[nomess]

Hi. I have a '03 AN 250, fuel injected, which I love. Plenty of underseat storage and enough grunt to sit on the speed limit anywhere...
My question: Because of short trips my battery gets flat. When I charge it do I have to disconnect it or can I charge it without disconnecting and with the ignition turned OFF.
It's a pain in the arse having to reconnect if it's not necessary
Thanks in anticipation.
Nomess

 

[Ralph M]

I have never disconnected the battery on my 400 to charge it, I have it on a timer
so it comes on for a hour every day but it does not need it just makes me feel better
if it gets left for a few weeks in the bad weather, if yours is actually going flat I would
check the charging just in case.

 

[Wes_Ingram]

Why not just get a "Battery Tender" or "Battery Tender Jr." and hook it up when you park it for the day. I have mine hooked all the time, unless I'm riding it. Anyway it's a '05 and still has the original battery. Just a thought. I use the "Jr." it does a maintenance charge so it will not over charge the battery. :thumbup:

 

[osbornk]

Why not just get a "Battery Tender" or "Battery Tender Jr." and hook it up when you park it for the day. I have mine hooked all the time, unless I'm riding it. Anyway it's a '05 and still has the original battery. Just a thought. I use the "Jr." it does a maintenance charge so it will not over charge the battery. :thumbup:

+1 on Jr.

 

[v8eyedoc]

Hi. I have a '03 AN 250, fuel injected, which I love. Plenty of underseat storage and enough grunt to sit on the speed limit anywhere...
My question: Because of short trips my battery gets flat. When I charge it do I have to disconnect it or can I charge it without disconnecting and with the ignition turned OFF.
It's a pain in the arse having to reconnect if it's not necessary
Thanks in anticipation.
Nomess

If you decide to purchase a Battery Tender or the Jr - It comes with 2 different types of attachments - a Pigtail to permanently attach to the battery tereminals (which is what I did) and a set of spring clips. It is detachable from the BT so if you choose the pigtail attachment - they are always fixed to the terminals and then all you need to do is join the BT cable to the combination male-female plug....... Good luck down under!!!

 

[nomess]

Thanks for the comments...
My main concern was whether I had to disconnect the battery when charging. It would appear that leaving the battery connected is not an issue.
(I really hate dropping that small nut from under the battery terminal.................!)
Thanks again for the advice.
Nomess

 

[mike1nw]

I use Battery Tender. Love it. It is always plugged in to something, in the garage.
I removed the plastic bulkhead so I can open the glove box, and connect the Battery Tender clamps. Can leave the battery leads connected.
On a long trip, I would re-install the bulkhead though, to keep the battery in place.

 

[lloyd123]

I've connected the perament pigtails to the battery of my new Burgman - as I did for my last scooter for three years - and attach a trickle charger/maintainer to it whenever I'm not out riding.

What does worry me is during the summer when there are thunderstorms - I disconnect the charger whenever storms are predicted. A few years back I lost two garage door openers and a TV to a surge for a lighting strike close to the house. If the battery weren't connected to the rest of the electrical circut in the bike it might not be a problem but a surge might(?) cause damage even though the key is in the off position - at least I don't want to risk it.

 

[Jim]

Is this the original battery?

I finally had to replace mine for the 1st time last summer (an '03). I guess they don't last longer than 9 years :wink:

Never need a battery tender. However, if have additional access. a tender is a good idea.

As for charging, no need to remove the battery.