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Battery Charging Question
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May 15, 2009 at 3:12 pm #2831CandiceParticipant
Is there a difference between a battery charger and a battery tender? I have heard that I should always have something on me to charge the battery in case it dies while I am riding it? I also heard that I should all the time keep my battery on a charger when I’m not riding it? As of now I have been doing nothing. Would appreciate anyone’s thoughts on this topic. Learning as I go here. I have taken a look at Menards and saw battery chargers but I don’t know if I just use it when I’m not riding or if it stays on all the time or what. Thanks!
Then I will tackle how to hook it up once I figure out exactly what I am suppose to purchase.
Candice
May 15, 2009 at 4:32 pm #18569briderdtParticipantNo, you don’t need to have your battery on a tender all the time. Seriously, the only time you even really should is if the bike is going to sit for a month without being started. Even during the winter, if you can start it up and urn it for a half-hour every other week, the battery should be just fine. Failing that, a tender is a good idea. As for carrying something to charge the battery… Why? If it dies while you’re riding it, it most likely isn’t the battery. Maybe the battery connections, or a fuse, but not the battery itself.
Hooking up a tender is pretty simple. Most people either have a pig-tail (like what’s there for hooking up heated clothing) to plug the tender into, or just have the aligator clips onto the battery posts itself. Even if you have to open up the seat or whatever to get to the battery terminals, it’ll only be a 5-minute job to get the bike ride-able again.
Hope that helps.
May 15, 2009 at 5:31 pm #18573roborabbitParticipantIf you get a charger / tender be sure it has a setting that matches your batteries. Sometimes you’ll find a charger that looks nice and is at a good price but then find out that the Volts / Amps/ Ampers / MaH don’t match your batteries’ specs. Also, one with jump setting is nice! Going out and trying to start your bike and then finding out the battery is dead sucks! What’s worse is that with a charger it will take atleast 2 hours for the battery to have enough power to turn the starter over! Having a charger with a jump setting is the perfect solution for this, just uncover the battery, attach the leads, set the charger to “Jump/Start” and start your bike. But make sure you’re going to run the bike for atleast 30 min to give the battery enough charge to start up again. (1 hour to be sure if you have the time). The downside to using a chargers “Jump” setting is that if you stall out on the road, you’re going to have to walk or call for help. So to get rid of the battery problem all together have 2 batteries and keep one in the bike and the other on the charger/ tender. That way you’ll always have a spare. Or you could put your battery on the charger/tender every time you pull it into the garage, but let’s face it everyone is forgetfull and sometimes you just don’t feel like doing something. There is nothing worse than finding out you have a dead battery, on a car or bike, when you have to leave for some place in 15 min.
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Btw, I can’t see any point to bringing a charger / tender on the road with you. Unless you’re taking a road trip and plan to juice your battery whenever you stop at a hotel. And as bride said, a battery dying while you ride is prob not going to happen. If it does that’s because it isn’t getting charged while you ride and that is a whole seperate problem that having a tender/charger isn’t going to solve.
May 15, 2009 at 7:19 pm #18579briderdtParticipant…there’s no need to put it on the tender every time you garage the bike. It’ll be fine for a couple weeks.
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