I just about always use my BT. I think of it as cheap insurance. And when I get home from a ride and pull in the garage my BT is sitting on a small board (in case garage floor gets wet) right in the middle of my half of the garage with an extension cord already plugged into a wall outlet. I just pull up beside the BT, dismount and plug that sucker in.

 

Can think of plenty of reasons too use one.
Can not come up with a single reason not too.

Though where you are at does help. No battery draining type of temps for the most part.
And with your bike not sure of any parasitic drains. Alarm, radio memory, etc.

As stated. Cheap insurance.

 

No bells and whistles. Just basic Cop RK.

 

A lot depends on the length of your rides too.
Some may not be long enough to recharge the battery from having started it.
If they are at night then add the additional load of head and tail lights along with recharging the battery from starting it.

Get the tender.

 

Night doesn't matter here, headlights on day or night.

 

I think it depends on the riding you do.

When I ride every day it's a relatively short commute for me (25 miles round trip) so I'm not sure if that short drive is putting back all the charge it takes to start the bike (two to four times during the day). That said even during those months I'll put the bike on the tender every week or so just to insure it gets fully charge.

During the winter when one or two weeks can go by without having an opportunity to ride I'll put the bike on the tender for a few days every other week or so. Since I have an inexpensive battery tender I don't trust the circuitry that is suppose to prevent overcharging which is why I don't keep the tender on constantly.

On the other hand if your daily riding is long enough that you're confident the battery isn't slowly being drained I don't see the need to keep in on a tender.

 

Yes

 

I use it on both bike I don't keep them on all the time. I'll keep it on during the week and disconnect it on the weekends. If your bike has the security system it's worth it. For 30 bucks or even cheaper it's worth it.

 

If you are riding once or twice a week I would not worry about the BT.
If your bike sits for weeks yes use one.
I use mine in winter because sometimes I do not ride every week, but in summer really don't hook it up unless I will be gone and not riding for a week or two.

 

I only use mine in the winter too because I may go 2 weeks without riding.

 

Riding only maintains the level of charge in the battery, it does not increase it. A battery tender is really a good, inexpensive way to maintain your battery and get the most life out of it.

 

Riding only maintains the level of charge in the battery, it does not increase it.

Now, there is some mis-information...

You won`t learn that in any automotive or aviation electrical school...

If the charging system and battery are in proper working order, riding the bike will certainly increase the charge level of the battery if it is low (to the point of being fully charged).

A motorcycle that gets ridden regularly throughout the year does not need to be on a battery tender.

Too many people think the tender is a life support system that must be connected whenever the engine shuts off...

 

Yup--I keep it on all winter and at times during the riding season as well.
Its always right there plugged in next to where the bike parks---just plug it in.
I figure it will maximize the life of the battery and maybe prevent a failure while out on a roll.

 

A quality brand name Battery Tender not a generic battery tender/minder, what ever they call themselves will have what is called a floating charge.

It senses the battery charge level and will trickle charge it. A very low slow rate of charging.
Much better for the battery.

IMO there are only upsides to using a brand name one. Plugging it in whenever not riding. Weeks on end or just over night. Will not hurt a thing.
No downsides other then initial cost of the unit.

 

That is what I use.
Trusted by many and sold at many Indy shops.
:smile

 

............Is there any real benefit to keeping bike on tender? How many of you use batt. tenders? All opinions welcome.

Yes. I use a BT on all my batteries 24/7. I even put my vehicles on the BT every couple months for a good saturation charge & desulfation for about 48 - 72 hours.

 

Use it all the time, I think thats one reason I got 4 years out of a Farm and Fleet battery.

 

Yes, religiously. I also have my lawn tractor on one, I made a battery last for 9 years on the tractor.

 

Use it all the time. Like someone else mentioned, I have mine on a little board next to where I Park the bike in the garage. I just park and plug it in. Why not?

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

With a security system, get one. Walmart ( I know :mad) but the Deltran Battery Tender Junior is a great, CHEAP tender that will keep your battery topped and it is a third of the cost of the Harley one and has the connections for existing hookups and/or wiring to hook it up to your bike. My friends battery has lasted several years using this tender. I only have 16 months of use and zero issues but it's too soon to pass judgement. but a $25 insurance policy seems cheap.

