Battery Maintenance Question

[cowboyona426]

Greeting from the YZ side of the forums.  I just picked up a YZ 450FX and it's my first bike with e-start or a battery for that matter and I'm looking for some input.  I figured this would be a better place to ask than the YZ forum since the FX is still relatively new to the world.  I'm curious about battery maintenance- is a battery tender a wise investment?  Right now I'd guess that riding time will be intermittent throughout the summer, maybe 1-2 times per month.  Will the battery hold it's charge that long?  Would starting the bike and letting it run for a few minutes once a week if I'm not riding be sufficient to keep the charge up?  And out of curiosity, does anyone know if a battery tender can be connected to the battery without disconnecting it from the bike?  Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[DPete]

Deltran battery tenders come with a pigtail you hook up to the battery then tuck the connection in somewhere convenient. I have them on everything Estart. You don't need to leave it on, just charge until the light turns green and disconnect. Repeat every couple weeks, they are a good way to maintain batteries as they don't over charge

[beezer]

Before I started using lithium batteries I always used a trickle charger.  Took the seat off and attached the alligator clamps to the battery.

 

Now I use Anti-Gravity batteries and they don't seem to lose voltage so I don't bother with a trickle charger.

 

I tried Shorai batteries but had 2 go bad on me.

[cowboyona426]

Now I use Anti-Gravity batteries and they don't seem to lose voltage so I don't bother with a trickle charger.

 

Which battery do you run?

[2009wr450]

A solar tender is a neat thing to keep the battery tip top but probably not needed if ridden every couple weeks.

How do you like the FX so far?

[toten]

I've been using Shorai LFX14L2 batteries for a while. One of them was first in my SV1000 (custom subframe without much space), and is now in the WR. No problems other than when I left the ignition on and killed the battery. As long as there's no parasitic draw, lithium batteries have a very low self discharge rate - around 10%/year. I'd be very surprised at any battery problems riding once a month (unless there's a drain). Still, it's a good idea to put a Battery Tender cord on and just leave it plugged in. 

 

I'm not sure I'd expect a couple minutes to be enough to recharge much, especially if you use the electric starter, but I could be wrong. 

[beezer]

Which battery do you run?

 

 

Anti-gravity.  Better quality than the Shorai.

 

You can get one that fits your battery box perfectly.

[GASKICKER]

Greeting from the YZ side of the forums.  I just picked up a YZ 450FX and it's my first bike with e-start or a battery for that matter and I'm looking for some input.  I figured this would be a better place to ask than the YZ forum since the FX is still relatively new to the world.  I'm curious about battery maintenance- is a battery tender a wise investment?  Right now I'd guess that riding time will be intermittent throughout the summer, maybe 1-2 times per month.  Will the battery hold it's charge that long?  Would starting the bike and letting it run for a few minutes once a week if I'm not riding be sufficient to keep the charge up?  And out of curiosity, does anyone know if a battery tender can be connected to the battery without disconnecting it from the bike?  Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I usually put the tender on a day or two before I go riding, my bike only sees 20-25 hrs a year; prior to doing this the battery did die on me after using the magic button all day. I do have the pigtail tucked in the airbox so its an easy connection. My battery is at least 5 yrs old now, Im just nursing it along....not sure I would do this procedure on a brand new battery.

[cowboyona426]

A solar tender is a neat thing to keep the battery tip top but probably not needed if ridden every couple weeks.

How do you like the FX so far?

 

I haven't gotten a chance to really ride the FX yet, just picked it up last weekend.  Just riding around my property though I'm very impressed with the amount and delivery of power and the suspension.

 

Anti-gravity.  Better quality than the Shorai.

 

You can get one that fits your battery box perfectly.

 

Understood, but I was curious which model you run.

[bobsled]

I wouldn't buy a dedicated battery tender / trickle charger simply for the cost of such a limited unit.....what I would buy is a full current battery charger that also has a 1amp, .5 amp, or .2 amp mode along with higher currents (5,8,10, 15 amp, etc)....make sure that it is an automatic charger, so you don't boil the battery

It's best to put the battery on the charger at the end of the ride, as opposed to a day or two before the next ride

Also, always use the lowest possible current (power) setting when possible, to extend the life of your battery

If you really want to get fancy, some chargers also have a "de-sulfide" mode that will "clean" the cells.....I will admit, it seems to work about half the time on iffy batteries (mostly ones that are getting weak due to age, not so much on one's that have been ran dead & recharged multiple times)

Edit: on a side note, after I start the bike from cold using the e-start I will kick start the bike any time I can, so that I save my battery for getting tangled up on knarly hills & such....my battery is just a touch small for my needs sometimes & after the fifth failed attempt up a hill the battery will often become quite weak.....but thats just me

Edited May 5, 2016 by bobsled

[GASKICKER]

Edit: on a side note, after I start the bike from cold using the e-start I will kick start the bike any time I can, so that I save my battery for getting tangled up on knarly hills & such....my battery is just a touch small for my needs sometimes & after the fifth failed attempt up a hill the battery will often become quite weak.....but thats just me

I often do this, but I kick it so I can feel like a man more than saving the juice for later on ?  Theres something metrosexual about e-start on a bike......I sure love mine when in tough situations though.

[cowboyona426]

 Theres something metrosexual about e-start on a bike......I sure love mine when in tough situations though.

 

??

I felt the same way about e-start and I told myself a few years back I'd never have a dirt bike with e-start.  I'd still prefer not to have e-start on my FX for a dirt bike quite honestly, but I will be putting a snow bike kit on the FX this coming winter.  Last winter I was running a 2012 KX 450 and there were a few situations where balancing the bike was tedious in and of itself, much less trying to keep it standing upright while kick starting.  So I only got the e-start for snowbike use... that's my story and I'm sticking to it ?