Hello. I have a 22 Indian Super Chief Limited with 400 miles or so on it. I had been charging it on the tender for the past week. I rode it Saturday and Sunday for about 200 of those miles. I have a battery tender but I had it on my other bike for Monday and Tuesday (haven't bought an additional one yet as I may sell the other bike, a Scout). So after just 2.5 days, the battery appears to be dead. Will not start today. I've connected it back to the tender but it's been about 20 minutes and I'm still charging.

I searched the forum for batteries and see folks from older posts, or older bikes, or going longer and still not happy---like battery failing after 6 days.

Is this normal with the Super Chief? I have been lucky with my Scout with virtually zero problems even when off tender for 3 or 4 days. Just curious if this is normal on the recent Super Chief limiteds.

Guess I May need to put in a real battery rather than whatever they've put in.

Thanks.

Battery is toast.


Dealerships install the batteries. Dealerships have batteries sitting on shelfs for sometimes months to years. Once a AGM battery drops below 12 volts it starts to deteriorate. Then they simply do a quick charge to get the bike out the door. Some people including myself have had zero issues with batteries on these bikes. They are quality batteries, but because they sit uncharged at some dealerships, the go bad and you get stuck with them.

During riding season, I never put the battery on a tender. But I also make sure to ride no less than once a week.

 

Thanks for the response. My dealer is about 1+ hour away. Not sure I'm going to save this up for the 500 mile visit to discuss. May just buy a battery locally and throw it in there I guess. Bummer. Thank you for the info.

 

Hello. I have a 22 Indian Super Chief Limited with 400 miles or so on it. I had been charging it on the tender for the past week. I rode it Saturday and Sunday for about 200 of those miles. I have a battery tender but I had it on my other bike for Monday and Tuesday (haven't bought an additional one yet as I may sell the other bike, a Scout). So after just 2.5 days, the battery appears to be dead. Will not start today. I've connected it back to the tender but it's been about 20 minutes and I'm still charging.

I searched the forum for batteries and see folks from older posts, or older bikes, or going longer and still not happy---like battery failing after 6 days.

Is this normal with the Super Chief? I have been lucky with my Scout with virtually zero problems even when off tender for 3 or 4 days. Just curious if this is normal on the recent Super Chief limiteds.

Guess I May need to put in a real battery rather than whatever they've put in.

Thanks.

Not sure whats going on with these newer models but I have read numerous post about batteries going dead after sitting for just a few days...sounds to me that there is some form of parasitic draw with these new Indians.
What brand battery is in yours?
Another thought...a battery tender is designed to maintain your battery-not to charge it when its very weak or dead.
I would buy or borrow (if you dont already have one)a battery charger,disconnect your battery terminals,and charge it on a low amp/hour rate for over night,then connect it and see if it works,then I would check it with a volt meter,and see if something is drawing it down.

 

Make sure your connections are good.

 

I was having issues with my battery, too. That’s what the issue was!

 

Polaris batteries have a 6 month warranty. I can tell you my local dealer wishes they could have batteries sit on the shelf, however as soon as they get them they are out the door.

 

Hello. I have a 22 Indian Super Chief Limited with 400 miles or so on it. I had been charging it on the tender for the past week. I rode it Saturday and Sunday for about 200 of those miles. I have a battery tender but I had it on my other bike for Monday and Tuesday (haven't bought an additional one yet as I may sell the other bike, a Scout). So after just 2.5 days, the battery appears to be dead. Will not start today. I've connected it back to the tender but it's been about 20 minutes and I'm still charging.

I searched the forum for batteries and see folks from older posts, or older bikes, or going longer and still not happy---like battery failing after 6 days.

Is this normal with the Super Chief? I have been lucky with my Scout with virtually zero problems even when off tender for 3 or 4 days. Just curious if this is normal on the recent Super Chief limiteds.

Guess I May need to put in a real battery rather than whatever they've put in.

Thanks.

Intact customer connect. They’ll set it up with your dealer to test your battery and get a new one if needed. Definitely a pita if your dealer is far away but a new free battery is worth it!

 

My dealer is 174 miles away, round trip... with time and gas, it's not worth it for me for a battery...

 

Thanks for the info. I have checked the connections and I THINK they were ok but I went ahead and tightened them anyway. I disconnected the trickle charger and instead have connected the charger I have.

Question: The owner's manual speaks of a battery charging port. I know I don't have the type of charger necessarily but I can't find that. I do have the tender charger cord like was on my Scout, but I do not see this port mentioned in the Owner's manual. Is that not on the super chief limited?

