When to change battery.

[Wildrice]

I have a 2014 Rts bought new. Have less then 9k on it. When we are out riding we will be riding a hour or two. I have been noticing that when we do stop that when I go to restart the starter seams to load down a bit. Yes I do have Hid head and fog lamps with front fender lights, rear saddlebag markers and the led rear brake strips. Just wondering if I should be looking for a new battery.

While serving in the US Army on Oahu I had a 57 Mercury with a 10 yr old battery before it died.. What no warranty. I agree with the others--If it ever fails to start or gets slow to turn engine over---replace the battery at a time convenient to you--or else it can get expensive & disrupting your life's adventures.
Darrell

 

[EDBLU]

Pulling fuse?

Why is pulling the main fuse necessary, doesn't seem any need to as we don't with other vehicles? Can anyone shed further light on this?

I am about to change the battery on my wife's 2013 tomorrow. No one answered the question about pulling the fuse first.

 

[Easy Rider]

I am about to change the battery on my wife's 2013 tomorrow. No one answered the question about pulling the fuse first.

Sorry; got distracted.

It is NOT necessary.

Disconnect and isolate the negative battery cable first; then re-connect it last.
No need to mess with anything else.

 

[EDBLU]

Sorry; got distracted.

It is NOT necessary.

Disconnect and isolate the negative battery cable first; then re-connect it last.
No need to mess with anything else.

Thanks

 

[HayRog]

Just last week replaced the battery on our 2015 RT-L.
On starting the bike with the old battery, things were getting slower - a thirty month old battery !!
I religiously kept the bike on a Deltran Tender when we weren't riding, as I have done on all the bikes we've owned. Never had to replace one so soon though :-(

 

[Easy Rider]

Never had to replace one so soon though :-(

How old is your Deltran ? Ever checked the float voltage after the green light comes on ??

Your next battery likely will last much longer because........dealers neglect the batteries while on the showroom floor.
This often decreases the useful life by half or more.

Make sure the new one if fully charged before the first ride.

When I was test riding, one dealer had two machines fail to start. They finally rolled one back to the shop for a new battery.

P.S. Except during times when the machine will not be ridden for more than a month at a time, you should NOT need to use the battery tender.
But if it makes you feel better, it won't hurt anything either.
One thing that it will do is almost guarantee that when the battery finally does fail, it will be out on the road somewhere.