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Battery/ Battery Tender

89 FXRS

89 FXRS

Active Member
I've been using a battery tender on both of my bikes - after charging the FXRS fully, I remove the charger and after 5-6 days the voltage reads 12.7 volts which according to the paper work says it is at 100% and that battery is over 3 years old / When I fully charge the FLTR and check it after a few days it reads 12.5 but yet when I put it back on the tender after only 5 minutes it shows fully charged (green light on steady) it seems to charge up a lot quicker than the FXRS but also seems to discharge quicker as well - is there any reason to be concerned about this battery - it's 2 and a half yrs. old - both are harley batteries
 
Do both batteries start their respective motors and power all the accessories without any issues? If so, no worries. I'm not a big fan of battery tenders. I never use them and have had my bike sit for months while I was "away on business" and when I got back, it was a push of the button and a few cranks of the motor and off she went. If it didn't I'd take into account the battery's age and replace it or look for electrical system issues.
 
89 FXRS said:
I've been using a battery tender on both of my bikes - after charging the FXRS fully, I remove the charger and after 5-6 days the voltage reads 12.7 volts which according to the paper work says it is at 100% and that battery is over 3 years old / When I fully charge the FLTR and check it after a few days it reads 12.5 but yet when I put it back on the tender after only 5 minutes it shows fully charged (green light on steady) it seems to charge up a lot quicker than the FXRS but also seems to discharge quicker as well - is there any reason to be concerned about this battery - it's 2 and a half yrs. old - both are Harley batteries
Click to expand...

Two things, where are you located (do you have 4 seasons type weather or sunny most of the time like SoCal, Southwest or Southeast like FL area) and a little history is needed to clarify. I looked at your early posts on the FLTR...had a history of deep discharging of the battery, regulator issues and such...which sounds like the "abused battery" may have lost a bit of it's reserve retention charge even when charged by your Battery Tender. You could also have leakage currents that may be discharging your battery a bit (do you have a "live all the time" accessory plug w/ GPS or some accessory attached? Sounds like you need to do a bit of research first...:25:
 
NEWHD74FAN said:
Two things, where are you located (do you have 4 seasons type weather or sunny most of the time like SoCal, Southwest or Southeast like FL area) and a little history is needed to clarify. I looked at your early posts on the FLTR...had a history of deep discharging of the battery, regulator issues and such...which sounds like the "abused battery" may have lost a bit of it's reserve retention charge even when charged by your Battery Tender. You could also have leakage currents that may be discharging your battery a bit (do you have a "live all the time" accessory plug w/ GPS or some accessory attached? Sounds like you need to do a bit of research first...:25:
Click to expand...


I replaced both the VR and the stator and haven't had any issues since - the bike starts fine was just wondering why the difference in voltage and charging times. I live in N.California and I do not have any live all the time accessory things on the bike.
 
I have been using Batter Tender for a dozen years. It kept the first battery up and running for about eight years. The down side is the Battery Tender can show green and the battery even start the bike. In twenty five miles it may not have enough amps to restart the bike. They are great but keep in mind that every few months leave it off the battery and see if the battery loses amps.
 
And don't forget that today's bikes have the alarm system that will drain the battery if the bike is not used and the battery is left on the bike.

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89 FXRS said:
I replaced both the VR and the stator and haven't had any issues since - the bike starts fine was just wondering why the difference in voltage and charging times. I live in N.California and I do not have any live all the time accessory things on the bike.
Click to expand...

AGM type batteries have low amount of water in the electrolyte...and when charging do not "boil off" as much of what little water is there...however deep discharge does weaken the cells and degrade the reserve/surface charge of the battery. That may be the difference in performance between the two battery charge rates.

If for some reason the battery survives those deep discharges...capacity is the first thing that you will notice regarding the battery performance at charging. Check how dim the headlight gets when you hit the starter button in the morning (if it goes nearly out the voltage is dropping below the 9V threshold that modern HD scoots w/ EFI, ECM & Security need to keep running, and labored starting will result.
 
You will get different voltage up an down its a common thing. If the bikes start ok i would not worry. When riding see if there is any change in the amp gauge plus or minus. As for the battery tender i think their not worth the money!
I live in Canada all i do is remove my battery and the old lady's too at the end of the season give them a good charge and store them where it,s warm. My battery is 7 years old and the wife's is 10 years with no problem. :small3d017:
 
Batties like to worked, keeping the tender on it keeps jusice running through it, the batties we get with the bikes are not deep cycle batties
If you let them get low things happen inside with the plats, so you need to keep the batties at full charge and they will last a long time:s
 
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