Battery....

Energy One

scubaman15

Well-Known Member
My question ....does the battery in a "Big dog" discharge while not being used faster than ...say a Harley? and if so what is drawing power while the pup rests ...?? Thanks I'm learning at very fast pace because of all of you ...not just by trial and screw up . :loony:
 

Ohmster

Kansas Motorcycle Works
All batteries will discharge at the same rate. That all is determined by how much parasitic draw the bike has. EFI models having more of a draw than carb models do. However, the Harley battery is a Yuasa battery with a Harley logo on it and it is a 310 CCA rated battery while the BDM battery is a 270 CCA rated battery. The larger rated battery has more available amps so it would take just a bit longer to discharge.

One other thing to consider also, just because the battery is rated at 270 or 310 CCA with a properly maintained battery it can have a much larger available amperage. A well maintained battery being either a 270 or a 310 CCA battery could have up to 450 to 500 available amps.

Morel of the story is use a tender to keep your battery properly maintained. Batteries not maintained will begin to sulfate as the bike sits idle and once you do throw it on a charger that sulfation has taken it's toll. Instead of a battery being at 90 percent capacity it could now only be able to charge to 70 percent for example. So the battery that once had 450 available amps might now only have 400 available amps and so on.
 

Oscar Maldonado

Guru
Calendar Participant
Yeah, What he said. Most of us keep a battery tender on it when the bike is being stored for the winter or when the bike is not in use.
 

tacoloco

Member
Ohmster got it right on the money!
A battery tender is a plus to avoid frustrations when ready to ride.
 

Reaper

Well-Known Member
Let me ask you guys a question, I have my bike stored in a storage locker that has no electricity. Is there any problem with removing the battery during the winter, and putting it on a tender, or do the electronics feed off of the battery for some type of need?
Or would it be ok to maybe once a month pull out the battery, and put it on a charger, and then put it back in?

Or is there some other option for my situation? Thanks.
 

mcgroom

Well-Known Member
Let me ask you guys a question, I have my bike stored in a storage locker that has no electricity. Is there any problem with removing the battery during the winter, and putting it on a tender, or do the electronics feed off of the battery for some type of need?
Or would it be ok to maybe once a month pull out the battery, and put it on a charger, and then put it back in?

Or is there some other option for my situation? Thanks.
Reaper,

Unless I am corrected, I would pull the battery all together. This will provide you with added security in the event that someone gets a bright idea to steal the bike.

This will also give you a chance to place the battery on a tender. Make sure when you store the battery, it is up off of direct contact with concrete since a battery will lose a charge while sitting there even if it is not hooked to anything....(sitting there on your garage floor/concrete).

Even though the battery is one of the easier fixes, it is one of the last things I would want to risk going bad.

The draw our bikes take to start, even the smallest issue with a battery can turn into a nightmare if you are out and about.

Just an opinion.
 

Reaper

Well-Known Member
Thanks mcgroom, I had wanted to pull it out the battery last year, but had someone tell me that it would be bad to that because there were some electronics that required the battery, and should not be removed for any length of time. Weather that's tru, or not, I'm not sure. I don't want to cause any damage to the bike. But I might just try it. Thanks for your input.:up:
 

mcgroom

Well-Known Member
Thanks mcgroom, I had wanted to pull it out the battery last year, but had someone tell me that it would be bad to that because there were some electronics that required the battery, and should not be removed for any length of time. Weather that's tru, or not, I'm not sure. I don't want to cause any damage to the bike. But I might just try it. Thanks for your input.:up:
Now you have me wondering as well. I am interested to see what others think. I orginally came across this site when I was having issues with my Baby a month or so ago. I now find myself on here all day through out the week trying to absorb all the info I can.

Simply put, I only know enough to get myself in trouble. With that said though, after hours upon hours of reviewing posts (current and past), I am confident that what ever the general agreement of the members of this site are, that is the way to go as far as I am concerned.
 

Reaper

Well-Known Member
I agree mcgroom, I just don't know enogh about these bikes, so this is a great place to get some help. Sooner or later, it will get figured out.:2thumbs:
 

Reaper

Well-Known Member
During the non riding winter season - I pull the battery and tend it while it's out of the bike.
Hi Oscar, well if you do that, and have had no problems, than that sounds good to me:2thumbs: . Unless someone knows something different. Thanks.
 

Oscar Maldonado

Guru
Calendar Participant
Hi Oscar, well if you do that, and have had no problems, than that sounds good to me:2thumbs: . Unless someone knows something different. Thanks.
Everyone has a different way of doing the storage routine and or tending the battery in general. But yes Reaper, that's the way I do it and never have had a problem throughout the years of it being done.:2thumbs:
 

Reaper

Well-Known Member
Thanks Oscar, I just wanted to make sure it would not cause any damage to the electronics, computer, brain, whatever, by removing the battery for any lenght of time. Thanks again.:2thumbs:
 

KnotSo

Admin
Staff member
Pull the Battery, take it home, put a tender on it and those worries will fade away.

See Ya!
 

Ohmster

Kansas Motorcycle Works
You will have no problems pulling your battery for long periods of time and hooking it up to a tender. Carb bikes will have no effect and EFI bikes will only have one. EFI bikes will loose their adaptive maps if the battery is disconnected. However once you hook the battery back up the bike will operate off the base map till it reaches operating temperature. Once at operating temperature it will begin to write the adaptive maps and everything will be fine.
 

chucktx

Well-Known Member
the rate a battery discharges when idle is dependent on the cleanliness of the battery...one that is dirty will discharge quicker than a clean one....just a thought......
 
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