Charging system question

[BigNorm]

I just got done reading an old post about batteries and it seems almost everyone uses a battery tender of some type. I use my bike for daily transportation and have never had it on a charger. I've only had my bike a short while and would like to know it's going to start. Is the stock charging system not up to the task of charging the battery? I may want to add a sound system in the future as well. Is there any upgrade for the stock charging system?

 

[Bob R]

I only put mine on the tender if I am not going to be riding it for a couple of weeks. Other than that I have had no issues with it. I have a 2013 R3T and it charges just fine. When riding my battery voltage is around 14v, give or take a few points( 13.8-14.2) depending on the status of the battery. I think riding every day is just fine to keep the battery charged. My 2 centavos worth.

bob

 

[BigNorm]

I only put mine on the tender if I am not going to be riding it for a couple of weeks. Other than that I have had no issues with it. I have a 2013 R3T and it charges just fine. When riding my battery voltage is around 14v, give or take a few points( 13.8-14.2) depending on the status of the battery. I think riding every day is just fine to keep the battery charged. My 2 centavos worth.

bob

Thanks Bob. I have the 2014 Touring. Did you add some gauges? All that came with mine was the speedometer.

 

[Ygransom]

Since I only get to ride 1 or 2 weekends a month I keep mine on a tender. But when I was commuting on it I found that due to short distance and lots of low speeds putting it on tender every few weeks made it start easier.

 

[Bob R]

Thanks Bob. I have the 2014 Touring. Did you add some gauges? All that came with mine was the speedometer.

I am running a Garmin Nuvi. With that an a Garmin Mechanic OBD plug I can display a set of gauges on my GPS, or use it as a GPS when ever I want to see how fast I am really going.

Here is a thread about apps and such.

obd2 torque app

bob

 

[DEcosse]

... With that an a Garmin Mechanic OBD plug I can display a set of gauges on my GPS, ...

Just a quick note that the Garmin Mechanic WILL draw current through the OBDII connector with bike off.
But I see you tender it anyway.
(a search on the internet will lead you to stories of CARS with Garmin Mechanic parked for a few days at the airport, with driver returning to dead car)

Generally, a tender will only be required if you only ride it sporadically - it should go at least a couple of weeks without however.

 

[BigNorm]

Are there any aps that will work on a smart phone? I was thinking about making a place for my phone when I build my bars.

 

[Ygransom]

Torque comes in both a free and paid version works well. If you buy a bluethhoth OBD link from scantool it includes OBD Link.

 

[BigNorm]

I saw that in his attached link up there. Seems like cool tech. I don't like the idea of delay in the tachometer but being able to read the other engine functions would be great including how many volts are being produced. I think I read it's a good idea to set the idle a little higher to help with charging too. Does Torque have a speedometer display as well? We are talking about being distracted and where the touring model speedo is is horrible I don't like taking my eyes off where I'm going when I scan my speed.

 

[Ygransom]

Torque allows you to pick the items to display. You can also pick display type - analog or digital