What did you do to Your Softail Today?
03-30-2022, 08:05 AM
Club Member
The following 5 users liked this post by ThePaintPirate:
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Zakk13 (11-20-2022)
03-30-2022, 08:48 AM
Cruiser
Your battery, if cared for, should go several years....
It would seem that where/how you are storing it is having an effect on the battery...
Do you just pull the negative cable or remove it from the bike, and keep it in a warm place....? What brand battery do you buy...??
I buy quality batteries and get multiple years, average (5+), on all three bikes.... Some are ridden more than others...
I always put my bikes on a smart charger/maintainer whenever I park them.... the smart chargers/maintainers won't hurt the battery. They are designed to read voltage and act accordingly...
I ran large ocean boats for many years... My last boat had (4) 8D batteries and (1) 4D battery... I learned that keeping them on a quality smart charger will extend their life...
I would get a quality smart charger/maintainer for your bike's battery, and leave it plugged in all winter. I wouldn't even disconnect it from the bike. Unless you have some large parasitic draw on your battery when connected, you should be able to get away with a 1 to 2 amp smart battery charger/maintainer... but even a 5amp, although more expensive to purchase, wouldn't hurt your battery if it was a smart charger/maintainer...
I use a Battery Tender Jr (10 years old), 750MA output, on my 2001 Springer w/carb. When the alarm is off, there is no parasitic draw from that bike's battery. On my EFI bikes, and my newest 2016 bagger, I switched to the Battery tender Plus, 1.25amps output. All the chargers go to green within about 3 minutes of plugging the bikes into them. I have yet to have a battery die on me... I change them out at about 5 or 6 years as routine maintenance because it's easier to change them in my garage than on the road.
I changed the Heritage once at 4 years, as it had a couple labored starts... But when I put in the new battery, I found the negative cable, to the frame, was loose...
It would seem that where/how you are storing it is having an effect on the battery...
Do you just pull the negative cable or remove it from the bike, and keep it in a warm place....? What brand battery do you buy...??
I buy quality batteries and get multiple years, average (5+), on all three bikes.... Some are ridden more than others...
I always put my bikes on a smart charger/maintainer whenever I park them.... the smart chargers/maintainers won't hurt the battery. They are designed to read voltage and act accordingly...
I ran large ocean boats for many years... My last boat had (4) 8D batteries and (1) 4D battery... I learned that keeping them on a quality smart charger will extend their life...
I would get a quality smart charger/maintainer for your bike's battery, and leave it plugged in all winter. I wouldn't even disconnect it from the bike. Unless you have some large parasitic draw on your battery when connected, you should be able to get away with a 1 to 2 amp smart battery charger/maintainer... but even a 5amp, although more expensive to purchase, wouldn't hurt your battery if it was a smart charger/maintainer...
I use a Battery Tender Jr (10 years old), 750MA output, on my 2001 Springer w/carb. When the alarm is off, there is no parasitic draw from that bike's battery. On my EFI bikes, and my newest 2016 bagger, I switched to the Battery tender Plus, 1.25amps output. All the chargers go to green within about 3 minutes of plugging the bikes into them. I have yet to have a battery die on me... I change them out at about 5 or 6 years as routine maintenance because it's easier to change them in my garage than on the road.
I changed the Heritage once at 4 years, as it had a couple labored starts... But when I put in the new battery, I found the negative cable, to the frame, was loose...
took it into the shop, after dealing their incompetence for a week (forgot to put it on a charger, didnt call me back, etc) my battery read 2v. they acknowledged they were making this difficult and warranted my battery. so i got a new one fo free!
butttt, shes running now, and my new headlights came in, so swapped it over to LED. these things are BRIGHT
The following 2 users liked this post by pat_in_the_hat:
hattitude (03-30-2022),
ThunderTruck (03-30-2022)
03-30-2022, 11:54 AM
Intermediate
The following users liked this post:
04FXDI (04-04-2022)
03-30-2022, 12:04 PM
03-30-2022, 12:35 PM
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Living in a van down by the river
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03-30-2022, 12:43 PM
Road Master
Congrats on the Night Train! The bike looks super clean! Had an '01 a while back, custom paint, a lot of mods, awesome bike. They were one of the first blacked out models (along with the earlier Springer bad boys and the Dyna sport models)...As you can see from my Fatboy, I am a fan of the blacked out look! As much as I love skulls (even have some tiny ones on my tank emblems) that one is a bit much for that bike because its so clean otherwise! A nice blacked out S&S teardrop to replace perhaps???
03-30-2022, 01:07 PM
Club Member
03-30-2022, 04:22 PM
