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[Glenncarp]

So, I was on vacation all last week, took the bike for 221 mile ride the day before I left, tender light was on yellow after ride, and when I got home from vacation, light still on "Charging" yellow.

Had buddy bring his tender over and all it has is red and green light, been on his tender for the better part of 6 hours now and light is still red, Amy idea on what could be draining my battery as it sits in the garage?

Hard to believe 2 battery tenders are malfunctioning. Bike starts fine and no issues with electronics. Just driving me nuts that battery in no longer fully charged at any time.

Thank in advance.

[J.D.]

Did you take a dc voltage reading of the battery with tender disconnected?

[Glenncarp]

Did you take a dc voltage reading of the battery with tender disconnected?

I did not, do have tester to check. Might have to get one

[J.D.]

Pretty much even the cheapest meter can measure dc voltage.  Taking readings before starting, while running, and after a decent length ride will tell most of the story.

[grc]

Do a load test on the battery and I'll bet the battery capacity has declined to the point you need to start looking for a new battery.  You can take it to a shop and have it tested, or do a quicky test at home using a voltmeter and a jumper to crank your bike with the ignition off.  You need the jumper wire to energize the starter solenoid (from battery wire at starter to solenoid wire connection).  Start with a fully charged (as best you can determine) battery, watch the volt meter as you crank the engine over for ten to twenty seconds.  If the voltage drops into or below the 9 volt range, the battery is toast.

Many people who always leave their bike on a tender don't realize they may be fooling themselves just because the bike starts right up on the first attempt.  Once that surface charge dissipates, if they stop somewhere without a way to hook up a tender, the next time they hit that start button they may get nothing.  After the first year, never assume a battery is too "young" to go bad.  At a minimum, an annual load test is a good idea to help keep you from being stranded with a bad battery.
 
JMHO - Jerry

[longlast]

If you haven't got one pick up one of these from your HD shop. They are a good tender
As been stated, also get a 12v DC tester and check the battery. At full charge the battery should hold a reading in the range of 12.5/12.3 v.
A load test will tell if a cell has failed in the battery.  If you pull the plug wires then  connect the tester to the battery turn on the ignition and hit the starter button while the motor is cranking over check the Voltage reading from the tester if it shows 9 or less volts the battery is toast, it will only have to crack for a few seconds to get the readings do the test at least three times.
Let us know how you make out with it.

[Glenncarp]

If you haven't got one pick up one of these from your HD shop. They are a good tender
As been stated, also get a 12v DC tester and check the battery. At full charge the battery should hold a reading in the range of 12.5/12.3 v.
A load test will tell if a cell has failed in the battery.  If you pull the plug wires then  connect the tester to the battery turn on the ignition and hit the starter button while the motor is cranking over check the Voltage reading from the tester if it shows 9 or less volts the battery is toast, it will only have to crack for a few seconds to get the readings do the test at least three times.
Let us know how you make out with it.

Thanks for the replies, turned out after leaving battery on my buddies tender all day, it turned green, so my 15 year old tender was shot.

[iski]

Thanks for the replies, turned out after leaving battery on my buddies tender all day, it turned green, so my 15 year old tender was shot.

I had a tender go bad.  Took a while to figure it out.  15 years these days is pretty good for electronics.