Guys, This is probably a stupid question but can I connect a charger to my battery while it is still in the bike with the cables connected or does it need to be removed from the bike. Removing the neg cable from the crankcase mounting looks like a bit of a challenge. 08 XL883

Many thanks,Scott

You can leave the battery connected just take the key out. Just make sure you use a good trickle charger and not a cheap and nasty one that will toast your battery.

Thanks mate, I will get myself one of those maintainence chargers that I can leave connected when not using the bike but this will get me going for now.

what about solar-powered ones? My bike is nowhere near a powerpoint...

Battery Fighters are a good brand - I paid more for the waterproof model.

Float charges are the go as mentioned. no need to worry if your battery is going to be cooked. I looked at a solar set up as well, just put a small panel on the roof, regulator and away you go. the cost for a resonable set up was about $150.00 and that was my cost. The float charger (sinergex) $50.00 for a 3.5amp unit. do you self a favor and run a positive and negitive to a plug that you can get at easy and change the charger end (most charges come with a plug instal kit now). if im not going to ride the scooter for a while it only takes 2 secs to plug it in.

i have my baby plugged into one of those that ozzie dave showed from ebay, they are too simple, the plug on the bike end just tucks back under the tank near the battery when not in use, it works well for me (((-:

Any bike, though Harleys do like power at startup. Its not necessary to buy one - its just better for battery life - a small investment that you can keep forever no matter what bike you own.

Just had a $99 service at Bike Works and noticed Blair sells float charger fitted to your bike for $79.95

So i got it done while i was there.

ive had a float charger on my boat (not used every month) for the last 4 years and the battery still test fine. how long will it last? dont know but if i go to start it now it will. just prolongs the life.

I used one of the C-Tech ones when I was having electrical problems as the battery was constantly discharging. It only takes a small drop to render the bike unusable, so if you started it with 50% charge you are doing well. Since the problems have been resolved though, never had an issue. There again, longest it has been left is a couple of weeks.