Winter Storage, Battery in or out?

[GregoXB]

So is it better to leave the battery in and put it on a tender, or is it better to take it out and keep it warm and attached to a tender?

I kept it on a tender one winter and a little hot spot mildly melted the sticker on the battery at a spot where the tender cable was making contact to the top of the battery. This alarmed me a little bit. So this year I took the battery out and put it in my warm basement and attached a tender.

Does the gauge cluster draw power from the battery? I'm worried that the gauge cluster might die over the winter.

 

[WhiskeyFox]

I've actually never stored a battery on a tender, nor taken the battery out, but I HAVE stored my bike in temperature controlled environments and disconnected the negative.

Always fired right up come spring.

If you can't bring the while bike inside where it's warm, just bringing the battery inside may suffice.


This all being said, maybe I was just very lucky all these times. Now that I live where I can ride year around I don't really think about it anymore.
Someone with more experience and knowledge will definitely come along and give you a better answer but I say if you're going to bring the battery inside just skip the tender.

 

[user_deleted]

Does the gauge cluster draw power from the battery?
when ignition is "on" then yes.

I'm worried that the gauge cluster might die over the winter.
when battery disconnected the cluster loses NO information other than fuel level which info it immediately recovers upon being reconnected to battery.

 

[AZmidget91]

How are you supposed to ride the bike if the battery is out of it?

 

[njloco]

Hey AZ, that's a great answer ! ��

 

[Cooter]

If you can't take the whole bike into a reasonable warm area, then take just the battery. I hate the 'Tenders', but you should top off the battery with an actual battery charger once a month.

 

[Tbone]

Don't store the battery directly on a concrete or dirt floor.

 

[BuellyBagger]

Don't store the battery directly on a concrete or dirt floor.

That's a myth.

 

[Tbone]

That's a myth.

Today it is probably not applicable as the materials batteries are contained in are better. Might even be better to store them on a concrete floor to keep em cooler in the summer? Back in the days when the air was clean may not have been a myth, anybody else remember?

 

[Rkbuell]

A tender is ok, but you can use a timer , like for Chrismas lights, and only run the tender 3 hours a day. That what I do with all my batteries even the boat batteries.

 

[user_deleted]

A tender is ok, but you can use a timer , like for Chrismas lights, and only run the tender 3 hours a day. That what I do with all my batteries even the boat batteries.

IOU a cocktail sire. that right there is brilliant. only thing that pisses me off is that i didn't think of it about 40 years ago when tenders first arrived on the scene. well done son!

 

[nickdylan92]

I use an CTEK for all my bikes (3) whole year round. Have them in a barn where it sometimes even freezes inside. Never had to replace a battery in 6 years. Here in Europe i'm not sure they sell that brand "tender". But for all i know CTEK is American, otherwise Optimate. We sell both at the motorcycle store i work, and never have complaints.

 

[BuellyBagger]

so call me a dumb midwesterner (no really its ok i dont mind ) but what is the "problem" with tenders? I'm not arguing just curious. I have a Snap-On one that i occasionally move from battery to battery over the winter and it does a "pick me up" charge and then goes to float. Then i swap to the next one. 2 boat batteries, 1 Camper, 2 motorcycles, and a Lawn Mower and they all last for years. 8yrs on the Ulysses battery for example.

 

[njloco]

Bully for you bagger, I'd like to know the answer to that also. Dumb Midwesterner? You guys are smarter than most especially, here in the Soviet state of NJ, you helped get Trump elected !

Yes, the old batteries left on concrete would go dead, I would always put a piece of wood under them, and never had been a problem.

 

[BuellyBagger]

Yes, the old batteries left on concrete would go dead, I would always put a piece of wood under them, and never had been a problem.

Must have stopped making those before I was born, has been a myth in my book. You old guys really had it rough back in the day lol! I suppose next you're going to tell me changing your air fuel mixture required more than a laptop.... and you had to use your foot to start your bike.

 

[njloco]

I miss my kick starting/electric start low rider, never should have sold that bike !

 

[Silverrider]

Yea, Thats how we got our dirt bikes set correct , Changing the main jet , Idle jet ,and moving the needle up or down a few clips and looking at the plug for color. Still do this on my 06 Honda 450R and my 07 KTM 300 fun bikes. Only kick or push start down a hill.

 

[user_deleted]

Must have stopped making those before I was born, has been a myth in my book. You old guys really had it rough back in the day lol! I suppose next you're going to tell me changing your air fuel mixture required more than a laptop.... and you had to use your foot to start your bike.

cody: jetting was a black-ops science only spoken of in dimly lit cocktail lounges and long distance phone calls late at night when the rates were much lower. a laptop was something us kids associated with the sears and roebuck santa claus we were going to visit. and electric start bikes were best left to the honda queers, chicks on 125 Zundapps, and old bastards with arthritic knees who recently sold their sportsters and bought yamaha twin-jets. to this day kick-starting a multi-cylinder 2-stroke in front of a large crowd at the local bike night remains a huge crowd-pleaser.

 

[user_deleted]

I miss my kick starting/electric start low rider, never should have sold that bike !

kenny: take a look at the world's first H-D softail. year was 1984. it broke H-D sales records with ease. take a look at it. four speed trans....electric and kick start....left hand chain drive....evolution motor.....semi-rubber mounted motor. talk about a parts bin special.

 

[njloco]

Yes, as I recall the big thing to do back then was, doing away with the electric start, or was it the kick start ?, and adding the 5th gear in its place.