 

One big mistake a lot of motorcycle owners make is using the wrong charger and tender. Most motorcycles including Indian, use AGM batteries (Advanced Glass Matt) instead of Lead Acid batteries like your typical car. A Car/truck battery tender will not charge or maintain an AGM battery properly (they think the battery is good when it isn't) and this causes the battery to fall below the safe voltage threshold and causing it to be damaged. So make sure the battery tender and or charger is designed for AGM batteries.

 

It’s on the bottom right hand side of the bike under a plastic flip cap. Start at your seat and follow it straight down.

 

Thanks for the tip. So it turns out mine is on the left side of the bike when sitting on the bike. The cap was up exposing the battery charger so I didn't know what I was looking for exactly. But I did find it. Thank you.

 

I had this happen with my challenger. Dealer replaced the battery and it happened again with the 2nd battery. I decided to purchase my own battery from the auto parts store and problem solved. No more dead batteries. I can leave it for weeks off the tender and it still starts up every time.

 

Yep. And this is what most people don't get. It's not the bike draining the battery, its simply bad batteries from the get-go.

 

I think any battery that is gone after 2 1/2 days is just a bad battery. No way it shouldn’t start if it was good to begin with, even after a week or two off a tender. I would agree it may be related to how long the battery was on the shelf before install. I believe they have a date on them. Keeping a battery on a tender is not a bad idea, but that may only get you out the garage door and not protect you from trouble on the road (i.e. bike will start, but battery won’t hold the charge after an overnight off the tender). Happened to me on the road with a year + battery. Started right up in the morning, rode about 250 mi. The next morning, nothing. Replacement battery from a nearby Polaris parts dealer came with the comment, “those OEM batteries are crap.” Although I didn’t check, I’d guess the manufacturing date and the install date were very different. Net, new battery, no issue since.

 

Indian has always used YUASA. The issue is battery sulfation is the biggest killer of batteries. Sulfation will always happen, but over time. The problem is sulfation is extremely accelerated when the battery is discharged for long periods of time or overcharged.

In many cases, these batteries sit at the dealer in a discharged state or sit in bikes on the showroom floor for months or longer without ever being charged.

You will notice some owners have no issues with batteries on new bikes vs others. Well that falls on the dealerships. Good dealerships will constantly maintain the batteries they have in stock and on bikes. And you will find most don't have battery issues.

Then there are the riders that do have battery issues. And they fall into several categories. Bad battery from dealership as listed before. Use too high of an amp rate charger, chargers not designed for AGM batteries. Using a hillbilly trickle charger which over charges the battery. Allowing the battery connections to come loose. Battery connections should be checked 2 times a riding season.

 

So an update on this. I removed the battery, indeed dead. I bought a replacement locally and installed it. Went to start it...

I didn't mention there that I bought this bike used with 200 miles on it. Traded into a Harley dealer. 2022 Super Indian Chief Limited with 200 miles on it and saved about $2,500 overall. But....the owner's manual and no documentation has the master security code. I Planned to get the dealer to get me this in person when I go for the July 1st appointment (1.5 hours away). Now, because I replaced the battery, it apparently won't let me move forward without entering the code. I'm stuck...can't do anything unless there is a trick around it.

 

Unless this is something new … you shouldn’t need to enter your code after a battery change. (I looked in the owners manual and didn’t see anything about entering the code after a battery change.) Did you reconnect the antenna wire? Maybe the bike is not reading the FOB…

 

Yuasa. They buy their batteries in bulk (one member said 30,000) and they just sit (warehouse, dealership) until they‘re installed and sold. Reportedly that could be up to two years (so no wonder they are DOA). Julie’s went south after four months but it was dead when she bought the bike. Others have said they are covered by the two-year basic warranty on your bike, and have gotten em replaced during that time period. I did not know that and just bought a new one.

 

Your dealer should be able to retrieve your master code with the vin. Have em call the mothership.

 

Apologies that I did not update this thread last last night (well, early this morning) after progress. Evil Monkey was right. I slowly re-traced my steps on the battery installation and found the antenna was not properly seated. Felt like an idiot. Put it back and the bike started with no issues.

I have additional new info today. The Harley Dealer where I bought this previously-owned Indian wrote me back to say they would contact the previous owner to see if he may have the Master Pin on his own documents. He also said he will call the Indian Dealer but that they don't usually extend professional courtesies with info. I have a July 1 appt with the Indian dealer so I can get it from them.

