After a leisurely 30-minute ride on back roads, by 2008 Deluxe takes 2 hours or so for the Battery Tenser light to go from red to green. I know that it's running 3 big lights up front, but is this a long time?

Anyone ever notice how long it takes for theirs to go to the green light?

Also, the bike is only a year old now, and it's on the Tender constantly. It isn't ridden much (only has 1000 miles). But it seems "slow" when you hit the starter compared to the Sporty that I had previously. Is this normal? Does the starter turn slower than the Sporty starter?

Thanks for your help.

 

I only use my battery tender during the winter months only. Put approximately 6K miles on per year between April and November here in N.H. I have 2007 Deluxe.

Couldn't tell you about "slow" starting. Only Harley I've owned.

 

From my experience...i have a 06 softail that connects to the battery tender junior when i'm not riding, winter and summer. Red light usually goes off in 2-3 minutes. Always has strong cranking power. This tender is on it's third bike. Maybe i'm lucky!! Good luck with yours as it seems a bit too much to me.

 

I was only going to use in winter also,figure I ride enough to keep them charged

 

Ditto on the ride enough to keep it charged. Because of the good carolina weather, i ride at least weekly and still use the battery tender...cause i want to. Long battery life is an added plus. I believe the tender helps that. It's so easy to plug...why not? Ya know what i mean?

 

Well one thing, lots of short rides and lots of sitting ain't real friendly to a battery, but I'd check the stator and voltage regulator ouut anyway. If you don't already have one, get an AGM battery, well worth the $'s. I also got an all ***** started, cranks twice as fast with half the amp usage, since my stroker is cold blooded and has high compression.

 

sounds to me like you all need to ride more...an 07 with 1k is just ridiculous.....my 6 week old 09 has 4k on it and had only 3 miles when i picked her up...park the tender and crack the throttle

 

It's not an '07.....it's an '08.

But I agree...1000 miles is absurd. But on the other hand, a guy's gotta put the family (work) first and ride when he gets the chance. It's going to get better soon and I plan on a couple of trips before the summer is over. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

Do you leave the charger on after the light goes to green?

What is the voltage on the battery when you first hook it up?

What is the voltage after the light goes green?

What all this will tell you is the condition of the battery before and after the ride.
Sometimes you just get a bad battery from the factory. It happened to me. My last battery for our Fatboy lasted 7 months, an HD battery.

It never hurts to leave the battery on the charger any time you are not riding it. Yes it will usually extend the life of the battery because it keeps the sulfation of the lead plates to a minimum.

If the battery is at full charge (approximately 13.8 vdc) when you first start the the bike, it should crank over real easy and fast. If it don't, then the battery is a dud.

If you ride it for some time and come back to the house then the battery should be at least 12vdc. If not, it is again a dud or the charging system on the bike is not keeping up. Either way, it should be under warranty if it is a new bike.

The tender charger or the bike charging system should both be putting out around 13.8vdc.
With the bike running at 1000rpm or better the charger should be putting out full voltage.

Just some test info. If you don't own a volt meter, buy one at Sears. They are a cheap tool for the info they can provide when troubleshooting a problem such as this.

But again, if its under warranty, hand it back to the dealer.


Hope the is of some help to you.

 

Never heard or do I know any reason to put the tender on in the summer unless it sits to long...In 2 yrs I have almost 20k on ours and that not high mileage.
Last summer I lost my Mother and Oldest Brother and lost 3 months of ridding Just taking care of business. So even at the miles I have I figure I'am just a average rider.
I only use the tender in the winter storage mode..


If yours takes two hrs to recharge after riding I would think some thing need looked at in the charging system..