Battery trickle charge question...

[ButchA]

Hey there...

Since it is going to hit an incredible 65°F this afternoon here in Richmond, Virginia, I am going to ride the Shadow Aero 750 back to work this afternoon.

BUT... this morning, when I got home from my morning school bus run, I grabbed the keys, uncovered the Aero 750, and the poor thing went (slowly) Wrrrr...wrrrr...wrrrr...VROOM!! (Whew - thank God!) It's my fault... I haven't started her up in about a week, and it's been in the low 30's at night and 40's/low 50's in the daytime.

I have a battery charger that is a dual purpose charger 12v or 6v, and 2amp or 6amp. It can charge anything from a tiny 6v toy battery to a full sized 12v truck, RV, Winnebago, etc...

I have never hooked up my Aero 750 for a trickle charge and am curious if I put it on the little 2amp setting and leave it, or maybe set it on the 6amp setting and charge it up for 3 hours or so, whenever I have time.

I don't intend on totally removing the battery from the Aero 750 and bringing it into the house or anything like that. Here in Virginia, depending on the weather, people can (and do) ride all year long.

Lastly, should I bother with that big dual purpose charger, or get a specific motorcycle type of small trickle charger? What do you use?

[dgraves49]

What you want is a battery maintainer. Even a 2 amp charge will cook the battery if you leave it on all the time and letting it drain and then charge whenever you want to ride is not good for the battery either.
A maintainer will come with a plug with eyelets that you hook to the battery and leave on the bike so you don't have to pull the cover to hook it up.

[jpr1968]

Definitely do not use the 6amp charge. 2 amps will probably be ok for a short while. As stated you want a battery maintainer/smart charger the puts out no more then 1-1.5amps. If it was only a week since you rode your bike, you may want to have your battery load tested and also check your chargind circuit. Battery shouldn't be low after only a week.

[big poppa pump]

^ What he said. I have a battery tender jr and it works perfectly for charging/maintaining my battery.

[ButchA]

Thanks, guys...

Yeah, the battery is still the original, OEM battery from 2007 when my Aero 750 was brand new. It's probably getting worn out and gets weakened quickly in the cold winter months when the bike is not started up every week or so.

[ZackDaniels]

A simple charger of any amp isn't so good as you risk overcharging (very slowly). Battery tenders are pretty smart about keeping things charged while cutting power entirely until there's need to top off the charge.

I proper battery tender can be had for $20 at Walmart or online. They'll typically include a little pigtail adapter for the battery that you can permanently install and hide in a side cover/under the fender/wherever you can. Then in the winter or any time the bike will be sitting for awhile you just plug the pigtail into your tender and call it done.

Once installed it's completely tool-less and instantly accessible. Some people even leave theirs hooked up 100% of the time just because they can, but I don't recommend that because it can disguise any charging problems the bike may be having.

You can get multiple adapters for them so a lot of people get the kit, a spare adapter, and then leave it on something year round. Like a snowmobile in the summer and the bike in the winter.

[E'ville Rider]

Yeah, I got this

Battery Tender 021-0123 Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger

Battery Tender 021-0123 Battery Tender Junior 12V Battery Charger

and it works great! Whenever my bike will be sitting for more than a day or two I plug it in.

[jpr1968]

The tender that Zack talked about is made by Schumaker and they put out a max of 1.5 amps. Battery tender Jr's only put out .75amps. I prefer the Schumaker becuse it will charge a low battery quicker and is cheaper the Jr.

[ZackDaniels]

I like it better than the Jr too, but strictly because it's not the DC powerbrick style of plug. Outlets are often limited in the garage/shed/wherever you're running an extension cord to, and it's nice to not have a brick hogging 2 or more outlets to itself.

Either charger is going to take 12-24 hours to bring a battery to full charge, if you want speed you should get a charger and not a maintainer There are all-in-one units as well. Honestly I just got the Schumaker because I wanted the tender right now and they were what was on the shelf. I also have the battery tender jr. that came with the hog and they both do the job just fine.

[rb608]

I have a little 800 MmA Battery Tender. Waterproof. It's been a lifesaver on the low 20s mornings lately.

Just remember to unplug it before you head down the road. Don't ask.