Question: to those of you who live in frigid temps in the winter. Do you leave your battery hooked up 24/7 to the charger on maintenance/storage mode? OR do you charge it once a month or so.
Do you store your battery out in the garage where the temps can go below 0 degrees at times hooked up to the charger or in your basement. I worry about gasses while charging?
I remember reading a charged battery will not freeze----same as a car batt.

Thanks!!!

Stashu

 

I leave mine in the garage and charge it every couple of weeks if i'm not going to be riding for a while.

I used to store mine inside the house before i had a insulated garage, i don't worry about gasses from a charging battery, unless you are charging 10 at a time.

 

I store all our batteries in the basement since its warm down there. All my toys are driven lots even in the winter time except for the jet ski of course. The battery for it is removed and stored in the basement.

 

I live in Indiana and will hook up the tender once every couple weeks if I haven't ridden it. I don't leave it on all the time as it get rotated to the 4 wheelers and the lawnmower. This works fine and there is no need to pull any of the batteries.

 

I think the best thing for your battery (and engine; to keep oil on cylinder walls, etc.) is to ride at least during the (typically) one or two reasonable days a month during winter. Next best, if you don't ride at all, would be to take the battery out and into a warm space. However, I would STILL use the kick starter (if you have one) to just slowly turn the engine over to keep the lube moving; once every couple weeks. Dry cylinder walls are not the huge deal I may seem to be making, but they DO add wear to rings, walls, etc. that first time you fire the engine after "storage." You may want to mist your cylinder (i.e. pull the plug and shoot some very lightweight spray lube into the jug) before you fire it up.

 

I think my original battery has just about had it. Ill probably get a new one in the spring anyway.

 

Well cold temps or not, a battery looses 1% or more of its charge for everyday it sits. I try to plug in all three bikes at least once a week. However yesterday at work (where I am currently storing my Honda ST 1300), its been about 6 weeks since I parked and covered it. I tried to start it and the battery was too low. So I brought the battery tender from home and plugged it in till the red light turned green, about 3 hours, and then it started right up. I am a firm believer in keeping the batteries topped off, this one just got away from me, out of site out of mind, I guess I'll start scheduling this on the bikes as a reminder in outlook to the IPhone.

 

Heated shed with a Battery Tender does the job for me.

 

I don't think the cold matters, it just dicharges the battery faster if I remember well, and yes it will not freeze as long as it is fully charged.

 

Yuasa battery tender, 24/7, hooked to the pigtail I installed on the bike. No battery removal for me! Too many sunny days in the winter here to have to muck with a battery install before going for a ride...

BTW - the absolute worst thing you can do to a lead acid battery is to let it run down... I have read that every time a lead acid battery goes dead, it reduces the battery's capacity by 50%. If that's true... keeping it on an intelligent charger 24/7 would be the best thing if you want it to last a long time.