I got a 2011 heritage and my battery I think has finally died. I'm a hobby rider and basically ride once every 2 weeks. Over the 3 years it has completely died on me a few times and even though I have it on trickle charge 4 hrs a day it wouldn't start on me this morning. I know the best way is to keep riding it every day but my commitments won't allow it. So I'm off to buy a new battery this arvo. My question is what's the best way to keep it at its best. I hear the trickle charger can even dry out the battery so maybe trickle charge it every second day only till it's topped up.

Some trickle chargers will overcharge for sure.
But it seems these alarmed bikes need something to keep the
Battery topped up.
I only use a charger if my bike has sat for over a month or so,
And then i only use it overnight then remove.
But it has no alarm, and zero battery drain when off.
Maybe look at a small low current solar charger.
What brand charger is it ?

I'm at work at the moment so I can't look but I'm certain I bought a good quality one

Hi Matho, I had the same thing & generally ride every two weeks or so too. I replaced my battery & also bought a Ctek charger. This is their web site http://www.ctek.com/au/en/page/whycharge. I Paid about $100 for it but all the info indicates it will maintain the battery by monitoring it & doesn't just feed a constant trickle charge into the battery all the time. I did this about 3 months ago so can't say long term how it is going. My neighbour has a bike & has had one of these chargers for a few years & swears by it.

I use a Ctek as well, but still don't like leaving it on all the time.

From memory mines an Arlec. I just might put the charger on every second day or so till I get the green fully charged light on. Also when I'm replacing the battery to save the alarm going off do I first put the ignition on remove the battery replace it then turn the ignition off????

From memory mines an Arlec. I just might put the charger on every second day or so till I get the green fully charged light on. Also when I'm replacing the battery to save the alarm going off do I first put the ignition on remove the battery replace it then turn the ignition off????

Turn ignition on, pull out main 40amp fuse, then disconnect battery.

Thanks heaps fatboy mac

I'd replace the Arlec, look for a CTEK MXS3.6 charger, handy for cars as well.
Or a cheaper bike only, a CTEK XS 0.8 (can trickle a car as well, but not full charge)

Might ask about one speedzter this arvo when I'm picking up my battery at Harley City

Harley markets a trickle charger / battery monitor with fused leads that stay on bike as well as clip on ones they are great value and quality it was either $62 or $65.

go a ctec heaps better and you can buy the on bike/car leads with flashing led which changes when battery is getting low

green a ok

orange needs a trickle

red charge me dipstick before iam fucked

l use the Harley trickle charger , have done for the last year mine is on all the time when not using the bike , prior to this the factory yuasa battery lasted 3 years. The battery in it now is a motobatt l would have preferred replacing it with a yuasa , availability was a problem. Time will tell if these are any good but the bottom line is if you have an alarm system fitted you need to have some sort of charge system when not using the bike

Well I've gone and bought my genuine Harley battery AND Harley trickle charger. I had reward points on my card so instead of costing me $240 all up it only cost me $150. Whose a happy boy??? I've installed the battery and spun out how quick the bike kicked over, its never done that in years. I've hard wired the lead to the battery and now it's sticking out from under the seat and it's recommend for the charger to be left on all the time to maintain the charge. I'm a very happy camper now!