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charging your battery on the road?

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Old Nov 7, 2017 | 05:19 AM
  #41  
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On my dyna I carry a jump box and swapped out the battery cover Phillips head screw with a knurled head screw. Would be easy enough to pop the side cover to use the portable jump box.
 
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Old Nov 7, 2017 | 06:30 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by nobodyknowsme
I was in agreement with everyone else but this is curious. It appears that you still have to get to the battery though so what other benefits does this have?
So pulling the seat off is too much trouble when your battery is dead?
Another option would be a solar panel, that would use the pigtail and probably have you ready in a few days. Is that better than pulling the seat?
 
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Old Nov 7, 2017 | 06:52 AM
  #43  
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When did batteries start going to $hit?
For years people have been leaving cars/bikes/trucks parked for days/weeks/even months with little to no issues.
They tend to have more issues from the crap gas we have these days.
That is unless the battery was junk to begin with.
Unless you live in a real cold area, then the battery takes a beating.
I did not even put my tender leads on my Ultra....
It sat for about a month last winter and fired right up afterwards.

My truck is lucky if it gets driven once a month in the spring/summer/fall.
Winter its gets driven 4 days a week for sure, no tender/charger.

If the battery is bad replace it......
IMHO

I will get off my soap box now sorry for the rant.
 
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Old Nov 7, 2017 | 10:59 AM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by GarBare
So what's the story about the tender/minder that also performs desulfation? What's the difference in desulfation vs. tending/minder and do I need it for the extra $$?
First off I consider even a battery tender to be a charger, they include circuitry that prevents over charging that can damage a battery that a plain old "trickle" charger does not have. The higher the amperage the fast they will charge.

In my opinion the de-sulfating feature of a smart charger is not the selling point but could come in handy. It may recover a badly neglected dead battery, if anything it may buy you some time to get a new battery.

I did manage to recover a dead battery (less than 1 volt) on my car with a full size charger with a de-sulfating mode. Of course it didn't seem to have the cracking power it once had but I still used it for 2-3 weeks till I got to the city to get a new one.

What I like about most smart chargers like my Optimate3 is it is not a simple time based charger but has additional automatic charging, checking and maintenance modes. During charging the Optimate periodically checks the voltage to ensure it is not fully charged or overcharging, if not it pulses it till it is charged. At the end of the charge cycle it lets the battery rest for 12 hours then rechecks the voltage for a retention test, if it fails it lights up an LED to let you know. This is handy to give you a heads up when the battery is on it's last legs. If all is good it goes into a maintenance charging cycle.
 
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Old Nov 7, 2017 | 11:46 AM
  #45  
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If you have to charge your battery while on the road pull into the nearest place that sells mc batteries and buy a new battery. But you'll have to remove the seat to do it
 
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Old Nov 7, 2017 | 06:25 PM
  #46  
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Like others have posted, get a small lithium jump battery. I use the Juno. It's the size of an iPhone 6. Can jump the bike dozens of times. (My stator died on my Honda. Jumped it all the way from NYC to Syracuse, as needed)

I bought the EarthX cable. It functions as a Tender plug in & has the ends to plug right into a lithium jump battery. I coiled mine under my seat. You may choose to just have the end zip tied some place on the bike. I then purchased Custom Dynamics knurled seat bolts. All told, I can pull the seat & jump the bike in 5-mins. And that's after a few mins. of swearing if I left the bike on, which I'm known to do.

Here is my set up in pixs:




EarthX cable under the seat and above the battery.





EarthX tender connection.





EarthX jumper connection.




Juno jump battery hooked to EarthX cable.
 

Last edited by Oko; Nov 7, 2017 at 06:28 PM. Reason: add one pix
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Old Nov 9, 2017 | 03:55 AM
  #47  
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Micro X has their xp-3 on sale for $60.
It's an older version but I think the only difference is one less usb charging port.
I bought one and I am happy with it.
 
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Old Nov 9, 2017 | 05:58 PM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by Magnum50
Thx, I understand what your saying, and I understand the basics of a engine/charging system... my point, my worry was that next year I'm going on 12 rides, to every IMSA SportsCar track race in the US... when I get there the bike will be sitting for about 4 to 6 days while I enjoy the races, events, and camp next to my bike... then back on the road again... home then a few weeks later, repeat... so I was just wondering...just in case, for peace of mind... but I understand from replies I really shouldn't be worried... HELL, I got the Harley care plan, so I'll just call the nearest dealership if need be.

Thx.
Unless your battery is done altogether you won't have a problem. Don't overthink it.
 
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