I'm in the 2 week club. If I haven't ridden the bike for two weeks, I'll put it on the tender overnight.

 

You are correct, I really don't have to interest to see you more. POD and cooking channel is where you belong.

 

Let’s get some things clear. Heat, vibration, over charging and over discharging is what shortens battery life. Mitigate those factors for best battery life, however that fits into your riding and storage situation.


after trying a few methods, for me personally on all my vehicles (truck, bike, boat) I find the best battery life comes from constant use, and if something is going to sit for a week or more plug it in to the battery tender or charger and get the battery charged… only once the vehicle is at a cold/ ambient temp. Don’t plug in your tender or charger as soon as you park. It’s hot, and charging can add to that heat. And once full charged UNPLUG IT. And then depending on storage, if stored for 2+ weeks or more top it back up every few 2-4 weeks. And also good practice to fully charge even a battery in constant use up once a month.

 

Agree, I make a point to rotate bikes. Also go for a longer ride so they get a some miles on them.

You plug it on the tender as soon as you aprk, voltage is high, no need to charge. Not sure I believe it, but I have a read few claims that once they get to full votlage, they shut off, and don't come back on. That may be the difference between a charger and tender. I have read this a few times from people trying to use chargers when they wanted to run stuff off battery, where there plan was for the tender to keep voltage up while they used the battery.


I have 10 items with batteries. I make the rotation with charger. My tractor I keep on its own charger. My sled and sxs are on their own charger during the riding season, so ready to go when I need them. Rest of them I ride, charge perodically, and charge before use. I get better life than most.

My truck battery got 10 years, 300k miles and was still good. Because it gets driven.

You want better life from your batteries, use them.

 

This isn't a battery tender causing a problem. Masking a problem, perhaps. The battery in my Dyna is 5yrs old now, it's always tendered, but I was concerned like you said, could it be getting weak and I'm not realizing it? I took it in to an auto store for a test and it passed with flying colors, which I'm happy about. Once I hit the 6-7 year mark I am ok replacing a battery even if it's still fine, because that's probably cheaper than a tow truck ride.

What's happening the whole time you're riding? The battery is being charged, with 14v or more. When you pull in the garage and plug into a tender (as I always do), it's going to top off the battery and then it will switch to "float/maintenance charge mode." There's no need to unplug it, it's designed to maintain the battery.

There's really good info at Battery Tender Product FAQ.

"After connecting the BTJR to a battery and then applying AC power, it first conducts a number of checks during Initialization Mode to ensure that the battery functioning normally. Then it will deliver its full charge at a constant rate of 0.75 amperes. This is called the Bulk Charge Mode. The battery voltage will rise and when it reaches a predetermined level the BTJR will hold the battery charge voltage constant at that level, allowing the charge current amplitude to drop. This is the Absorption Charge Mode. The Absorption Charge Mode is complete when the battery charge current drops below a very low value, usually below 1/8 ampere. Some BTJR models have timers to limit the duration of the Absorption Charge Mode.

After the current drops or the allotted time expires (typically several hours), the BTJR automatically switches to a Float / Maintenance Charge Mode. The purpose of the Float / Maintenance Charge Mode is to maintain the battery voltage just slightly (typically between 1/10 and ½ volt) above where it would be if it were fully charged and sitting at rest. This keeps the battery topped off at voltages well below the gassing voltage of a lead acid battery."

 

I usually decide to replace a battery when it doesn't or starts bad at home. I guess you guys decide on the road.

 

+1.
RTFM on top of that

 

I just did, what does "The best practice" mean?

 

It means they make bikes for people that don't ride m uch. We have none that for along time. I realized it when they got rid of the timkenbearing.

 

The new smart chargers are pretty damned cool, and I see that HD has now adopted the Noco as their new charger.

There is absolutely NO reason not to use the new, modern 1 amp Smart Chargers, no matter what Rounders has to say about it.