Just recharged the battery

[Dublin Dave]

Today i stripped down the RK for its first good spring clean, and removed the battery to give it a charge.After the Hard winter we had here.
I left it charging for the time I spent on the bike cleaning and polishing and installed it back in.
Went for a spin, and low and behold it was like driving a very fresh bike with great response to the trottle, and a smooth ticking over and slow driving speed, the RK was just very smooth.

I use the bike for work on a regular basis, but it is only 6 miles from where i live, is it the bike is not driven long enough for a recharge,and im just losing charge and are these bikes prone to half charged batteries. (i.e bad spark on the plugs).
It would be interesting to know from you guys, the knowladge here is two fold.
Regards
D.D:newsmile040:

 

[TQuentin1]

That is not very far to go between STARTs. Remember, when you hit the button, the battery sees the starter as a dead short for a split second until it starts turning. And it continues a heavy current draw until the bike fires. Then you are running on the battery with the charging system trying to charge the battery back up and keep ahead of the electrical load. So if you are starting the bike, running to work, firing up to go to lunch close-by, firing up to go back to work and then firing up to run back home, your battery is taking a beating. Get a battery tender (not a charger) and plug it in to the battery everyday when you get back home. This will extend the life of your battery and will make the ride feel like it did the other day, everyday!!

TQ

 

[glider]

Battery Tender For Storage - Harley Davidson Community

 

[Jack Klarich]

That is not very far to go between STARTs. Remember, when you hit the button, the battery sees the starter as a dead short for a split second until it starts turning. And it continues a heavy current draw until the bike fires. Then you are running on the battery with the charging system trying to charge the battery back up and keep ahead of the electrical load. So if you are starting the bike, running to work, firing up to go to lunch close-by, firing up to go back to work and then firing up to run back home, your battery is taking a beating. Get a battery tender (not a charger) and plug it in to the battery everyday when you get back home. This will extend the life of your battery and will make the ride feel like it did the other day, everyday!!

TQ

And after a charging cycle you would be running on a surface charge , kind of like tricking your charging system to think the battery is fully charged and good to go, with short hops you will have a big demand for high out put from the battery as T Q says, may want to recheck the state of charge after the battery has set over night, JMO Jack

 

[oldhippie]

That is not very far to go between STARTs. Remember, when you hit the button, the battery sees the starter as a dead short for a split second until it starts turning. And it continues a heavy current draw until the bike fires. Then you are running on the battery with the charging system trying to charge the battery back up and keep ahead of the electrical load. So if you are starting the bike, running to work, firing up to go to lunch close-by, firing up to go back to work and then firing up to run back home, your battery is taking a beating. Get a battery tender (not a charger) and plug it in to the battery everyday when you get back home. This will extend the life of your battery and will make the ride feel like it did the other day, everyday!!

TQ

Ditto on this. Short trips are hard on a battery (and the engine since it never really gets hot long enough to burn off any moisture produced during combustion).

May I suggest you take a nice long ride at the end of every workday, or before if you prefer, or both. Either that or move further away from work.:newsmile100:

 

[Dublin Dave]

That is not very far to go between STARTs. Remember, when you hit the button, the battery sees the starter as a dead short for a split second until it starts turning. And it continues a heavy current draw until the bike fires. Then you are running on the battery with the charging system trying to charge the battery back up and keep ahead of the electrical load. So if you are starting the bike, running to work, firing up to go to lunch close-by, firing up to go back to work and then firing up to run back home, your battery is taking a beating. Get a battery tender (not a charger) and plug it in to the battery everyday when you get back home. This will extend the life of your battery and will make the ride feel like it did the other day, everyday!!

TQ

Thanks TQ,
I will look into the Tender,will need to do something, its hard enough with the young kids and shift work to get time every day for a long run, roll on the summer holidays, and thanks alot to the other posts for their valued information.
Cheers
dave:s

 

[oldhippie]

Thanks TQ,
I will look into the Tender,will need to do something, its hard enough with the young kids and shift work to get time every day for a long run, roll on the summer holidays, and thanks alot to the other posts for their valued information.
Cheers
dave:s

Being a father of 3 and a long time shift worker, 27 yrs and counting, I can relate to how hard it can be to find free time to go for a ride. When our girls were young there was rarely an opportunity to put in any form of a long ride. Now that they're all 19 and older, my wife and I can take those long trips and not be overly concerned (at least we try not to be) with leaving them alone.

The days will come when you'll barely give a second thought to taking in those long rides and hopefully you'll get to enjoy them with your kids.:small3d018: