I will not be riding a 2018 GW for about one month. Do I need to do anything for storage? I do not want to put the battery on a trickle charger unattended.
No, just check tire pressure when you get ready to ride it. I would leave it on the centerstand too. I have a few motorcycles and my wing can easily go a month before I fire it up.
I really don't do anything much special when mine sits over "winter", or at least he non-riding season (which can be six months, or more). I plug the trickle charger in a couple times and never leave it on longer than it takes to indicate fully charged. Always on the centerstand when parked longer than a few days. Startron fuel enzyme additive when it's not ridden regularly.
For just a month it's just like any other extended parking.
Only a month?... you really don't have to do anything, not even have the battery tender on it. If you come back and the battery is weak, there is a problem. One month should not discharge your battery. I leave all my bikes on a battery tender when not riding. I've left my GW on it over six months, only periodically looking to see if the green light is on. Never took the tender off... Never started the bike, etc. My CBR1000RR has gone over 8 months without being started sitting on a tender. They have all started right up when asked...
30 years of riding. A daily rider. Maybe 10 or 11 different bikes. I have ALWAYS used a trickle charger on a DAILY basis. Yes. Every time I get off the bike for the night, I attach the charger. It's my daily routine. THAT'S the beauty of a trickle charger......you can leave it connected basically forever. It won't harm/overcharge the battery.
I have NEVER had a problem with a battery. 30 years.
Perhaps you mean one can leave a battery tender/maintainer connected for extended periods of time. A "trickle charger" will eventually overcharge and harm a battery.
Make sure there’s no cheese eating critters in your storage area and use a battery maintainer on it to keep the battery peaked, but not over charged. Your battery will thank you later.
If you're burning any gasoline with ethanol, I recommend putting some fuel additive like Sta-Bil in the tank. Run it around a couple blocks then shut down. Put it up on the Center stand and disconnect the negative terminal from the battery. Put your cover on.
Greg
2004 GL1800
Rider 123, 2019 Tour of Honor
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Keeping the terminology clear. A trickle charger by definition has no monitoring circuit to stop or control the charging when the battery has had enough. A maintainer or float mode charger has a monitoring circuit that controls the amount of current entering the battery to keep from over charging it. Most batteries can probably handle a trickle charger for overnight charging since it’s not putting out much to start with, but long term storage really needs a maintainer to keep from cooking the battery. Now, with that said, I think most Battery Tenders have some monitoring built in, but I wouldn’t use one for long term storage unless I was absolutely sure it monitors and wouldn’t cook the battery.
I agree with this. Trickle charger is old school terminology before smart chargers. Older people tend to use them as interchangeable words.
I have been thinking about storing high dollar cars where people are willing to pay $100 a month for climate controlled storage. Talked to my insurance company about it. They didn't care as long as each individual carried storage insurance on their cars. Then they offered this pearl of wisdom... "Make sure that they take their batteries out and take them with them though. 95% of fires in storage facilities begin with batteries."
So if I am going to store something for longer than 2 months the batteries come out and get put on a smart tender where I can monitor them everytime I enter or leave the garage.
Battery Tender Junior allows you to connect the charger to your battery (either in or out of the vehicle) and forget about it until you are ready to put the battery to work.
Like all Battery Tender chargers, once the battery has reached a 100% charge the Junior automatically switches it's output voltage to a safe, storage/float level that eliminates the need to worry about the damaging effects of overcharging. If/when the battery voltage drops too far under load, output power will begin again bringing you battery back to a fully charged state.
I've been down the lighting strike road. Took out all kinds of electronics and the HVAC (heating side). Didnt know it until 4 months later when it got cold!!
Greg
2004 GL1800
Rider 123, 2019 Tour of Honor
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Indeed, I think he got the usual answer for most questions on this board...
"Yes, you should..."
"No, you shouldn't..."
"Good to do..."
"Waste of time..."
:wink2:
Certainly nothing wrong with the above suggestions, but for just a month of "storage" having it on a batt tender, putting Sta-bal in the tank, unhooking the battery etc seems a bit overkill to me, but it certainly won't hurt.
Those who put the bike on a tender every night though they ride everyday... I just don't see the point of that. Won't hurt, but doubt that is remotely needed. I certainly am a tender user, but when the bike is put up and I don't know when I'll be back on it. I gather the OP was concerned if the bike would suffer any neglect or damage if left unattended for a month. I suspect a GW could set for a year without anything being done and other than a weak or dead battery, it would fire right up without issue....
Yep, agree with others. A "smart" trickle charger like the Battery Tender would be my first recommendation unless it will be stored in extreme heat in which case I'd recommend removing the battery. Not that It would happen, but it could happen.....battery slowly goes dead and causes problems with the electronic systems that are always on. A tender and a battery that will start the bike when I want it too is always way cheaper and less hassle than having to change a battery.
I've had more than average experiences letting things sit around for long periods of time, many times longer than 10yrs. I would just let sit a month and do nothing other than hooking up a volt meter to the battery at start time. If above 12.7v, good to go, start and ride. If below, charge a few hours then start and ride. Battery tenders, trickle chargers, ect I have tried many, and over the years despite the common idea that batteries should be happy and fine sitting on these things, all of them do more harm than good in my experience.
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