When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
General Topics/Tech TipsDiscussion on break in periods, rider comfort, seats and pad suggestions. Tech tips as they become available will be posted here.
You are going to have to pull the seat and check the termi Al's to ensure that someone didn't swap them when replacing the battery. Personally I have 2 battery tenders (1 for LiPo and AGM batteries and 1 BT+) I also have a Harley LiPo charger and an Optimate 4 charger. All 4 of them work well, the Optimate will bring a battery back from the dead.
See post #5. The connector is factory installed, and is connected to the battery via the main wiring harness. It is not connected directly to the battery posts.
My 12 had the pigtail on it when i bought it new, so did my 15. I have 6 tenders plugged in all the time and get quite a few years out of my batteries. One battery went from 06 to 14 and another went from 99 until about 11. Have one that replaced the 2011 battery and is still going strong right now. 2013 Camaro with the original battery on tender. These are car batteries.
Now for bike batteries i get around 8 years if kept on a tender. So they do seem to work, but before there were tenders i Trickled charged my batteries once in awhile over the winter months and still seemed to get maybe 4 or 5 years out of them. So who knows ?
The OP seems to be reluctant to pull the seat and caddy to access the battery. It would be be much easier to test the connector itself for correct polarity/voltage. Judging by the oxidation/corrosion/rust on the negative pin, I would suspect a less than optimal connection between the new tender, and the pigtail.
Last edited by barneyboy; Mar 6, 2020 at 06:56 PM.
Bought a tender plus. Put it on. Light will only flash, which according to the manual means the battery is defective. The voltmeter on the bike says it's at about a 9. I was hoping to avoid taking the seat off and getting into the battery. I have a bigger charger - but obviously can't hook it up without a little disassembly.
Pull the battery and put it on your conventional charger. Assuming it charges, check the voltage an hour or so after taking the battery off charge. It should maintain above 12.75 V or so. If its below 12.5 V you probably need a new battery. That 9V reading is worrisome IMHO.
I am not a mechanic or mechanically inclined - so - I was hesitant to remove the seat - especially after reading the manual. A google search and some youtube videos later - and it was "oh - this isn't hard" - except I started with the wrong one, thinking that there was a pin to unscrew/pull to get the backrest out - I found out I was wrong. After pulling out the staples to the leather - nope - no pin. It's the kind that you squeeze the bottom and it came right out. Got the seat off pretty easy after that - honestly - had no clue it was so simple.
Looked at the battery and one of the tender cables seemed loose - but I hooked the alligator clips to it directly. Roughly 5 hours later - it started. The meter on the bike had it close to 12 volts. I turned the bike off and left the tender on. I'll probably take it off before I hit the hay.
I can't tell you guys how grateful I am for your help. This is the second bike I've owned - the first was a 99 Honda Shadow. I'm just nervous to work on vehicles - as I am afraid I'll screw something up.
Looking to install a connector on my Dyna.If I connect directly to the battery where do I run the wire?Looked at it two weeks ago with the battery out and there is no room between the battery box and frame.can't run it over the frame and under the seat,my fat *** will eventually damage the wires and cause a short won't it?Any ideas on what route to put wire would be appreciated.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.
