Should battery be removed when charging?

[GSinUS]

Hi,

I am about to put my battery on a Battery Tender Plus.  Should I remove the battery from the bike, or can I just connect it to the batterry in place?

Thanks!

[Thor S Magic Bathtub]

No need to remove the battery. Just plug 'er in.

[GSinUS]

Thanks.  One more question.  Bat tender's manual says to connect the negative terminal to a chassis instead of the terminal.  Do you know why/will it work this way?  I've always connected cables directly to the terminals (when jump starting the battery) and it worked fine

[starwalt]

Bat tender's manual says to connect the negative terminal to a chassis instead of the terminal.  Do you know why/will it work this way?  I've always connected cables directly to the terminals (when jump starting the battery) and it worked fine

The chassis/engine has the same electrical potential as the negative side of the battery because the large negative cable runs down to the bottom of the engine and is bolted there with a lug.

I am not sure why Bat Tend wants a connection there as opposed to the actual battery. If you have any resistance in the negative path to the engine/chassis, it will reduce the function of the gadget.  Of course if you do have a poor negative connection to the engine/chassis, you would have performance/operational issues with your bike.

The GS really doesn't have an auxillary negative or postive connections. This is often the lament of a rider that wants to add an electrical gadet to their bike.

You could always add a Powerlet type connector and interface the Batt Tend to that. You would then be able to leave the Batt Tend in the garage when you take a ride and then plug a different gadget in the Powerlet while riding.

The options are almost infinite...(not like parallel universes though).

[GeeP]

The reason is for safety.  Don't want the alligator clips crossing.   

Also, the negative cable should be the last attached and first removed.  This keeps sparks away from the battery.

[GSinUS]

The options are almost infinite...(not like parallel universes though).

Cool, so I can use an electric shaver on my way to work

Thanks for the info guys!

[John Bates]

............Bat tender's manual says to connect the negative terminal to a chassis instead of the terminal.  Do you know why/will it work this way? .......................

GeeP is correct.  By attaching the neg (-) clip last and at the frame, it places any spark away from the battery where hydrogen may have collected.  It's a safety thing.  Also covers the manufacturers butt in case someone does it wrong and causes a fire.

I think it's only critical if the battery is located such that hydrogen gas can collect around it.  Not the case with our bikes.