2012 RTL - how long before you plug in the battery tender?

[Tonylmiller]

I'm going to be out of town for a week. Would you plug it in before you go? I have been riding regularly up until now.

 

[Navydad]

My 2015 has sat much longer than a week and started fine. If plugging it in gives peace of mind then go for it. My Guzzi is plugged in pretty much all the time.

 

[gkamer]

I'm going to be out of town for a week. Would you plug it in before you go? I have been riding regularly up until now.

I've left mine for a week with no ill effects

 

[happyspyder2039]

Should be fine. I let mine sit all winter without charger/tender. In my experience the tender can cause more harm if left on all the time. I will randomly once or twice a year put tender /charger on over night.

 

[Tonylmiller]

Wow, thanks for the info. Some vehicles can drain the battery in a few weeks if left alone. Since it has lots of electronics, I thought this might do the same.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Wow, thanks for the info. Some vehicles can drain the battery in a few weeks if left alone. Since it has lots of electronics, I thought this might do the same.

Well I see you have a ... 2012 RT >>> and they do have a nominal drain ... all the time ... a week I wouldn't worry ... a Month - using a Battery " MAINTAINER " ( not a charger ) wouldn't hurt. I bring some of my batteries for the winter and only use the Maintainer once a month .... good luck .... Mike :thumbup:

 

[Little Blue]

I'm going to be out of town for a week. Would you plug it in before you go? I have been riding regularly up until now.

I only Use my Battery Tender, if I do not ryde for a month or more. How old is your battery?

 

[Tonylmiller]

My battery is supposedly a couple of months old. I just bought the vehicle.

 

[cruisinTX]

I have never used a trickle charger or tender on our RT since purchase in 2017. It sometimes sits as much as 6 months without being ridden and it's never even struggled to turn over when I do start it. The only time I had trouble was when the OEM battery was nearing the end of its life and it cranked a little slow. Put the new battery in a couple of years ago and no problems just as before. I do the same with all my bikes that I use the Odessey PC680 batteries in. Granted we do not have excessively long cold spells here but it does get down to single digits a few times for a few days every winter.

 

[Mazo EMS2]

Plug it in everytime ya get off the bike....

 

[Peter Aawen]

I'm going to be out of town for a week. Would you plug it in before you go? I have been riding regularly up until now.

My battery is supposedly a couple of months old. I just bought the vehicle.

Wow, thanks for the info. Some vehicles can drain the battery in a few weeks if left alone. Since it has lots of electronics, I thought this might do the same.

As others have mentioned, it shouldn't really be a biggie to leave it that long if your battery is in good nick & you've been ryding for at least 30+ minutes at Hwy speeds at least weekly up until now/since you put the new battery in....

BUT, your RT is a 2012, and those V-twin Spyders have a Magneto Charge system (NOT an alternator like the 1330's :sour: ) and they also have some power drain whenever stopped, especially in the first 30 mins after stopping; so unless your last ryde was a good long ryde, it just might be smart to plug it in to a Battery Maintainer/Conditioner.

It might not be strictly necessary over just a week long lay-up, especially if there's a chance you might ryde it in that time, but leaving a 12v battery sitting with a 'less than full' charge to start with for anything much longer than that really isn't going to be all that wonderful for the battery's chances of lasting as long as it might if kept properly charged all the time.... .... and a 'shorter than an hour or so' s ryde at Hwy speeds' immediately before shutting down & letting it start draining power a bit for 30 mins, then trickling power out from there on in is definitely not gonna be great for it in the long term - and that's EXACTLY what the V-Twin Spyders do! :shocked:

So if I were you, I'd play it safe & plug it in (but as said, to a Maintainer, NOT just a Charger :lecturef_smilie: ) in fact, that IS what I do for my 2013 V-Twin RT, have done since I bought it new back in 2013, and I only fairly recently (well, within the last year or so anyway ) felt the need to replace the original battery cos it was starting to slow a little when cranking, especially on cold mornings.... . I usually ryde more often than just weekly; and most of my rydes are longer than an hour at Hwy speeds, so my battery gets looked after fairly well; but I'm pretty sure that it lasted as long as it did because I connected it up to a maintainer/conditioner whenever I wasn't going to ryde for a week or more. If I was still around the place (rather than off in the bush or o/s somewhere ) then as others suggested, I'd only leave it on for a day or two each week or so; but the point is that for any lay-up longer than a week it got regular charge/conditioning attention &/or connected to the Maintainer/conditioner for the duration of it's lay-up. :lecturef_smilie: . Of course, it's your Spyder & your battery, so you can do with it as you will; but for these V-Twin Spyders with a Magneto charge system that's 'adequate' rather than 'ideal' or 'great' at putting charge back into your battery, I reckon it's only smart to make the minimal effort needed in order to keep your battery in top condition and give it it's best chance a lasting for a long time.... hyea:

Just Sayin' :thumbup:

 

[Longtimer]

Make sure you use a ground fault outlet so if something goes wrong with the battery tender or charger.it will trip and shut off power to device. There has been some incidents with tender and chargers. Just being a little safer

 

[Bfromla]

Should be fine, maintainers/tenders are different from trickle chargers & should not be confused. warmer temperatures will also help. While you’re at it good time to clean & check terminal connections :thumbup:opcorn:

 

[FrogmanDave]

Should be fine. I let mine sit all winter without charger/tender. In my experience the tender can cause more harm if left on all the time. I will randomly once or twice a year put tender /charger on over night.

This is my experience. I randomly charge my various batteries over the winter with a tender but have ruined several batteries leaving them plugged in all the time. I know people will disagree but this is my experience. Leaving it a week will be no problem at all. If it is, you have a bad battery.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

This is my experience. I randomly charge my various batteries over the winter with a tender but have ruined several batteries leaving them plugged in all the time. I know people will disagree but this is my experience. Leaving it a week will be no problem at all. If it is, you have a bad battery.

There are various types of Battery chargers .... anything other than one that States it is a battery " MAINTAINER " .... can cause problems ..... Mike :thumbup

 

[Tonylmiller]

I am on the road now. Because of the advice in this thread, I took it out for a good long ride since the weather was perfect. Then, after a few hours, I put it on the battery maintainer until it indicated that the battery was fully charged. Then I disconnected it.
So I will be gone for a week, but it is starting with a full charge. I guess it will be fine.

 

[FloridaSTS]

Plug it in everytime ya get off the bike....

Ditto… I “float” mine and tie a piece of red yarn to the handlebar as a reminder. Don’t ask me why.

 

[Tonylmiller]

Ok, for the end of the story, after one week without a battery tender, my Spyder was still fully charged. I won't be worrying about this in the future.
I did charge it before I left, but sitting for 6 days basically did not drain the battery enough to notice.