wiring question

[CatatonicBug]

I did a similar thing, but went straight to the battery for mine. I just added a round terminal on the end of each of 2 wires (one for each battery terminal screw) and ran the wires to a 2-prong molex connector that hangs under the right side cover. I then created an adapter wire for my battery charger so I can just plug it all in without even removing the seat.

[cywelchjr]

Could you elaborate on this please? By 'battery tender' do you mean some sort of battery charger? Do you mean that you have wires attached to the two terminals in the auxiliary power thing permanently and then attach a battery charger to them? It sounds like a great way of avoiding taking the battery out to charge it (panel off, seat off, battery stay unscrewed etc etc) , so I'm hoping that's what you mean. If so, what kind of charger are you using???

Battery Tender is a charger that runs a normal charge till the battery reaches say 14.5 volts, then drops back to a 12.5 volt or so maint setting until the battery voltage drops below a certain point and then kicks back into charge mode again. It will kick in and out keeping the battery up just below the full charge line like normal usage would while it's being stored. Putting the leads on like that allows you to do this without having to remove the battery from the bike, so then to put the bike back in service, assuming you drained the carbs, you just prime the carbs, unplug the tender from the battery, and start it up.

[Nubian]

Battery Tender is a charger that runs a normal charge till the battery reaches say 14.5 volts, then drops back to a 12.5 volt or so maint setting until the battery voltage drops below a certain point and then kicks back into charge mode again. It will kick in and out keeping the battery up just below the full charge line like normal usage would while it's being stored. Putting the leads on like that allows you to do this without having to remove the battery from the bike, so then to put the bike back in service, assuming you drained the carbs, you just prime the carbs, unplug the tender from the battery, and start it up.

Can you do that with all types of batteries? I was under the impression that the cells had to be open to breath while charging, unless it's a sealed battery of course.
Also noticed that the auxiliary terminal is fused @ 7.5 amps. Is that enought to run extra lights and or power terminal for cell phones /gps device etc.....?

[cywelchjr]

Can you do that with all types of batteries? I was under the impression that the cells had to be open to breath while charging, unless it's a sealed battery of course.
Also noticed that the auxiliary terminal is fused @ 7.5 amps. Is that enought to run extra lights and or power terminal for cell phones /gps device etc.....?

The batteries have a breather system as they are constantly being charged and discharged under use anyways. Even sealed systems aren't really sealed, they have breather systems as well. As for the aux, you don't have very much reserve capacity on these bikes anyways, and 7.5 amps is probably more than there is left after all the normal stuff, as a matter of fact, given normal specs for circuits and assuming they went with the 1.5 to 1 formula rather than the 2 to 1 formula for fusing on that circuit, you shouldn't put devices requiring more than about 5 amps. That said, most of those devices draw a small fraction of that amount, with the exception of the lights, and those should NOT go through the aux circuit anyways, they need their own circuit anyways.

[jwhughes3]

auxillary circuit

The AUX circuit where I hooked up the tender is a 10 AMP circuit - easily handles the 1-2 amp load the tender may run thru it to keep the battery up. I only hook it up when I am going to be travelling and away from the bike for awhile and want to "top it up" when I want to ride again.

John

[Axel]

charger leads

My tender/ maintainer / minder charger came with leads with eye connectors so you could permanently attach them to the battery posts and just plug the charger in without much fuss .
I was told NEVER to charge the battery with any more than 1.5 amps . More than that will harm the battery and at least boil it dry over time . I left a 2 amp minder on all one winter ( 6 months) and the electrolyte was down quite a bit . Since then I have been using the 1.5 amp minder on all winter long in the bike with no problems or fluid loss . The battery is now 5 years old and shows no sign of weakening