Own 2008 Ultra Classic. I have pigtail direct to battery and use HD tender. I was at the dealership last week, and heard "rep" say to not leave a tender on a bike for a long period of time, ( ie over a month) as will short out the battery. Now, I am not a mechanic, but have turned a few wrenches. I do try to ride bike at least every other week till warms up. Even cold here in middle of TX, down to 18 degrees, now that is cold for here.

NE truth to the above statement from the Rep?

Tbird

 

A properly functioning battery "tender" or "maintainer" will not cause any harm if left connected for long periods.

That is the whole purpose behind their design.

Any dealer rep or mechanic that told me that, would just lose all credibility from that point on.

My Corvette stays plugged in pretty much all winter, as I haven't driven it much over the last few years.
The Street Glide is also plugged in most of the winter. But if the temps allow, I will get it out once in awhile during the winter.

 

Well then I must have shorted out a dozen batteries! Oh, wait, I haven't had to replace a Harley battery in the last 12 years and I leave them plugged in for the whole winter.

 

He's probably confusing a trickle charger with a battery tender, a battery tender will not harm your battery.

 

They are full of sh**! I use a BikeMaster maintainer while I was on a few 12+ month deployments and my batteries are just fine. I would definitely not be using that dealer for nothing more than window shopping. JMO

 

Some people call these $2.99 cheapo chargers a "battery tender". Big difference.
Buy the right one and use it as instructed. Spend time and money riding, instead of buying batteries.

 

Of course he's gonna say that--he wants your battery to not last long from sitting without a tender, so you hafta buy a new one.

 

Plug it in ... throw a log on the fire and once the snows melted fire up the scooter and let spring happen

 

Whats the part number for the HD tender you have?

It should be a smart charger that monitors the battery charge and goes into float mode when fully charged.

 

I've had Harleys for the last 15 years and all of them have been on a tender 24x7 all year long. I get great battery life too. Like it was said earlier, that is what the tenders are designed for.