I keep my bike hooked up to charger/maintainer, and it always shows a full charge. Today I had to jump it off my pickup, had'nt started it in about a month. battery is less than 2 yrs. old. Is that about the life of a battery?? I got 4 yrs. out of the previous one.

 

IF the battery is duff...and you jump start...you can strain the charging system and destroy it.

a $100 problem becomes a $500 problem


"tenders" seem to often indicate a battery in good condition, when the battery is failing.

only a full charge with a "real" battery charger and a load test can determine whether the battery is good- cables can also contribute to this kind of problem

you may find this story of interest:

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...cable-pic.html

mike

 

Time for a new Battery and good look at your tender Quality/operation. My guess a bad tender overcharged the battery. Quit buying crap at Harbor freight /Walmart!

 

I agree with the theory of buying quality. We live in a throw away society that would rather buy and throw away 3 or 4 cheap products instead one good one that will last for years, maybe a life time.This is why the number of skilled craftsmen have almost disappeared from earning a living with there craft. Just talk to knife maker sometime!

However, I've been jumping bikes for well over 30 years and if I've ever (knock on wood) trashed a charging system I never knew it. I hate to even type this B/C I know the next time I jump mine will be the time...

 

Just a guess but I think what Mike was referring to was jumping a dead battery won't hurt your charging system but trying to charge that dead battery after you've jumped might.

 

Some may feel 2 years is the life of one,
But I feel that is a rip off.
We can do better than two...

 

Some batteries last 2 years.

Some batteries last 6 years.

Most batteries last somewhere in between.

Is there anyway to tell how long a battery will last? Nope.

Do some brands last longer than other brands. All things equal, no.

How come the Harley store charges so much for their batteries? Because they know that most people wrongly equate longevity with price and besides that, they just charge more for everything because they know you will pay it.

How come my 2nd cousins older brother has a battery that is 10 years old? Who the hell knows?

Sometimes there are other things that kill a good battery. Voltage regulators and stators come to mind.

 

Thanks for the replies on this thread, but after further investigation I discovered my problem. All this time I thought I had a full charge because the charger indicated it, and I had no problems starting. Turns out the charger connecter that comes from the battery has an inline fuse holder and yes the fuse was blown. After replacing the fuse all works fine.

 

Glad you found your problem and it was a simple one!

 

hmm, I use the battery tender and another unit ( craftsman) on my bikes- if the connection is "open" such as a blown fuse or not plugged in, the device doesn't show a full charge...it flashes red

mike