Battery Maintenance

Hi,

How long can a battery (bike) be left unused before the battery needs to be put on a trickle charger to give it enough juice to start the machine. I have a 1250 Bandit which is around 15 months old and has been sitting around for about two weeks because of the crappy weather. Is two to three weeks ok? Should I start and idle it for about 5 minutes, or is that not long or hard enough to put back in the charge used by the starting or should I just leave it alone? Normally she would get ridden regularly 4 days out of 7 so charging isn't an issue, just a bit concerned about lying idle for a couple of weeks.

Thanks..............

Best to buy a solar charger. They cost nothing to run and you can pick one up for 30 bucks. More than two weeks and I would be trickle charging it. Starting the bike and leaving it idle will only fill the exhaust with moisture without drying it out properly. A major cause of rotted exhaust.

I've left the bandit for 2-3 weeks without starting her up. No probs, fired up and rode away.
If you know it's guna be longer than that disconnect the battery and she'll be apples so long as it's not megga long before you hook it back up and ride again.

A low battery can put a strain on the sprag starter clutch .They kind of kick back with a clang and after time stuff up ,expensive to fix .If you ever had a GS 1000 you know all about this problem .I always have my Aprilia V twin on a trickle charger because it needs full charge to turn over .
A in line 4 doesnt seem to have the same compression so charge can be a bit lower .
A trickle charger pays for itself by longer battery life the one i have was $50 red- amber - green lights Has a little pug ,you hide .

Was talking to a bike mech. friend the other day .He had a TRiumph America come in with starter problems .Bike had broken the recesses
for the cog that spins the starter clutch . Cost to fix $7,000 . Bike WAS worth $7000 .