after ordering. $97, including the shipping.)

I installed it in less than an hour, and it works great. It came fully charged already.

The old (Harley) battery seems to also be doing fine. Once I got it on the workbench, it took a charge from the battery charger, and it has held at 12.75 v for about three days. I have not checked it under load, however.

I'll probably just turn in the old battery somewhere. But thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

Nick