| Author | Message | ||
     Uly_man |
For various reasons I have not been able to ride my 2010 Uly for over six months now. Its been standing with a cover over it and the Negative lead removed from the battery. No battery tender has been used or the battery re-charged. Now that I can ride it I wanted to check it out and went to start it up. Re-fitted the lead to the battery and cranked it over. It started first time and went to a smooth idle in less than 60 seconds. HOW GOOD IS THAT? | ||
| Froggy |
Ain't that what is supposed to happen? | ||
| Uly_man |
True enough Froggy. The idea was to show that you do not need to spend out on a battery tender and all that is needed is a 15 second fix because the ease of doing it on a Uly is so simple so why not use it. And that there is nothing wrong about the HD AGM battery either. I have a 3 year old one and its still great. (Message edited by uly_man on May 30, 2012) | ||
| Rockrider709 |
Love it when stuff goes your way LOL. I picked up an inexpensive solar battery charger ($10) came with a quick connect I used it in our off season (oct-apr) and the battery was fully charged, no issues even stored in my cold garage. | ||
| Rdkingryder |
The factory battery is pretty good, still running mine, 5 years and counting. Even though the bike sat almost a year, right before I reinstalled the engine, I threw the battery tender on it and the light went green within a 1/2hr. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I've been questioning battery tenders for some time. I use one non-stop, and I can't get a motorcycle battery to last much over 2 years. I also ride year round, if that matters. My OEM Uly battery, bought new in October of 2009, was toast in August of 2011. | ||
| Rdkingryder |
The key to a battery tender is to put it on a timer so it only comes on about 15 minutes a day. No, to little, boil out. | ||
| Buewulf |
I don't use battery tenders. Like Ulyman, I disconnect the negative lead if I intend to leave something sitting for a while. In 20 years of 4-wheelers, riding mowers, motorcycles, boats, cars and trucks, I think I have replaced three batteries (two car batteries and one riding mower battery). All three were OEM units that quit within the first two years of ownership. I just don't see a need for battery tenders. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I have never used a tender but sometimes will take the batteries out of the bikes and leave them on a .250A trickle for a day or so prior to the first start of the season. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I never really intend to leave my vehicles sitting (like in storage for the winter), so pulling the battery is not an option. But if it's nice, it's not uncommon for the car to sit untouched for 2-4 weeks, and if it's particularly crappy, the bikes may sit for a similar time frame. This morning I went to start the car after it has been sitting for ~2 weeks, battery was too low and it wouldn't start. Put it on the tender before I left for work (on the bike in the rain), we'll see if it was a fluke, or more than likely, closing in on time for another new battery. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"I never really intend to leave my vehicles sitting (like in storage for the winter), so pulling the battery is not an option. But if it's nice, it's not uncommon for the car to sit untouched for 2-4 weeks" Us too. We are selling our civic which sometimes sits for 3 months at a time. It usuall only gets run when we have tropical storms to contend with. I have to gently remind him to consider taking the car to work even if it is too nice out to not ride. | ||
| Uly_man |
Ok so lets get into the modern bike/car battery/charge system thing and/or problem. The first thing is to ignore most battery issues of old. A modern "maintenance free" wet lead acid battery has little in common with the same type built 30 years ago. The AGM type has even less. You do not even test them in the same way. Most all modern OEM batteries are smaller, lighter, a higher output and maintenance free. The discharge problem is not the battery it is the car/bike. That is because most all modern bikes/cars suffer from "parasitic drain". Parasitic drain on a bike/car is caused by modern electronic systems and is normal today. It happens on the XB, I have checked it and its nothing to do with the quality of the OEM battery. |
