Good day; All.

I have regularly read of riders putting their battery tender's on their bikes when their bikes aren't used for a few days. Since all batteries are constructed the same way; I would like to know why a car can set for weeks and nobody worries about their battery discharging; but on a motorcycle a few days of sitting idle and the battery tender is hooked up.
Most cars have more electrical draws, (clocks,etc.) off the idle battery than a motorcycle which would cause more of a discharge on the vehicle battery than on the motorcycle.

Is there a simple reason, that I've overlooked, for hooking up the battery tender so quickly or is it a preventive measure for most?

Thanks guys and safe riding.

 

Many bikes don't get used as regularly as cars, so actually stand around idle a lot longer, especially during winter. So for those owners a tender represents a very sensible choice. Some years ago I had a battery on a new bike fail at only 6 months, after a short period of not using it.

Out of that common sense situation a significant market for tenders has grown, so it is no surprise many more owners use them routinely - including me! I have three of them.

 

I usually dont use a tender unless my bike has sat idle for at least a couple of weeks. The last time I plugged mine in after sitting for 5 days it only charged for 3 minutes. All batteries are not the same, ie: lead acid, agm, lithium, ect...

 

I have 8 cars...alot of them have tender wires hanging out of them.

my neighbor calls it "life support".

same with my bkes.

with that many vehicles ( and just bought another yesterday- awaiting delivery) none of them gets used alot...especially since I am on the road about 7 months of the year.


automotive batteries are physically larger- and have more storeage capacity, measured in amp hours.

aside from slight drains such as alarms and clocks, dirt on the battery can allow current to drain.
keep it clean!


Mike

ps if anyone likes Volvo Bertone Coupes I have 2 project cars for sale

 

A lot of Bimmer's, Porsche's, Vette's will require a tender, lot's of electrical drain for a couple of weeks if the battery is not charged fully, car is hard to start.

 

I've used tenders (ie not trickle chargers) on every vehicle I've owned for 20 years. I've never (really never) had to replace a battery. Quite a few vehicles come with tenders, and my HD dealer provides them with every 'bike.

Some cars, eg the Ferrari 458, sit around thinking a lot, and won't start if you leave them off the tender for as little as 5 days.

 

I don't like surprises, so I use a tender on my bikes, Corvette and boat batteries.

 

Using a tender after a few days is overkill. While batteries do self discharge, most are good for 30-60 days if the battery is healthy. This period goes down as the battery ages.

I have 3 bikes and if I'm not using one for a while (3-4 weeks) I plug it into a tender to keep it charged. I do get pretty good lifetimes out of most batteries.

 

The "typical" car battery is around 70 amp hours, typical Harley battery is 30 or slightly less. If you have a fancy scooter you are running a clock, computer memory and radio memory, the SAME as a car battery and the car battery has more then twice the capacity. Cranking that V twin through the first compression stroke draws a lot out of that little battery and unless you drive a long way before the final shut down, the battery won't get fully charged. I frequently stop for gas on the way home so there is anywhere between 0.5 miles to about 3 miles from the last start to recharge the battery, not nearly enough. If you, on the other hand, put away your bike after a 20 to 30 mile ride your battery should be pretty well charged full.

 

On the other hand,mine is always on the tender.I crank it 1 time drive it 15 miles to work every day.I got only 2 years out of it.Maybe that is good IDK.I expected more obviously.