new battery time

[moparkid]

So I learned a valuable lesson today...replace your battery before you need to or you could be left stranded. I should have used my head and replaced my battery before now as the bike is 3 years old and has 25,000 miles on it. Started fine and got me to work but then at lunch I jump on it and....nothing. Unlike a car battery that gives you some notice its going bad a bike battery doesnt do that. Fortunately a young man at work with a truck offered me a lift to the house...good kid, and saved me 200 bucks. Replaced battery from AutoZone for about 89 with core trade. That wont happen again. Anybody know how to test battery to know when its time to change it?

[PapaSoldTheHarley]

Curious were you hooking up your Scoot to a battery tender at night?

[ScooterWolf]

My DT is still new so I haven't had any battery issues. But I thought the dash had a battery warning light. Would that let you know that your
charge is low?

-Wolf

[moparkid]

Never used a battery tender because I rode everyday weather permitting. It is my mode of transportation out of pleasure. I never saw any warning lights come on that would have dictated the need to replace battery. I suppose one could test it yearly with a voltmeter?

[PapaSoldTheHarley]

Not trying to say I have all the answers (or that Harley Davidson does either); but for years the local harley dealership installs the pigtails and gives a battery tender with every new bike they sell. The service guy told me hooking it up when not in use doesn't hurt anything (the tenders shut off when a full charge is reached). You would have warning something is going on when the charge isn't being held, or cannot be accepted. The charging systems on motorcycles and scooters (according the service tech) are not as good as they are on cars. I would opt for the tender and connect when not in use. 

[BettinANDlosing]

2-3 years out of a small motorcycle battery with use every day is about the norm. Some Yuasa will go longer. If it's dead out of nowhere one day most likely one cell died, breaking the series in the battery pack. The "charge" light on most bikes won't light up tell the battery is lower than 12v, if you leave your scoot on it will take a minute or two for the headlight to drag it down below that voltage. You can do a cranking amp test, or take the battery to any auto parts store and they can check it for free once a year. Or just replace the battery when it starts acting up.

[ScooterWolf]

From what I've been told the DT's headlights are a strong drain on the battery if the engine isn't running. If you had many long moments of the bike on, but not started up I wonder if that may have an impact?

-Wolf

[BettinANDlosing]

From what I've been told the DT's headlights are a strong drain on the battery if the engine isn't running. If you had many long moments of the bike on, but not started up I wonder if that may have an impact?

-Wolf

I wouldn't leave the key on any bike where the lights are on with the key for more than 10-15 seconds. These batteries are not meant for "deep cycle".

[de dee]

  the other day I was hooking up the LED lights and had the lights on to check polarity for the LED lights , and ran the battery down and it would turn over but not start, boosted it and started right up, would have been smart to leave it running to check lights,  next time,  if I remember!