Do you carry a charger?

[ottawa-rider]

I carry one, a Noco GB20 that I bought in the spring of 2017. I was concerned that the battery of my then 2014 was going on to 4 years.

It saved the day on an outing when the battery of a buddy on a Kawasaki went south. Ended up jumping his bike three times that day.

 

[bhern]

I sure appreciate the recommendations and thoughts of everyone on this topic. I'd been hemming and hawing -- or maybe hawing and hemming -- about what kind of emergency repair stuff I should be carrying, and about a week ago I picked up a deck screw in a tire and barely made it to a station with an air pump and a tire repair kit for sale. While I'm not as worried about the battery suddenly going bad on me, the idea of having the ability to jump my bike, someone else's bike, or our car in a pinch is pretty compelling, and the air compressor in the Rugged Geek Safety Plus was the clincher. Ordered.

 

[Spydermon]

Yup. Viking from Harbor Freight, a compressor, a plug kit, an emergency towing card from Markel insurance and a cell phone. I hope I never need any of it.

 

[Bfromla]

Another log on the Rugged Geek pile, I've used mine for others, but not yet on my spyder, but's it's always in the frunk.

Dont forget to recharge it like every 3 months minimum! :lecturef_smilie:Any of them get too low they WONT charge:gaah:
Yes I carry a Bully similar to the halo& others, but lil different (the USBs are built in & came with 12vdc out cigarette plug, handy) & it's pouch fits the "formally Lamonster approved air pump", mine still works thankfully & they both about same size the pump being round & the pack flat rectangle. Wanted the rugged geek & still do, just got other at a right time.***& AMA roadside :firstplace::2thumbs:

 

[jaherbst]

Hi Jack!
Now this is where we part ways with our opinions...
If I want to take a risk: I'll drink two glasses of prune juice, and go to Church! :shocked:

Wow now that's going way out on a limb Bob!

Jack

 

[jaherbst]

I have had issues with my Brand new Battery on my brand new 2014 Spyer RT from day one. ( it actually failed the day I bought it ) ... Because there is no way you can predict when your battery is going to DIE ( with 100% accuracy ) I bought a mini Lithium jumper device …. that was two years ago ,,, I haven't had to use it for me … but have helped others …. I have a brand new ( un-filled Yuasa in the basement ) that I will activate if my battery finally dies …. that could be this Spring or 5 years from now. …. When that occurs I will fill and charge my new one ….. JMHO …. Mike :thumbup:

Mmmmmm? My Yuasa never needs filling it is sealed. Yes it is the correct one (OEM). It is a sealed one. I always put in a new battery every 3-4 years here in the old pueblo. The heat kills them quickly. Also I do not wait until the batterie gives me it's last ounce of life. That's when you are looking for problems.

Jack

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Mmmmmm? My Yuasa never needs filling it is sealed. Yes it is the correct one (OEM). It is a sealed one. I always put in a new battery every 3-4 years here in the old pueblo. The heat kills them quickly. Also I do not wait until the batterie gives me it's last ounce of life. That's when you are looking for problems.

Jack

Good on you Jack, I'm very happy that you support the Battery industry...… My best friend is a Master mechanic with 55 yrs. experience, He buys " UNFILLED - DRY batteries " when ever possible..... He generally keeps them for 10 plus years …. If He's wrong on this …. well then so am I.... For those who can't follow the directions on how to properly charge a new battery - well then I highly recommend buying one that eliminates human error..... Mike :thumbup:

 

[Road-Kill]

I was thinking the same thing.
I carry my AAA insurance card, my cell and credit card.

A good idea for some, but I am not one of them.

Five Spyders and 145,000 miles over 8 years. Have not needed a jump start once.

Space is a premium for me.

 

[Chiisai]

I have one, it stays in my saddlebag. I have used it many times to start my Spyder (yesterday as a matter of fact. Also used it several times to jump start my partners 2018 Goldwing when he forgot to turn it off). Today I ordered a new battery for my Spyder as it is going on 3 years old and is having a really tough time with the cold temps, even after keeping on a trickle charger.

 

[PW2013STL]

Yes - Purchased a Rescue Pak+ two years ago. Had to jump our 2014 RT at an event. Later Jumped started an Audi in Costco's parking lot. It was fun when I pulled it out to jump his car an he said "That's going to start my car!" I said yep and it started. He than told me "I'm getting one of those!!"

