I am terrible when it comes to maintaining batteries. My maintenance steps amount to
- turn the key off at the end of the season,
- leave battery in the bike, in an unheated shed
- hookup Battery Tender Jr at the beginning of the season to recharge
- ride throughout the season
- rinse, repeat
Have yet to replace a battery. Recharging the battery I only started doing the past few years, used to just boost it and go for a ride. The OEM Yuasa in my FZ6 lasted just fine throughout my ownership; 8 years, 120k km.
I top them up before storing them and recharge in the spring with a smart charger...never had a problem...I don't believe in these battery maintainers...waste of money to leave them on charge all winter if you ask me ...
I am terrible when it comes to maintaining batteries. My maintenance steps amount to
- turn the key off at the end of the season,
- leave battery in the bike, in an unheated shed
- hookup Battery Tender Jr at the beginning of the season to recharge
- ride throughout the season
- rinse, repeat
Have yet to replace a battery. Recharging the battery I only started doing the past few years, used to just boost it and go for a ride. The OEM Yuasa in my FZ6 lasted just fine throughout my ownership; 8 years, 120k km.
A lead acid battery battery self discharges at 5% per month, so if you stopped riding in October, by April your battery has lost 30 to 35% of it's charge. Again, for a SLA battery this is in the danger range for causing damage to the plates. If one puts the bike away in September and doesn't ride again until May (not out of the ordinary) then the battery has lost 40% of it's charge just sitting and some damage will likely have occured - the battery may never operate to it's proper standards ever again.
So, this is why tenders are recomended. They are not a waste of money as they do not constantly charge the battery, they only come on (sometimes for as little as a few minutes) when they detect the battery has fallen below a 100% SOC. Their cost to operate is pennies per winter, and they can make the difference between a battery lasting 5-7+ years, or 2 or 3 if you're lucky.
Not using a tender is a gamble (see above reply) but possible IF you don't let the bike sit for long, and IF your bike has absolutely zero phantom draw. That said, even a clock or LED display somewhere can eventually draw a battery down into the damage territory if you don't take precautions (IE, a tender, or occasional charging) to avoid it.
I'm sure everything you are saying is technically correct. But in my personal real world experiences of riding for the past 11 years and not even disconnecting the battery over the winter (generally end of November to beginning of April) has not produced one dead battery.
I don't like stuff plugged in all the time if I can help it. Manual once a month is fine by me. Plus doesn't add to the phantom draw of the household.
Not bad. Wonder what a LCD clock uses?...the only power being consumed is the wattage required to turn on the red power LED.
I've been fortunate. Last batt I replaced was 7 years after I bought the bike used. PO might have replaced the batt just before I bought it, but I don't remember that being a selling point. Either way, I was satisfied getting 7 years out of it. And it was Motomaster one to boot, not a Yuasa, so I was surprised.The battery is the first thing I have to replace on pretty much every used bike I buy, so some of y'all are full of ****