But the main thing that is a concern...Harley dealer said as part of their prep they put a brand new battery in the bike the day before I bought it because I had let them know I planned to purchase it. He said that's standard procedure for them. He said the battery should have been fine and he wonders if the bike has a draw or other issue. He suggested I have Indian check it out under warranty.

I'm not sure I have a way to check the draw at this point with my new battery except just leaving it and see what transpires. I usually leave my bikes connected to a tender so that may be masking an issue. This original problem arose when I left the tender off for 48 hours.

 

I purchased a 2022 Super Chief last July. Have had 5 Indians at various times over the past few years and all were on a trickle charger. Not once did I have any battery issues. I went on my first ride of the season last weekend and saw the Battery idiot light come on. At home, I put a new battery in the key fob. Still the idiot light is on. I connected it to a battery load tester and it showed Weak. Called my Indian dealer and was told it was under warrantee and all I had to do was bring it in and they would put in a new battery while I waited. So next Thursday I'm going to the dealer. I will post how it all turns out.

 

My 22 CBDH battery would only keep a charge for about 3 days since I bought the bike. The battery tested bad and was replaced under warranty at my 500mi. With the new battery I've yet to have issues even after 6 days sitting without trickle charging. It might have sounded slower after 6 days but I always leave the bike in 1st and start with the clutch lever pulled so maybe this creates a little more resistance when starting. The tech at Indian suggested to not use Yuasa batteries anymore because they've seen lots of issues with them lately. He suggested to buy a battery at the Harley dealer on the same block if mine wasn't approved for warranty replacment.

 

I bought a used Polaris Sportsman last year, with a Yuasa agm battery and that atv can sit for 2 months, outside, under a tarp and still start up. Maybe the tech was right about their battery quality declining. I know "supply issues", it's the blanket reason for everything now.

 

This is from my 2022 Super Chief that went bad after 6 months. Voltage progressively dropped over about a week until it wouldn’t start. Dealer said to bring it in, a 50 mile ride, so I just bought a new one to be done with it. Problem solved.

 

I posted this elsewhere.

Battery facts:

One thing that destroys batteries fast is sulfation.
And this is the number one cause of all the battery issues people have with the Indians.
What is Battery Sulfation?
Sulfation, a build-up of lead sulfate crystals, is the number one cause of early failures of lead-acid, sealed AGM or flooded (wet cell-filler caps) batteries. A sulfated battery can lead to:

• loss of cranking power
• longer charging times
• excessive heat build-up leading to "boil out"
• shorter running times between charges
• dramatically shorter battery life

Sound Familiar????????
One of the ongoing topics of the above on this forum
What Causes a Sulfated Battery?
All lead-acid storage batteries will develop sulfate during their life time. This includes the new sealed "dry" such as Optima, Odyssey, Exide and Interstate branded AGM-spiral-wound types. Batteries develop sulfation each time they are used (discharged - recharged). If they are overcharged or undercharged or left discharged, some for even just several days, they will rapidly develop sulfate. Even when a battery is stored fully charged, sulfate will form unless a desulfating battery charger is used. Using or storing batteries in temperatures above 75°F accelerates the rate of self-discharge and increases battery sulfation dramatically. In fact, the discharge rate doubles, as does sulfation, for every 10°F rise above room temperature.

Polaris Buys batteries in bulk, and we have no idea they have sitting in a discharged state.

This means the batteries probably are pretty sulfated buy the time they get put in the bike. The dealer charges them, but this doesn’t fix or help the battery much after sulfation has occurred. And these batteries sit sulfating in bikes on the showroom floor.
The new owner rides home and 2 days later the battery is dead. No, it’s not the parasitic draw on the bike, it’s the battery. Its because the battery was poorly maintained

Some things to consider:
Our bikes use AGM batteries: These batteries sit at a higher voltage (12.8 - 13 volts) and need to be charged at 14.4 to 14.8 volts.
Car and truck battery chargers and tenders, etc. Use a lower voltage (12.6 volts)
When a non-AGM battery charger is used it will under charge the battery and give a false indication that it is good.

And bam Sulfation rears its ugly head.

When you get your new bike home, put it on a battery tender maintainer, that also has a disulfate mode and its AGM one. Yes, they are more expensive. 100 - 130. But that’s what a battery costs.

When I brought my new bike home. The de-sulfating until went through three times to finally disulfate the battery.

I have done this with every motorcycle battery I have owned and got 4-5 years out of them.

Polaris doesn’t tell you to use a tender because of draw. It's because of sulfation.

If batteries were shipped dry and acid was added, and the battery was fully charged. Battery threads would be rare.