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Battery charger

If the want the battery to last a while, disconnect it and just charge it a few hours once a month or so.
 
Even so, the battery will last longer if it's disconnected most of the time.
 
I like to pull the battery from the bike, the thought of a fire scares me, not that there would be one, but lead acid produces gases, a spark could cause
a fire. I know this is extreme, but I feel more comfortable if I'm not going to be in the immediate area about leaving it.
If lead acid you can check the water level also. I also have one of those sealed "maintenance free" batteries on my 1100. I have charged that in the bike, but now I pull it also.
Funny thing, the older lead acid battery holds a charge longer than the newer maintenance free one, and it also takes half as long to charge. I think "maintenance free" is an oxymoron.
 
I have a 1.5amp charger from wal-mart.
It has a selector switch and works Great, been using it for years.

There's a newer version, which is fully automatic, THAT one has had problems since day one....I don't trust it.
 
AGM batteries do not leak, hence do not need to be pulled.
My fully automatic Shumacher from WalMart is at least 20 years old and is fully automatic. I trust it completely and use if for both my bikes and my street rod TransAm.

This is the current one (no pun intended)
 
Tkents method works, my last battery went for 8 years before I replaced it, using that method. You want to charge them at less than 1 amp for best effect, the slower the better as I understand it. I've been using a ~40 year old Sears motorcycle/automotive battery charger with a variable pot for the lower amperage range. I also bought a Yuasa smart charger last year and will try it this year for winter storage. Good tip about removing battery if idle for long periods.
 
I have been using this one

http://smartercharger.com/

more in particular this one

http://smartercharger.com/battery-chargers/#CTEK Multi US 3300

I plug the unit to the battery still in the bike, and leave it alone for the winter season, no issues so far.

Actually 2 batteries were done this way last year over the winter, and both bikes started and no ill effect to the batteries...

and both batteries stay in the bike, the connection between the battery and charger is permanently attached to the battery, no fuss no muss....

your way might differ.....this works for me...

.
 
mvalenti said:
I have one of these
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumache...Manual-Ship-N-Shore-Charger-with-LED/20851254

I currently have this connected to the battery and set to "auto", battery is in the bike and fully connected. Any issues with this? Should I disconnect the bike from the battery during storage times?

-Mark
Click to expand...
Just two issues:
1. The charging rate is WAY too much.
2. Although it says "fully automatic", it never really shuts off.

Better would be THIS UNIT for about $21.

As others have mentioned, a lower charge rate is better, especially with these smaller (compared to cars) batteries. The "charger/maintainer" will charge the battery fully, then turn off and go into a "monitor" mode which will monitor the voltage and turn on only when necessary. Essentially, it does the same thing as tkent's suggestion of only charging a few hours a month, but you don't have to remember to check it. :D

.
 
Great minds think alike, Steve. That is the exact model I pointed to in my post. And yes, I keep it connected; it is a quality unit that does exactly what it is supposed to do. On my older unit, it has 2 LEDs, one for charging, one for monitor mode. If the battery is bad the charging LED blinks. Perhaps both, I forget and the instructions have long since vanished into the ether.
My last AGM battery lasted 6 years after I purchased the bike; no telling how long it was in there prior to my purchasing it.
 
eil said:
I have a Battery Tender Jr and it works very well for my purposes.
Click to expand...
The Battery Tender (a registered trademark) and its little brother, Junior, are both good units, but the Schumacher unit that koolaid_kid and I linked to do exactly the same thing for considerably less money.
icon_thumbsup.gif


If you absolutely insist on spending more money, though, you can go to Sears and get that same Schumacher unit, but it will now have a "DieHard" label on it and it will cost about $10 more. :-\\\

.
 
The junior is a fine unit also, but for the same money you can get twice the capacity and use it on a car battery as well, which is what I do.
 
I have three bikes, a random battery(long story) and a 72 Chevy truck that I do the Steve way. All's good on the eastern front.
 
Thanks again, I'll get that unit, 21 bucks is cheap.

Steve said:
Just two issues:
1. The charging rate is WAY too much.
2. Although it says "fully automatic", it never really shuts off.

Better would be THIS UNIT for about $21.

As others have mentioned, a lower charge rate is better, especially with these smaller (compared to cars) batteries. The "charger/maintainer" will charge the battery fully, then turn off and go into a "monitor" mode which will monitor the voltage and turn on only when necessary. Essentially, it does the same thing as tkent's suggestion of only charging a few hours a month, but you don't have to remember to check it. :D

.
Click to expand...
 
eil said:
I have a Battery Tender Jr and it works very well for my purposes.

750mA charge rate (good for small powersports batteries), automatically goes into "maintenance mode" when the battery is charged, so you can leave it on all winter if you like.

http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tende...qid=1386263620&sr=8-2&keywords=battery+tender
Click to expand...

I have that unit also. I use it for my motorcycle and lawnmower. It is a great plug it in and forget it unit.

I also have an actual 2,10,15 amp charger for when I want to charge a battery faster.
 
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