============================

Good point,motorcycle or automotive batteries that see more / longer term extreme heat and or extreme cold then the avg vehicle battery does will definately have a reduced srv'c life.

That may be why i always seem to get well above avg srv'c life out of my bike/car batteries because in NY i do see 100+ temp in summer and below zero temp in winter but those extreme temps are only a few months yrly so my vehicle batteries dont have long term exposure to extreme hot or cold .

Scott

 

I got 7 years out the original battery on my '00 Heritage and it was hooked up to a BT whenever it was parked. Actually at 7 years it was still good but we were going to Sturgis that year and I didn't want to take a chance on it going bad while there. Got 7 years out of the second one also but it did officially die at the end of last summer(also always hooked up to BT when parked). Waiting for April and warmer weather before I spend the money on a new battery. Also use them on my boat batteries as well.

 

08 with original battery still going strong. Always hooked up to a tender unless on a trip.

 

I think the newer bikes - especially the touring rigs - are always pulling some power from the battery, even while parked. I have 1 tender that I move between the 3 bikes & the lawn tractor; always get good battery life.

 

===================

I do the same thing moving the tender between 2 bikes & classic car when sitting arround for a while with little to no use or when in winter sotrrage and also get very good srvc life from any battery i have no matter if it ewas a walmart cheapie std lead acid or high quality Deka/Yuasa type maint free fact activated AGM battery in the bike or excide/napa/autozone battery in one of my families many cars.

But i will say this when it come to battery mfg's,over the past couple yrs i had a bad experince with 2 interstate batteries in a row,1st was a brand new interstate someone bought that asked me to install in their bike/Honda shadow and it crapped out (bad cell) approx 6 months later.

I again tested the charging system on his bike and it was still working fine.

I didnt think much of the 1 interstate battery going bad so early because no mfg is perfect but then the battery crapped out on my mothers car (Maxima) and she had the local wrench does inspections etc on her car install a brand new interstate battery .

Well guess what,that new interstate battery also crapped out approx 8-9 months later (again,a bad cell) & her charging system checked out just fine which got me thinking because thats 100% failure rate in less then 1 yr on 2 brand new interstate batteries i was aware of.

I then went online and read someplace that some of the interstate batteries are mfg'd in Mexico & that they also use some recycled lead in their batteries (which other batt mfg's are likely doing too) but i don't know for 100% if either of those things are true or not because we all know everything you read on the net isn't always true.

But thats what i read & i did see 2 brand new interstate batteries crap out with a bad cell in less then 1 yr,thats all i can tell you & my recent 1st hand exp with 2 brand new interstate batteries.

In the past i would rec interstate car or bike batteries but after seeing 2 brand new interstate batteries in a row for two completely diff apps crap out in less then 1yr due to a bad cell i wont use or rec them anymore.

Scott

 

I won't buy Interstate batteries either. I had a similar experience. 2 auto batteries go bad in under 1 year.

 

Yea; the battery in my C4 Vette was a biotch to get to; had the pigtail coming out of the side coves.

Oh yea---DRIVE THAT BIOTCH! Or lend it to me; I'll keep the oil flowing.

 

Agreed!, I've been using a battery tender almost since the eighties. Won't go without one. JR

 

Here's the trick to battery longevity. When you first purchase a battery either you or the dealer pours the acid/water solution into the individual cells. Even though at this point the battery has enough oomph to start your vehicle, don't do it. Instead, put your battery on a battery conditioner and let it build up the current capacity slowly, minimum 12 hours. After this point your battery is FULLY charged without stressing the plates or chemicals. An off the shelf battery that is immediately put into service is NOT at full capacity even though it can turn over an engine, doing so will lead to premature failure. Bringing the charge up slowly as a first time routine will guarantee you years of trouble free service. This is why a lot of batteries fail over a short period of time even though you might have used a battery tender between rides.

 

I use the battery tender jr on my bike and quad.