I'm going to go against the grain and conventional wisdom

is a tender even needed?

My battery (Harley OEM) has never been on a tender, never been out of the bike.
Thru the cooler and winter months (late Oct to early April) It's parked and covered.
I put a "real" charger on it at least once in the depth of winter cold , set at 2amp setting auto off.

Got the bike out a few weeks ago, so far so good.
Looks like I'll get another season out of it (if I haven't jinxed it now by talking chit)

I'll note, my bike doesn't have much (if any?) parasitic draw being an '04 softail w/security system turned off.
Donno about newer bikes if they sit for a week or three between rides.

..L.T.A.

 

Most of my "short lived" batteries were dinosaur technology wet cell batts . My '84 GPZ1100 needed a really oddball battery that was very hard to find as it had a external "fluid sensor" wire lead . For years I only used the Yuasa correct wet cell battery. some would last almost 5 years, but I had one take a dump after only a year. Now i'm gaining experience with glass mat technology and thus far these sealed glass mat batteries seem to last way longer than wet cell. So you could be very much correct that there may be no need for off season tender maintenance. Battery tenders are supposed to help with battery longevity by placing a "floating" charge on the battery which replicates your normal driving conditions . So for me just out of habit will continue to do off season battery charge maintenance.

 

I live in Texas and the heat down here will kill batteries. I have everything on a Battery Tender including the Harley, lawn tractors, UTVs and large tractor. If it has a battery, it is on a tender. The only thing not on a tender is the car and truck. They both get daily use.

I have two replacement batteries on a tender in case a battery goes bad. I have two unopened Battery Tenders on the shelf in case one of them goes bad. If they go bad, toss it and put out a new one. Hell, they are under $40.

 

mine's whatever a Harley stock $120 battery is.($149 today)
It's 4 years old almost to the day.
I average a little over 4000 miles a year, most all of it short rides (40-70 miles)

If I get this season out of it, I'll buy new next season "just because" it's 5 years old

..L.T.A.

 

I just had to replace my 4 year old battery that was always on the Harley tender showing green. I went in for an inspection last week and forgot to ask the fella to please check it. When I heard him start it in the service area, I heard the weakness in it that wasn't there when I left home. Something said it was time and it was. The long ride to the dealer didn't charge it so I was glad I was where I was at the time and not stranded. That happened once and it was a real pain in the tail. Never again!