I purchased my 2009 fxdc in Jan09 and put it on a battery tender until April when I could start riding it. Rode during the summer and parked it for a week in July for vacation. When I got back, the battery was dead. Put it on a tender and charged it. The bike fired but would not hold a charge. My bike was 6mos old at the time and my dealer is almost 2hr away. Im sure he would have warranteed it but I went out and bought an Interstate battery from an independant dealer down the street. Didn't feel like sitting in my truck the better part of a day for a battery.

 

I don't find it hard to believe at all, I not only don't buy extended warranties, I don't even bother with the original factory warranty.
99% of dealership mechanics are complete hacks and I wouldn't allow them to put air in my tires.
It's a simple motor, not much to get familiar with. Buy a manual, and if you know how to read and wrench...You're familiar enough to perform any task required to repair the motor.

 

I have a manual, I have the tools, and I have the skills, and I am not afraid to get into it...however, first and foremost, I am a motorcycle RIDER and I would rather twist throttles than twist wrenches...I did not purchase a Harley Davidson to sit in my front yard or some rally looking all purdy so folks could ooh-ahh it, only make quick trips bar-hopping so folks can see I ride a Harley, nor did I get it to sit in the garage on a battery tender collecting dust. I ride to work almost every day, in the rain, cold, whatever...I ride. And, judging from the posts here and the low miles on a lot of 5 year-old bikes, I have put more miles on this bike (right at 15K as of today) in the past 19 months than most Harley owners put on theirs in twice that much time and I would ride more except I gotta work M-F, 8-5.

I bought this bike used and it was not in the best condition so I wrangled and haggled and got it cheap enough to add the cost of the extended warranty and still be at or below resale value the day I rode it away from the dealer. It was an unknown quality and I did not want to take the chance that I would be rebuilding an engine or drive train three months after purchasing the bike. I was planning long road trips and wanted the peace of mind that the bike would perform reliably and if I had problems, there was a remedy close by that would not break the bank.

I have used that warranty liberally and have had a lot of work and upgrades done under the warranty that would have cost me a lot of $$ except for the warranty. And, while I have not had the best experience with my local dealer every time, they have taken care of business to my satisfaction.

 

Putting a battery tender on a bike and leaving it there for extended periods of time will kill a battery...looks like you found out the hard way.

 

I used to leave one on the Heritage that I just got rid of for months at a time, never had any problem with it killing the battery.
Battery tenders shut off when the battery is fully charged and come back on when it needs a little boost.
How do you come to the conclusion that, that's hard on a battery?

 

Nothing wrong with a tender. One thing most don't think about is they only put out 750-1000 ma depending on model and so forth some more. They sense voltage to set level and shut off at that point and come back on when dropped to certain set point. When battery is dead a tender is not the best charging device. A standard charger with a 2-3 amp charge or so would be best for a dead mc battery to charge safely as I think a 30+ amp charge is too much for a small battery.

 

In other words.....Know what your tools are for and, how to use them properly.

 

I do, I have, and I will.

 

I could waste my time with presenting my resume of formal education and over two decades of experience with maintaining batteries and power generation systems but why take my word for it that leaving a tender...any tender...trickle charge, smart tender, or any charger on a battery for an extended time will eventually damage the battery and shorten its useful life.

Google any battery manufacturer...aviation, motorcycle, automotive or otherwise, and you will find out the same thing that I was taught many years ago and spend a career making a good living doing...putting a tender on a battery for long periods of time without cycling the battery will shorten the life of the battery. It is the nature of the beast.

Or not...IDC. It's your bike and your money to waste.

 

I've had my Road King for about six months now. The day I bought the bike the battery died. Got a jump and went straight back to the dealer. They tested the battery and sure enough it was dead (duh). They replaced the battery and off I went. I have used a Tender for the past 20 years on a few different bikes and never had a problem with over charging even after leaving on continuously for up to three months. Just saying my experience is they work fine. By the way I declined the expensive warranty too. Not sure if I will regret this or not it's my first Harley.