[DonaldLL]

Hey guys,

In the past I had a Battery Tender for my bike. I sold that bike and the charger went with it... I need a charger and since I don't have one for the car I figured I might as well get one that'll do double duty for MC and auto. any suggestions?

 

[DreamWeaver]

Donald the Battery Tender is all you need. The puppy works fine on either one. I have the little water proof model and it works like a charm. My 2 cents.... BUT....it will NOT work on your Body Guard....
Isaac

 

[Two Wheel Wing]

Not sure you can find one to do "double duty". I would be hesitant to hook a regular car battery charger to the bike. I have the Battery Tender for the Wing for over 10 years and it still works fine. I have it wired to the battery and can plug it in whenever the Wing is in the garage. JMHO..

 

[DonaldLL]

I was looking at the Battery Tender site. I think I just get one of the 5A models that way it works on the bike and if I need to charge an auto battery it'll work better than the smaller models like 800mA or 1.25A

 

[fossil92]

Hey Donald. I use a battery tender for the Bikes/Lawn Mower but I also have this Schumacher Charger that can be used on various batteries if need be. I think it was around $40.00.

http://www.batterychargers.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductName=94026806ACP

 

[rigginray6]

I used a old sears charger that has 3 options the option for the bike was slow charge,2amps to 3amps, the other normal charge is for reg car batteries which charges between 10 and 20amps, and boost for car batts. at about 30amps plus!! I do use an old Indian batt tender on occassion!

 

[C17Flyer]

I use the OptiMate 3+, works great on all types, Wet cell or gel. Does all the battery "fixing" as well. Alitlle more $ than the Battery Tender but not if you look online for it.

 

[macmike100]

The battery tender is safe for your bikes with smaller batteries. Don't throw a heavy charger (like a 10 amp charge) on your bike bat because it can boil things inside the bat and shorten it's life if not ruin it. If you're going to charge the bike bat with a heavy duty car battery charger, use the lower setting if you have one...like about a 2 amp charge to be safe.
It's hard to get around not owning both types of chargers. The battery tender with a wired pigtail for easy connections is just so darn convenient. That's what I do also.
I use the big charger for when my car bat goes dead and the battery tender for the bikes.

 

[budoka]

I have both a Battery Tender and the Optimate 3. I got the Optimate pigtails so hook up is a snap. I keep the Tender on my RZR during the winter (I use it for plowing snow, keeps the battery up to snuff) since the winch draws so much juice. I plug in the Optimate to the Wing about once a month. C17 is right about the cost of the Optimate, but with the refresh capability, it's well worth the buy-in.