Battery Tender Plus

We've all been ready to ride only to find a dead battery as we're loading the truck under the early morning moonlight for a weekend adventure. The familiar clicking sound of the relay is followed by a silence then a few phrases that can't be repeated in these pages. Batteries are one of the few items that have a better life when frequently used than with no use at all. If they sit, they will slowly lose their charge retaining insuffi cient power to get the starter turning. A simple solution to this common misfortune is to apply a trickle charger to the battery to keep the power level at its peak.

The Battery Tender Plus is an advanced battery charging system that no shop or garage should be without. This advanced system is a smart charger with the ability to sense a change in the status of the battery and charge as necessary. Unlike typical battery chargers the Battery Tender can be attached and remain on the battery until its next use with no fear of overcharge or damage. This is a great insurance policy with a price tag of only $59.95. The charger can be affi xed directly to the battery using traditional clamps or hard-wired to the diffi cult-to-reach battery with a male and female coupling. I prefer the hard-wired method to simplify things in the shop. Each machine has a pigtail under the seat that is simply plugged in whenever the bike is not in use. This unit is compatible with all 12-volt electrical systems, therefore you aren't limited to motorcycles. The ATV, boat, hot rod, lawn mower and crotch rocket can all benefi t from the purchase of a Battery Tender.

Very few items have seen the use that this particular product has endured over its three-year service life in my shop. As I mentioned earlier, we have all been in the situation where the battery has been discovered depleted at the last minute and we found ourselves struggling to make it to the track or trails. It has been three years since I last suffered this fate, and unless someone borrows and fails to return my Battery Tender, I plan to tack on a few more. -Mike Newsom, ATV Rider