 

Battery Tender



I run my Motorcycles once a week to cycle the oil and charge the battery .I do not use a Tender. If you remove the battery from the bike never store it on the ground or on concreate surface place it on a dry wooden surface and then hook up the tender. this will keep up the battery to its full charge.I use this battery in all my sportsters .Shorai LFX21L6-BS12 Lithium-Iron Battery - Free Shipping: BatteryMart.com no problems no tenders battery will last long time .worth every penny .:grin

 

I run my Motorcycles once a week to cycle the oil and charge the battery.

While going slightly OT. This is not a good idea.

But both have been covered all over this board ad nauseum.
Will leave it up to you to research it. Or not.

 

I'm a fan of the Battery Tender. I've used them every time I park for the night on my HD's and old Beemers and have never had any battery issues. It seems like cheap insurance and doesn't hurt the batteries any either.

 

Bike in the shed all the time great for the cold!

 

I guess I'm still not sold on battery tenders it was always a bad thing to recharge battery's .Because they would holds a good static charge Like your hand tool it was best to run them right down and then recharge them because of battery memory ??. I Know a lot of the newer bike have a steady battery drain with all the new crap on them . I'm still riding a old bike so If I have a battery drain I have a problem . I did upgrade a AGM battery when I replaced mine a year ago . I guess until I up grade to a new bike I'll charge my battery's as needed . That why a have 2 chargers 1- trickle charge to10amp and Then a H-D commercial 10a 20a 50a 200 amp Charger from my Heavy equipment days

:2cents

 

I guess I'm still not sold on battery tenders it was always a bad thing to recharge battery's .Because they would holds a good static charge Like your hand tool it was best to run them right down and then recharge them because of battery memory ??. I Know a lot of the newer bike have a steady battery drain with all the new crap on them . I'm still riding a old bike so If I have a battery drain I have a problem . I did upgrade a AGM battery when I replaced mine a year ago . I guess until I up grade to a new bike I'll charge my battery's as needed . That why a have 2 chargers 1- trickle charge to10amp and Then a H-D commercial 10a 20a 50a 200 amp Charger from my Heavy equipment days

:2cents

That was with the old style NiCad's .......

 

I'm still stuck in the past on some things I grew up that if your battery went dead you had 1 of 2 things wrong . 1 a old battery and it was going south or
2 you had a draw and you need to find it and fix it .
I realize times have changed and I need to and maybe my thinking has too.


Old School is still old school

It's not a Bad thing !!!!

 

Lead acid batteries self discharge a certain percentage per month, depending on temperature and such. A proper tender will maintain a battery at full charge by sensing when the battery reaches a certain discharge and then recharging back to full, then cutting off.

 

I sometimes notice the solid green light (full) of my BT start flashing green (trickle charge). This means the battery lost a little juice due to self-discharge + parasitic drains and that the BT takes care of this. It turns solid green again, within an hour or so. IMO, watching this alone is worth the investment.

 

My BT started doing that and within a month I was looking for new battery. Got to where it didn't light at all. Thought it was crapped out. Put boat charger on.
Went shopping for another BT Walmart has them for $35. Batteries Plus $24. Clerk check my charger for free, replaced the little fuse . Still got new battery, had my old one in hand.
Always plug it up when come home.
We were in Cherokee had 50 ft drop cord and tender.

tarheel

 

This time of year, when I haven't had the bike out for quite a while, when I'm in the garage my BT always has the green light on solid, no flashing. I guess it is doing its thing. But, once in a while, just to try and check it in some manner, I will unplug it from the wall outlet in the garage. Just a few seconds later I will plug it back in. The red light will come on for anywhere from 10 to 60 or so seconds, then the green light starts flashing and within a minute, sometimes maybe three minutes, the flashing green goes to solid green. All good. I guess that from time to time the BT kicks in for a short period of time then goes to solid green but I've never seen that happen. Every time I'm going in or out of the garage I look at the BT and its always the solid green light on.

 

i bought one that has 10 stages or something. put my old hd one one the lawn mower