Like steelpony16, I only put a charger on in the winter about once a month and take the charger off when the light goes green. If it sits for a few weeks in the summer I sometimes put the charger on for a bit, mostly to see how long it takes to charge up.
I always get about 4 or 5 years out of them. Except for the time one blew up when I hit the start button. It was only a couple weeks old when that happened. Really gets your attention!

 

Scott... you are so passionate about which you speak... and I will admit... valuable insight which i have used to alter my own understanding.

I just know that I will have to grab a fresh cup of coffee and settle in to my lazyboy when i read your responses.

 

"Always on a tender when not riding." I agree that this may be the problem. It's like leaving a burger on the grill too long! I had a friend who always left his Deuce battery on the tender when not riding...he replaced batteries every 2 years.

I charge them once per month in the off-season (garage storage in the cold northeast), or if I haven't used the bike in a while. I've had bike batteries last up to almost 10 years.

I use the small HD charger for my bike batteries....when the charger light indicates full charge (usually 5-12 hours)...I unplug the charger immediately....it's then good for 4-6 weeks until it gets another charge...at which point it's always at least at 80% at the start of the charge cycle per the charger indicator light.

 

Boy ... ain't this the truth. :>)

 

I have an HD Smart Charger that I rotate around to several vehicles and mowers.
So, topping off the charge about once a month is my average, I guess.

 

Had to copy and paste #3 over to Word to get a count.

1405.

Of course if everyone listened to him, he wouldn't have to type so much.

 

I got 7 years out of the stock battery doing the float charger on it when not riding or I should say over night when I get home. I ride to work every day and it is parked in the shade out of the weather when at work and when I get home it is parked in the shed. I had high hopes for the big crank as most thought it was the same maker as the harley stock. Will try the once a month or so on the trickle charger and see how it goes. I use the harley trickle charger.

 

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" I got 7 years out of the stock battery doing the float charger on it when not riding "

Well that's great & i didnt say all maint/float chargers over charge or hold battery at too high of a voltage in float mode ,just some seems to be doing that.

So your maint/float charger seems to be ok & not overcharging the battery since you got good srvc life out of your battery.

Scott

 

Using a smart charger of good quality should not toast your battery. The sad reality is that batteries occasionally fail. Motorcycle batteries are subject to more vibration than car batteries. That makes it a bit worse but car batteries occasionally fail too. That's why they're usually equipped with a pro-rated warrantee. If you can prove when you bought it and it has a four or five year warrantee you should be able to get partial credit for it. The battery brand is not usually relevant since there are only a handful of factories making all of the known brands.

 

Agreed! JR