how long to charge battery?

[Ddan]

^ +1

[Zaster]

Over the years I've found out that you don't want your battery getting close to being totally discharged which will do a number on your battery lifespan. Hook it up to a battery tender once a month until fully charged and then disconnect it.

[Rameses]

Batteries should be fully charged before put into service.

Okay, I thought that would be the answer.

Why is that?

[beethoven]

I have owned  a 97 900 for 5 years and after gradually losing charge constantly went to  new battery fully charged by shop before collecting. Seller should always tell you to have it charged before using. I also keep the battery topped up between rides with a battery tender after reading Yuasa manual and other web sites.
These batteries do not like to be run down as others have stated on this site. Marine Deep Cycle batteries are designed for that function.

[Howie]

One reason is the bike's charging system has a lot more output than your battery tender.  Put a new battery in your bike with only about a half charge, now start the bike, reducing the charge further, and your battery is looking at a high charging rate, something batteries don' like. Also, if the bike was not run  long enough to sufficiently charge the battery, under charged batteries sulfate.  Another issue with the batteries like Yuasa YT12B-BS (maintenance free shipped dry) is proper charging is necessary for proper absorption of electrolyte by the glass mat material.  Some claim low maintenance and maintenance free batteries can develop a memory and the battery may not completely charge after that.  I don't know if that is true.   More than likely the real issue is sulfation from the battery never reaching full charge.

[dlearl476]

IMO, a Battery Tender or some similar automatic, floating, battery charger is probably the single most important tool for a motorcyclist to own.

Along with these installed on every bike:

[tristantumble]

now for a dumb question. This is the charger i have: http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/0111543P/reviews.htm and i'm wondering what are the steps of recharging.

Do i connect the positive or negative first, and do i plug in the wall plug and then connect to the battery, or connect to battery and then plug it in the wall. Also once it is in the bike, what do i connect first?

thanks!
tt.

[Howie]

They didn't give you instructions?  Connect to battery first, then plug into wall, or, if it has a switch, just make sure the switch is off before connecting to battery. 

[Pink]

Along with these installed on every bike:

What is this and why do I need one?