Another battery question

[Yeah, Just Dale]

Do you connect your battery tender to the battery when the bike is only going to be sittting for a short time such as over night or for a few days. The connection is convenient and the wall plug i sin the garage right next to where I park the bike. I've seen statements about the charging system on the RSV being "barely adequate" and thought that sort of routinely plugging it in might be helpful. I've talked to other riders, and riders of other bikes, and have never really met anyone that says they do this. Does it help? Does it hurt? Is it a waste of time? Opinions? Comments?

Thanks in advance (TIA)

[V7Goose]

No, I almost never connect either my float charger or regular charger, even when I am going to let the bike sit for several weeks (a rarity for me anyway).

 

Will it help or hurt? I'm not sure, but it is probably OK. I know all the manufacturers of a "tender" type charger will say that is an excellent idea, but I rarely believe such self-serving statements unless they are supported by independent research or testing. My concern would be if the "tender" could not fully RE-charge the battery before just holding the charge, and I suspect that many of them cannot do this properly with a maintenance free sealed battery (they take different charging voltages than a standard battery).

 

So if the battery is not fully charged when you park it (a VERY common situation if you have been riding your bike around town, or anywhere for less than an hour), the question would be if it is better to just let it sit or put on a "tender" that will not properly recharge it. I do not know.

Goose

[massey130]

I don't have an answer, but I will add my experience and what I do.

Since I had read that battery tending chargers are a good thing, I bought the Schuman's battery maintainer. It is a 1.5 amp charger with the ability to sense whether or not my 04 RSV battery is fully charged or not fully charged. If not fully charged, the charger will charge until fully charged and then stop charging. it waits until the battery charge reaches some predetermined lower than full level and then charges.

 

I will go a week or so without riding because we are just busy folks and I like the battery maintainer. I have owned this 04 RSV for about 13 months and have had the maintainer for 12 of them. I don't know how old the battery is other than this year I have had it.

 

I unplug the maintainer to start the 04 RSV every 3 to 5 days. once the scooter has run a bit, i turn it off and re-connect the maintainer. If i go for a ride, I unplug the maintainer and then re-connect when I get home.

 

I have had no battery problems and that makes it worth every bit of the 25 bux i paid for the maintainer and then some. I have about 12 batteries to keep up with in all the stuff we own ( boats, cars, truks, ATV, traktor, etc) so one less to worry about is fine by me.

[awsmsrv]

I plug mine in every time I get home. I have a CTEK US 800 charger/maintainer that also senses when the battery is not fully charged. Sometimes when I plug it in as soon as I get home, it shows full charge, sometimes not. It seems when I ride a little harder, it doesn't show that charging is needed, but, just sitting there awhile will eventually go to charging. Even then it doesn't charge for long, just tops it up. My bike's a 2006 with the original battery & I've had no issues at all with it. I choose to think it helps, but who knows. Peace of mind, if nothing else. My .

[jlh3rd]

i would if i could.......i still have the original battery in my 2002 camaro and i have no doubts that it's because i've had it on a tender for the last five years.....wish i could for my 2 bikes

[Bobby G]

I posed a similar question on the 2nd Gen Tech Talk forum the other day, and got some good feedback there as well, as I had mistakenly drained my 3+ year old battery by leaving the ignition in the on position last week for 3 full days.

 

I'm not a fan of the "constant" trickle charging of batteries, but I can't imagine that keeping any battery, especially the newer sealed type, on a 1.5 amp slow charge maintenance charger can do any real long term harm.

 

But to be on the safe side, I took my batt to Advance AP late yesterday to get a load test done, and it's in perfect condition, even after the full drain and recharge. The tech there, who seemed very knowledgeable in this area, said he would not be at all concerned with the performance of this batt under normal operating conditions. I took that to mean "run it normally, check it once a week or so, and maintain it when needed". Pretty simple.

[Yeah, Just Dale]

....that's what got me thinking about my questions. Have two bikes (RSV and a Valkyrie) and switch off between the two. I tend to ride every day or every other day throughout the summer, often too and from work (about 20 miles each way and mostly super-slab) so I'm sure I'm staying charged. Was curious what people thought.

 

Thanks to all for the feedback.

[flb_78]

If the plug is right there and it's easy to access, then yeah, I'd probably plug it in every night as long as it's a float style charger that turns off automatically when the battery is fully charged.

 

I have one made by Schumacher.

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-SpeedCharge-Battery-Maintainer-and-Charger/13005742?sourceid=1500000000000003142050&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=13005742