Motorcycle battery

[Qweaver]

This has absolutely nothing to do with sawmills but I know that a lot of you ride motorcycles.
I sold my 2003 Honda Shadow to a young man last month and when he picked up the bike it was 40 deg. and he was going to ride it straight to Virginia. A 200 mile trip.  He hooked up a set of heated gloves directly to the battery.  He got about half way to his target and ran into closed roads got lost and returned to his home in Ripley,WV.  He was on the road 5 hours in the dark and everything ran fine.  Next morning he took off  again for Virginia...got about half way and the battery died.  The local bike shop said they could not charge a completely dead battery and sold him a new one for $78.  He un-hooked the gloves and the bike has run fine since, except that he lost the low beam in the headlight.  I have never had a battery just die like that.  I gave him back $40(half of the battery cost)  but I think that the gloves caused the problem.  He used the gloves on another bike and it has a dead battery also.  What do you think?  It was a pretty new battery and always gave a hot start before that.

[Raider Bill]

I think you were very generous!
I've never paid attention to the heated glove wiring before but I suspect it's not direct.  A lot of variables here like how many amps does the bike put out vs gloves, headlights etc.
BAtt's don't last that long on bikes so it could have been on it's way south anyway.
Did he ride in the dark like no headlights or was it just dark out?
Most anywhere you have to run the headlight all the time day or night. IMO opinion you can't have enough lights.

[JohnG28]

I think this guy doesnt know much about wiring.  Really anything not wired well, and especially direct to battery, can cause problems.  My stepbrother once wired a light rack on top of his suv directly to the battery with a switch inside, ended up with a fire inside the vehicle that ruined the door panel and under the dash.  I think you were very generous in paying half the battery cost.

[Glenn]

First off, bike batteries can last a long time, my 02 still has the original battery in it. Its important to have a low amp trickle charger hooked up to it when parked for the winter. Motocycle charging systems are generally producing smaller amps than a car charging system and therefore cannot handle large loads on the system.  Also any aftermarket acc. is not made to be connected directly to the battery itself.  Also its not the number of lights on your bike that makes you visible but how bright they are.  I have an 8 inch headlight that I've had a couple of years with a light bar on it too but my wife has a 2010 with just one 8 inch light and its much brighter and more noticeable from far than mine.

[Raider Bill]

I'm lucky to get 2 years out of a battery on either bike. It maybe the heat we have here I dunno but they don't last. But then we ride year round. I like and have a front highway/passing light bar and extra brake lights rail in back on both bikes too. The Road king has  led's on the back rail that flash when the brakes are applied. I've got a phobia of being rear ended