Riding through the winter

[ArmyJoe]

Instead of winterizing, I'm planning to ride through the winter. It finally got above freezing, so I'll be taking it out for the first time in 3 weeks.

I'm assuming idle speeds won't keep the battery charged, so how long of a ride would be needed?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[sabunim5]

JMO, get a smart charger/battery tender and set your mind at ease.

 

[NancysToy]

Instead of winterizing, I'm planning to ride through the winter. It finally got above freezing, so I'll be taking it out for the first time in 3 weeks.

I'm assuming idle speeds won't keep the battery charged, so how long of a ride would be needed?

Thanks,
Joe

Not only will idle speeds not recharge a battery adequately, but the Spyder magneto charging system only can provide about half it's rated 500 W capacity at 4,000 rpm. As to the amount of time necessary, it depends on a lot of things. How far is the battery discharged after starting, was it on a charger to begin with, how cold it is, and how many accessories you may be running, such as foglights. If you run the battery down about one volt, it should take 1/2 hour to one hour to charge fully, at decent rpm. This is often difficult to achieve. My recommendation is to put the machine on a charger like the Battery Tender during the winter, and ride it long enough to bring it to full operating temperature for at least fifteen minutes if you ride it. Otherwise, don't start it at all.

 

[kman]

'Till the wife reports you "missing"!!!!!!!!!!!!:roflblack:

 

[bone crusher]

Not only will idle speeds not recharge a battery adequately, but the Spyder magneto charging system only can provide about half it's rated 500 W capacity at 4,000 rpm. As to the amount of time necessary, it depends on a lot of things. How far is the battery discharged after starting, was it on a charger to begin with, how cold it is, and how many accessories you may be running, such as foglights. If you run the battery down about one volt, it should take 1/2 hour to one hour to charge fully, at decent rpm. This is often difficult to achieve. My recommendation is to put the machine on a charger like the Battery Tender during the winter, and ride it long enough to bring it to full operating temperature for at least fifteen minutes if you ride it. Otherwise, don't start it at all.

Scotty,

Cool to know all this stuff! You knowledge base is most impressive! I'm keeping my bike on the tender plus all the time when I'm not running it (as per your suggestion)...I love the tender plus...it's awesome! I have been fortunate to take the bike out twice during the last week, if only to the gym...definitely better to ride during the day...getting quite cold at nights!

 

[jgwoods]

I've been riding all winter and just added a digital voltmeter to my Spyder to keep an eye on how it is charging when I use my heated gear. SO far so good.

It seems to me that there is a fair amount of parasitic draw on these vehicles although I haven't disconnected the battery and connected a milliamp meter to check it. I do notice that the cranking voltage drops off pretty quick if you let it sit for a few days so a battery tender is a very good idea unless you are going to ride almost daily.
Standing voltage is supposed to be 12.6v for a fully charged battery. Mine will show 12.3 after sitting 2 days.

Starting mine this morning after 3 days off showed 9.8v just as it started. I wouldn't be surprised if it gave out trouble codes if it dropped to 9.5v as happened to me a few weeks ago at 15 degrees f.

Voltage at idle is OK, mine shows 13.6 or so while it warms up and I go to connect my heated gear. It holds the same voltage upon hookup of the gear and as I drive it shows anywhere from 13.8 to 14.1. Good numbers generally.

One of the biggest draws on it is the DPS. it drops to 12.6 when doing a U-turn as you crank the bars.

Over all it looks to me like I can easily handle my Gerbings Jacket and gloves and probably a set for my wife as well with no worries about the battery going dead because of it.

 

[ArmyJoe]

One of the biggest draws on it is the DPS. it drops to 12.6 when doing a U-turn as you crank the bars.

Interesting observation. I wonder if I can use that to prove to the dealer my power steering is working intermittently.

 

[NancysToy]

Standing voltage is supposed to be 12.6v for a fully charged battery. Mine will show 12.3 after sitting 2 days.

This is usually a sign of either a sulfated (weak) battery, or the parasitic draw you mentioned. If your voltmeter is not shut off when the Spyder is not running, it could be the parasitic draw. There are others, but they are electronic, and small, so it should take weeks to draw down the battery this far. My battery stays up well above the normally accepted 12.6-12.7 volts for weeks, not days. I put it on the charger in the winter, though, or whenever riding is sporadic. Batteries become sulphated much faster if they are allowed to run down.

 

[jgwoods]

I suspect my battery is not going to last very long. It shows signs of sulfating and holding a surface charge only- when I shut it off it stays at about 13.1v for the 30 seconds until the power to the VM goes away.
Given that yours will hold at 12.6 for a good while, either I have a parasitic draw, or a poor battery soon to be a dead one.
I was careful not to add any electrical draw to it- wired a PC-8 fusebox with diode and i run my GPS and voltmeter switched off of that. I have no other accessories.

I don't have a warm place to work on it so I'll probabaly just put up with it if it keeps starting and then check for a draw when the weather gets warm .

 

[jgwoods]

Interesting observation. I wonder if I can use that to prove to the dealer my power steering is working intermittently.

I'll keep an eye on my Voltmeter to see if I can track the DPS. I suspect it won't tell me much just because the voltage drop is seen as you put effort into the bars. If you hold them still- straight or turned- the assist doesn't function it seems, so, as you go around a corner adding pressure to the bars, letting off a bit to correct the angle etc. the voltmeter shows that- it drops, pops back up, drops again etc.