This is my first winter with my Nightster. The dealer installed the accessory harness and gave me a HD Supersmart battery tender. With my previous bikes, I'd just pull the battery and take it inside (bike is in unheated garage), then charge it in the spring. With the HD setup, it looks like I should be able to leave it in the bike and plugged into the tender all winter. For whatever reason, I am hesitant to leave the thing that long, like four months with temps -30. Anyone leave their battery in the bike and on the tender for that long?

many thanks for your thoughts.

 

We ride when we can in the winter, and that can mean weeks or even a month between rides. When we aren't riding in winter, we have both bikes hooked up to the batter tenders. Wife's bike is still on the original battery and she's riding an 03.

 

Yes you can leave the tender on for long periods of time , I have mine hook up almost all the time cause of the alarm system .. Make sure you keep your gas tank filled...

 

Mine stays on the tender all winter. Never a problem.
It shuts off when no charge is needed and uses very little electricity.
Your battery will love you for it, and give you a few extra years in return.

 

Yes, "Battery Tenders" (tm), also known as float chargers, are designed to be left connected for long term battery maintenance. These should not be confused with Trickle Chargers, which will "cook" a battery if left on for an extended period.

 

I think what you were asking was more about the "temp" than the charging...I do NOT use the harness...and leave my bike out all winter in an unheated garage...

for the extra 10 minutes it takes to unhook, I always bring my battery in to the basement , then hook it up to a tender...I feel better about it...and it works great, first start in spring...take my advice...bring it in...

 

I leave my bikes hooked to waterproof Deltran battery tenders year round.

They keep your battery in peak condition, winter, spring, summer and fall, and on average my batteries last 6+ years.

The 'harness' is the best thing since sliced bread, and as many remember it got to be a PITA removing your seat every time you wanted to hook up a tender/charger, and there was always the chance of scratching the fender, etc..

Plugging your tender into the harness takes what, all of 2 seconds?

 

in cold freezing temps. the battery should be fully charged if left out side. if is outside with a **** poor charge (state of charge) it will freeze.

 

That harness (2 wire connector) is also handy for charging cell phones when on a ride... I just purchased a 2 wire trailer connector which is what that connector is... and cut off one end and hooked it to a cigarette lighter-type outlet to plug the charger into... you can use it for other electronic stuff also... when you are not using it... store it in your bag.

 

I keep the bike in a outside unheated shed, the battery tender stays on all winter. Even though we don't have long cold spells, we usually end up with about a week sometime during the winter with single didget temps. I also have a boat that stays on a battery tender all year long, same battery for 7yrs. Started fine all summer.