My bikes don't get ridden all that often, being I am in San Francisco, don't commute and I only get out on one of em when I can. As a result, I suffer dead battery issues. Have for years, but I need to do something.
I have to park in a public garage and there are no electrical outlets that I can use, and even if there were, the garage owner is not about to let me tap into his utilities to use a trickle charger. So I plan to use a trickle charger in my basement.
Note: I have a battery charger, but it is NOT a trickle charger.
My questions are:
1. Which trickle chargers do you use? Any brand that is good or known by members to be a good one, so to speak?
2. What should I look for as to features. Most on eBay mention things like:
a. Automatic Battery Float Charger - huh?
b. Provides constant minimum current 12.5 VDC regulated output.
c. Some chargers provide a strong rapid charge BUT tend to boil out liquids & ruin the life of the battery. [that sounds bad].
3. Are they safe enough that I can hook it up and not worry about the thing blowing up and starting a fire. They seem safe considering that they are meant to stay on all the time.
4. Do trickle chargers "wear out" the battery over time? I think not since it does not seem any different than the charging that goes on when the bike is running.
Also, I am wondering if there are any quick connect/disconnect terminals for motorcycle battery cables, so I do not have to use the screwdriver each time I want to detach or attach the cables to the terminals.
I suspect there are none. If none, have any of you perhaps cut the cables and attached male/female connectors to both ends? Seems an easy workaround, but I would have to get connectors sufficient to handle the load, although I don't think there is that much.
Any tips would be appreciated.
P.s. This would be for the 1996 900 SS SP as it is the only bike I don't ride much and the only one the battery has pooped out on me. The bike had an alarm, which I thought might be draining the battery [even though I did not activate it]. Last weekend I yanked the whole thing out [in a way that Arnold the Terminator tore out that guy's heart at the beginning of the movie].
