northbiker

so i cant ride my new (to me) biek because it is old and i didnt have the original title. so i turned in the paperwork and they said it will take 45-90 days to get it back. so in the mean time i have time to make sure it is in great running condition. i replaced the battery when i b0ought it. i went to start it up today and the starter sounded like it was having a hard time. how long does it take if the bike is just sitting for the battery to die? im assuming i should give it a good charge before i ride it again but will having the battery hooked up this whole time just kill it? should i unhook it for storage or will that help my cause? i guess what im asking is will it make the battery discharge any slower or does it matter?

__________________

Guba

My '07 battery just sat from the beginning of December until St. Patties day with no trickle charge on, and it cranked over just fine. My bike was stored in my basement though and didn't have to endure the changing temperatures and fluctuating humidity levels that bring on condensation. Condensation on a battery will eventually drain it.

As long as your disconnecting one side, you might as well just pull the battery and bring it inside.

The worst case scenario is that the wiring is starting to wear through some where. Hope it's just condensation draining your battery.

__________________
Some days beer tastes good...other days beer tastes better!

'07 Rebel 250 26,000 miles

JunkyardDog

Definitely invest in a Battery Tender. The $30 Jr. model works just fine. I got tired of having dead bike batteries (I have 5 bikes) I could recharge them, but everytime you let one go dead it loses some of it's capacity, and my batteries weren't lasting as long as they could have. I now have WestCo MF AGM batteries in all my bikes, and they are not cheap. So I bought 5 Battery Tender Jr.s at once, and have them all hooked up. Also, If I think a bike is going to sit more than a week, I put Seafoam in it to protect the carbs. None of this is cheap, especially when you have 5 bikes, but it is cheaper than the alternative. Jerry.

__________________

DeeG

Yup, the BT is the way to go. Got them installed on all the bikes, except for the R1200C. Stupid BMW engineers....they stuck the battery under the fuel tank. ~sigh~ However, after 6 years, that battery has finally died. Got to give the battery credit for hanging out that long. No BT, only gets ridden three or four times a year and it sits all winter and until last week, has always fired up come spring. Oh well. It'll get torn apart and a new Odyssey installed next weekend. yay.

__________________

cagie

That's what's nice about the battery tender is the ability to permanently hook up the pigtail and run the connection to a more advantageous spot on the bike. TIP: if you have an auxiliary power outlet (aka cigarette lighter) You can hook the BT pigtail to that and the battery. Then using an inexpensive plug found at RS, you can make the BT plug right in. Works like a champ.

__________________
Comments contained in my posts are not intended to cause physical or psychological stress and are mearly my two cents worth, and in this economy, that's cheap!
87 CMX250C 'the Pygmy Pony'
87 CMX450C 'Black Lithium'