So, like a dummy, I left my ignition switch on after parking the bike on Sunday and ended up with a dead battery. Realized it yesterday morning, put the battery tender on the bike (via SAE plug), which has worked before, but not on an overnight drain like this. Uber'ed into work, and a co-worker had a nice jump start kit that just didn't cut it for his big ol' V8 Nissan Titan, was planning to return it. "Let me take it home, try it out."

No dice after charging for an entire work day . Was hoping not to have to need the jump-start gizmo since I had the battery tender on all day, but no charge so let's give it a try.

Here's the problem: How in the [blankety blank *&^*&%^*%] could anyone get the jaws of the clips around the posts on this particular battery / model???

There's almost NOTHING to grab onto. And while there is a tiny bit of post you could try to use, it's recessed into the top of the battery case so much that you can't get the edge of the clip in between the post and the case. (As you should be able to see from the picture I attached.) And then you have the wires attached just taking up more room. How does ANYONE jumpstart a bike battery??? Forget that this was a jump starter gizmo...even regular jumper cables from the car (which are generally bigger, anyway) wouldn't be able to clip on. Big ol' WTF moment for me. Because I love standing out in the rain trying to jump-start a battery (and not being able to accomplish it) in the drizzle at 8am when I should be at work.

This morning it was raining, the battery still no good after another 12 hours of battery tender time. Wife is using the Ford to go out of town (fortunately not until about 10 am) and her little Mazda Miata also has a dead battery (because we never drive it). Moved the battery tender to the car, took the truck before she needed to leave and fetched a new battery at O'Reilly for $115 or so, all in, tax, core, etc. Able to start the bike and ride to work...in the rain, with my crinkly) rain gear) pants.

Would love to know what part of this equation I'm not grasping. Let's hear it, folks.

 

That long on a tender with no result, either your tender is dead or your battery is beyond recovery. New battery is a good plan. They make bike specific "jumpers" that connect to the pigtail for future reference. Car jumper is not recommended.

Take the old battery in for a test when it's out to satisfy curiosity.

I use an Optimate 4 charger. $75...but it does a lot of maintenance and diagnostics on the battery too. I've heard people who claim they got 7 years out of their bike battery with one, and recovered some very dead cells with it. Worth it imo.

 

Before I got a dedicated pigtail for my Antigravity jump starter I kept two 1" long bolts in my saddlebag.

I never used them but the thought was I would screw the bolts into the top of the terminals so that I had something to clamp on.

 

That's kind of genius. I'm trying to think, though, how you could so that on my setup. Obviously you don't want to disconnect the battery entirely when removing the bolts (that would never let the seat get on there). The only way I could see that working is with some kind of double headed, attachable bolt or something. Like a hex-head that has a machined bolt hole in the middle. Then you could unscrew the add-on bolts, but still leave everything else connected. Not even sure what I'd call this kind of screw. Perhaps something like the attached image shows, though that looks like aluminum, maybe.

You might be onto something I can actually do! I could use the extensions, then just tuck them away right in the battery compartment, too. Shouldn't need to be too big.

 

If the battery is completely drained, it's possible the tender will not charge it. I have had this happen. I assume it's because the tender can't determine the state of the battery, so it goes to fail safe.

Agreed on getting the battery tested after a complete drain. Not sure about jump starting through a pigtail though - those are pretty small wires to pull that much current.

 

My power and ground wires connect to the side of the battery post.
On top of the battery post is a threaded hole that is not used.

I would simply screw the 1" bolts into the top of the post and jump start the bike.
Then once the bike is running take the bolts out and put the seat back on.

 

Not sure about the softail bikes, but on my old street glide, all I had to do was connect the positive to the starter (wire running from battery to positive on starter), then ground the negative in the frame.


Easy boost.


just a thought.....

 

Interesting. Clearly you have different posts than I have (and are in the picture I attached to the original post), or you have some kind of add-on for it? If I wasn't at work, I'd go take a pic of what I have, though it's certainly not abnormal. In my case, the top screw is what holds down the ring terminals. I don't have a side screw or anything. If I can't clamp to the entire post, wires and all (and I can't), then the only place left is the little stubby screw, and while it not only won't work, it also wouldn't be that great of a connection if the clips would stay on it! Heh.

What I might maybe need is simply a screw that is the same as that one, thread wise, but with either a taller head. Or like that pic I attached above that has a screw within a screw. (Sounds dirty, heh.)

 

So on your bike, the main positive cable is attached to the side mount of the battery terminal, and some other wires are attached to the top? If so, can't you just move those onto the same bolt that is holding on the positive cable? What are the additional wires on the top - the only extra on my Heritage is the charger pigtail.

 

Okay, I see the confusion. I picked a crap picture to post of a battery. That one above shows a hole in the side of the post, as well as the top. Mine is not like that. (Same brand, I think, so I jumped the gun on downloading that image.) There's just a top hole. That's it. Stubby screw goes through the ring connectors, has a Phillips head.

I think I'm going to take the extra screws I have in my pocket (the new battery came with some, too) and go over to Home Depot, see if I can find something with the same thread, just longer, and get a matching nut. Then I can put the nut on the bolt, then run the bolt through the ring connectors into the battery, tighten them down with the nut (now I have to have a wrench or pliers, too, sigh) and then the wires will be connected good and tight with the nut, but I would have some portion of the bolt, with the head, higher up that can an alligator clip can get a grip on.

Thanks, everyone, for the excellent input and questions.

I think that's going to be the simplest and cheapest solution for what I hope isn't a repeated problem.