new battery now or next year
 

Battery died on Tuesday as soon as i turned off my bike. It's run dead about 5-8 times this year because of my alarm / led / laziness. So i'm pretty sure it's laziness a dead cell. Bike stayed lit the whole ride to work afterall so the stator was prolly pulling double duty. Here's the dilemma.

I don't have a convenient way to connect my battery tender over the winter / now so when it's cell time to store her i was planning on buyingvabnew battery and just waiting till riding season to install it, keeping it on a tender in the house and dropping it in on good days. But there are still some consecutive good days for riding left this season. So do i buy a new battery now and just pull it when the forecast is rain? Or stick with the old, charging it when i can before forecasted good days and replace it later?

why not just remove the draw by disconnecting the cables when it sits for and extended period of time?

get a new one... connect it when you use it. or- park it for the season, replace it next year

Replace it next year.

Charge when needed as we have maybe 2 months of safe riding left here in Philly.

Buy new next year around March and start a new cycle then.

Cheers!

Next year so the warranty starts during riding season and not when you can't use it.

One of the battery drains is my alarm. 2 way alarms draw on the battery constantly and the Spy5000m isn't a Scorpio in terms of quality :p

I'd wait till spring

if you have a Cyclegear nearby, they have a lifetime warranty battery. If the battery is toast at the end of winter then they'll replace it for free. cost me like 130 bucks and they told me if anything happens I can replace it at any Cyclegear.

That sounds like a good deal. When I replace my battery, I'll head over to a cyclegear next time.

Should leave the battery disconnected over winter anyway.

Don't ride on a dead battery if you don't have to. The charging system is more exspensive then a battery so why strain it?

+1

No power in the garage? My tender came with a dongle that connects to the battery.
All I have to do is plug to it, not pull the seat to access the battery itself.
When I get ready to ride, just pull connection and tuck dongle into
the frame. I don't actually bother except when it is really cold and I'm not
going to ride for a couple of weeks-ish.

If you don't have a garage/outdoor electrical access than battery-tending on the
bike is tougher. It might be better to wait for spring to swap batterys out.

You CAN use the old battery and bump-start it, to get thru the winter. If the
charging/electrical is working properly, it doesn't hurt a thing. The bike uses
power from the stator to run. The battery is only there to start the bike.
Ask any track-racer what's one of the first things to go to eliminate weight.

One thing to keep in mind for all those using a charger indoors...
Charging the battery creates hydrogen gas which is extremely flammable.
Indoors this can accumulate excessively. Keep all sources of ignition
AWAY from the battery!! Exploding batterys are a REALY BAD thing!

Ern

My bike is stored in the driveway between apartment buildings. when I had a 1st floor apartment, I just fed the tender out the bedroom window. But now I'm on the 3rd floor. And while I could drop an extension cord down the side of the building, I don't want to expose the tender to the elements.

Ahhh this happen to me last week when I got to school, the battery died. Let it sit while I was in my classes, and it cranked back (dead cell or something). Rode it to the Honda Shop and bought me a battery, it's ok to buy a battery. Keep it hooked on a Battery Tender when not riding!

Couple of more rides, and mines coming in the house this winter! It's getting stripped and cleaned really good, and I will just take the battery out and leave it hooked up on a battery tender all Winter!!!!!

since you dont have a way of storing your bike, buy a battery, ride a couple times till your not going to ride anymore, bring the battery in and leave it on charge all winter!!!!
(Been bringing my batteries in every year!!)

Well I pulled the battery this morning and popped it on the tender. Charged up and I grabbed a multimeter...

12.57V across the posts. The stator is obviously working since I was able to get her home fine without even getting a jump or bump starting her. Not gonna trust her to get me to work tomorrow till I get a chance to put the battery back in and test the voltage across the posts while running. And not quite trusting the battery anyways (it's pushing 6 years old being the OEM).

Showing 12.57V at the post when resting if very normal for a bad battery to show. You need to check the volts when you hit the starter button. If they drop below a certain amount which I think is 9V then the battery is toast. When my battery was going out it would show well over 12V at rest and then in the 7's when I pushed the excite button. At first it would take a charge but wouldn't hold it that long then it got to the point where it wouldn't even take a charge and would only start with the battery charger hooked to it. Put a new battery in it and all my problems were fixed. I bought mine from https://www.batterygiant.com/displayitem.asp?ID=YTZ10S but when I bought it, it was $47. Two weeks later the tsunami hit Japan and the price doubled. But so far not a single problem.

I like to plan my purchases early...ahead of time. If your battery dies & then push start, ride it to shop and purchase from them....there's your retail cost. Try buying a gas container when ur out of gas at the gas station....$$$$ to much.

So when you know you need something, it's sooner or later? Start browsing around...eBay, amazon, online website...close out deal, a friend selling etc...once you see a deal you believe it's difficult to pass up.....buy it!!! Some things you can actually save more money if you buy in bulk....but who needs 3 batteries when you only need one? But if three batteries cost at a price of one, I'll get the 3...and then hook a CBRF member up...LOL....

Will check it when the starter is hit. While running, both at idle and at 4.5k rpm, multimeter showed 14.67 +-.1. So I'm not worried bout the stator

Just checked. 11.2v is the lowest it drops when the starter is hit. Then she's lit and starts climbing again

Sounds like you're just due for a new battery. Hell most car batteries don't make it 6 years old, especially the OEM ones.