I use it if the bike sits for more than a week.

 

I keep mine on a Battery Tender all the time in the garage even overnight. Only takes seconds to plug the Battery Tender to the H-D pigtail. No big deal!

 

Plug mine in after every ride after it cools off. The heat here in the southwest is hard enough on batteries and I want to do everything I can to extend the its life.

 

The first thing I noticed when I looked through the manual for my new street glide is a note stating that normal trickle chargers can't be used with the batteries on a harley. I found that really strange and have been meaning to get comments from other riders as this is my first Harley.

So is that legit, or just an attempt to get more money by making me buy a charger with HD branded on the side? The one I have has a 10amp quick charge, and a 2amp trickle setting. Used it for 10 years w/ my Yamaha...

I've been wondering what to do w/ winter months in New England around the corner (though I do get out in the cold w/ my heated gear- it's usually only road conditions that will side line me for extended periods)

 

I've been using a sears model 2amp trickle on my 09 SG for 3 years no issues

 

ive been doing it this way lately as well.

 

lol same here! it would actually have to sit for it to lose its charge!

 

I've had the same issues with the new AGM batteries. C-Tec chargers will work just fine.

 

I use my battery tender when I'm in my garage working and I want to listen to the bike's radio. Like today - I'm going out to detail the bike so I'll hook up the tender and crank the radio. That's about the only time I ever use either the radio on the bike or the battery tender.

The only exception is since I have two bikes, it's not all that uncommon for one of them to sit for a few weeks at a time in which case I'll throw the tender on the sitting bike for a day periodically.

I'm definitely not in the "use the tender religiously" group.

 

There's nothing new about the batteries. I suspect this is just a recycled CYA statement from the days when we would hook up a charger and forget about it until the battery was cooked dry. Most any brand name charger these days will monitor the charge condition and adjust itself accordingly whether the battery design is wet cell, gel cell, spiral cell... its all still lead-acid technology at its core.