 

[jaherbst]

Good on you Jack, I'm very happy that you support the Battery industry...… My best friend is a Master mechanic with 55 yrs. experience, He buys " UNFILLED - DRY batteries " when ever possible..... He generally keeps them for 10 plus years …. If He's wrong on this …. well then so am I.... For those who can't follow the directions on how to properly charge a new battery - well then I highly recommend buying one that eliminates human error..... Mike :thumbup:

Nothing wrong with that thinking Mike. Here in Tucson most all batteries are toast after 3-4 years due to the extreme heat. Just a fact of life. I wish it were not so. Batteries in Seattle lasted me 8-10 years but then again it never got to be 120* in the shade there. Thank God!
Jack

 

[ozarkryder]

About 7 or 8 years ago on our yearly Minnesota trip the battery (1800 Goldwing Champion trike at the time) seemed to be getting weaker as the trip home went on. Finally wouldn't start at a gas stop in Osceola, IA, and nobody seemed to have cables. Finally got a jump and didn't shut down the trike for the next 2 gas stops until we got home. A few weeks later at Bikes, Blues and BBQ we came across the first compact lithium booster we had seen. Gloria immediately bought one for the bike, and we got another for the car later.
For the Spyder and the other bikes we now have a Whistler SafeStart for smaller engines, like motorcycles. It is about the size of 2 of my Galaxy 7 phones stacked on top of each other. Both bikes and both trikes have SAE pigtail for battery charger/maintainer, on the RTL it is in the frunk behind the zip in liner. (Pic below) I made a connection to hook up the jump starter from an extra maintainer pigtail.so I don't have to remove covers, seats and such to use the jump starter. I put on some replacement battery posts on the ring terminals to hook the jump box clamps, and switched the black and red wire so the colors match when plugging it in. I covered the nuts on the terminals with a section of shrink wrap to keep the terminals apart when using the jump box. Tried it on the Harley and it worked well (Another pic below)
Pigtail jump adapter:
Pigtail in frunk to battery behind manual:

 

[stmike 1800]

I have a small booster pack ,if needed will plug into cord for the GPS . Also have a small compressor and plug kit ,which i have used .
Better safe than sorry .:2thumbs:

 

[jbim]

Five Spyders and 145,000 miles over 8 years.

That's impressive considering you live in Alaska. You should get a reward from BRP, maybe even sponsorship! I suppose you ride ski-doos in the winter.

 

[Bob Denman]

When he rides: he likes to sing this song :roflblack::

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5sKl_01eU8

 

[bhern]

I just ordered the rugged geek rg1000 saftey plus, which comes with an air compressor too. I'd rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it. I don't have it but will probably post an update once it arrives.

Plus I can help others, and easily move it to another vehicle if I'm going on a road trip.

Mike

Mike -- has yours arrived yet? Mine arrived yesterday, and I'm happily surprised/impressed. Thankfully haven't had occasion to jump start anyone yet, but I've already used the air compressor to top off my tires and get them back to the proper pressure. We don't have a garage and space is at a premium, so being able to address tire pressures from our starting point (vs. ryding to the nearest full service station) is very handy. Thanks again to everyone for their input on this topic.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Both bikes and both trikes have SAE pigtail for battery charger/maintainer, on the RTL it is in the frunk behind the zip in liner. (Pic below) I made a connection to hook up the jump starter from an extra maintainer pigtail.so I don't have to remove covers, seats and such to use the jump starter. I put on some replacement battery posts on the ring terminals to hook the jump box clamps, and switched the black and red wire so the colors match when plugging it in. I covered the nuts on the terminals with a section of shrink wrap to keep the terminals apart when using the jump box. Tried it on the Harley and it worked well (Another pic below)
Pigtail jump adapter:View attachment 167803
Pigtail in frunk to battery behind manual:View attachment 167802

Considering the size of the wires in the pigtails and the current draw of the starter you have an exceedingly high risk of melting the pigtail wires if you jump the bike when its battery is way low. There's a reason why battery cables are such heavy wires. It's take heavy wire to carry heavy starting current. If you plug your jump battery to the bike and let it sit for 20 or 30 minutes you may charge the bike battery enough to avoid melting the pigtail wires.

 

[IGETAROUND]

I Have carried Lamonts Rugged Geek in my frunk for about a year. Recharged it once, and have started three cars (neighbors, and lady in store parking lot) but as of now not needed for our Spyders....my wife says I have too many gadgets

That's what they ALL say

Al in Kazoo

 

[spyderjeffrey]

Yes,my battery is 5 years old 2013 sts:spyder2:

 

[tibadoe]

I keep the NOCO GB40 in each vehicle & 2 wheeler, NOCO GB150 in the truck. Never needed either for myself as of yet - but glad I have it if the time comes.