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Battery Maint for Winter

Iceman24

Iceman24

Well-Known Member
What do most of you people like me who have to "unfortunately" store their bikes for winter (cold in NE) do with the battery? Is it best to remove & bring inside, or connect to a tender in the garage? My garage isn't 100% insulated (can drop into 20's) so I wanted to see if anyone has good advice for my situation...Thanks!
 
You can leave it in the bike as long as there is a tended attached. If you feel better about bringing it into a heated area, you can do that too.
 
Thanks Glider, I'm going to get the tender tomorrow (local HD having sale) & my thought was to leave it connected to the bike. I've got the soft/cotton cover & a plug right on the adjacent wall...should be good. We do get a few warm winter days so I'll have the option to uncover, disconnect & ride (hopefully).
 
Iceman24 said:
What do most of you people like me who have to "unfortunately" store their bikes for winter (cold in NE) do with the battery? Is it best to remove & bring inside, or connect to a tender in the garage? My garage isn't 100% insulated (can drop into 20's) so I wanted to see if anyone has good advice for my situation...Thanks!
Click to expand...

Tender, good.

But beyond just the battery, make sure you have mothballed the bike for the Winter. Change your fluids. Top up the gas tank and add a stabilizer. Put the bike on a lift, blocks, or an apple crate to get the load off the tires. Clean it and cover it to keep the dust off, and set out traps if rodents are a problem.

Do NOT start the bike until you are ready to ride it again regularly. The engine should be run to operating temperature the next time it is run. Do not be tempted "just to run it for a few minutes to warm it up".

TQ
 
Remember distilled water for the battery tap water has lots of bad chemicals and metals that will break down the plates good luck this spring
 
I just lift mine off the floor and plug in the tender. Gets to -35 or more here. When the Chinooks come I lower it, disconnect the tender and get a few days riding in.
 
have been using battery tenders on both my bikes here in wisconsin.i bought the 3/4amp or 750 mili amp. batteries plus sells the very same tender that harley does except it was $5.00 cheaper and i have one of both.have the original battery in my 2005 e glide with 27,000 miles and it has been stored winters in the cold garage with nothing but a tender plugged to it since new.
 
Thanks to all for your expertise & advice. Definitely getting the tender w/pigtail so I can leave on bike & I always use StaBil (MN farmboy in my blood). Scrappy's batterytender jr. feedback led to an interesting "cost saving" discovery. If you go to their website - it says "Deltran is the official factory authorized battery tender manufacturer of HD & BMW battery chargers." I guess if your buy Deltran - you're buying HD's tender...:33:
 
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