This past week I decided to hook up the battery charger to the Bike (17' RK M8) This is the same charger/maintainer I have used in the past on another bike. I hooked it up to the tender that was pre-installed when I purchased the bike to let it do its job (so I thought). I did notice that the charging light came on red (instead of yellow) when I plugged it in but did not give it much thought. Today I go back to the garage and notice only the power light is on not the charging light. I disconnected it and tried to turn on the bike, nothing not even the lights/dash came on even in AUX. I pulled the battery out of the bike ready to buy a new one when I decided to use the clips and charge it out of the bike. The charging light came on yellow (as it should) and is still going but don't think it will give a good charge since the battery was totally dead.

I tried to look to see if the tender had a blown fuse but can not find one. The tender does not seem to be an add on with separate +/- wires (as I have done in the past myself) but seems to have been installed in the factory since the tender untimely gets bundled into the main +/- wires within the harness tape.

Any ideas? I have used the tender to run a USB charger, but was disconnected immediately after the ride since I know they can sometimes drain the battery.

Thanks

 

I'm not sure about this, but I suspect your bike has Canbus electrics and if your tender is an older type, it may not be compatible. Check your owners manual. Obviously you don't need an H-D brand tender, but the book may confirm if you need a dedicated Canbus type.

 

Also guessing your charger/maintainer is shot...get another. The'yre cheap and nice having a multitude for using on various vehicles. I have one on the bike, one on the riding mower, one on my Bullitt Mustang and another spare for...whatever. This year my Sears Diehard one...died.

 

To be clear, the "tender" is the device that hooks up to AC, and provides the power to charge/maintain the battery. The wiring and connector attached to the bike is usually referrred to as a "pigtail".

You can try your tender on another battery (car, lawn tractor, etc.) to see if it's working properly.

 

first, confirm the polarity of the machine pigtail and the maintainer, they could be reversed and thus reverse charge the battery. a give-a-way was the red light, something wrong, using the clips, you hooked direct.

 

buster,

That is exactly what I am thinking that the that the pigtail harness was reversed on the battery. Problem is like I mentioned that this harness seems to be part of the main wire/power harness (factory installed??). When I pulled the battery there weren't 2 sets of wires meaning one set for the 'normal' +/- power harness and another set for the pigtail. It is all taped together and there was just 2 wires I disconnected one for the + and one for the -. So I think once I get a new battery need to take this to the dealer to have it checked out since I did not install the pigtail, and hope they might do something for this reversed hookup to have drained the battery in the first place. Part of this is my own fault and should not have just left it be once I thought something was not right.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Did you check the pigtail with a voltmeter?

 

Are you using a battery tender, or a charger? Don't hook up a charger long term, and then only if the battery is really low. And even then, disconnect from the bike.

Use a "Battery Tender" for maintaining a m/c battery.

 

Hi Rich. Welcome to the Forum. Where are you on the Island?

Make certain that your batter tender is something very much like the ones below:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...35MlmcEt1-zfMg

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...zsoNKfdNhkyCtw

 

p.s.: Rich, check your owner's manual to see of the pigtail is fused. I also have bikes to which I connect a second pigtail directly to the battery for heated gear. Once I rode up to New England and as the day wore on I was getting colder. As it turns out the pigtail had a very low capacity inline fuse.