[bgillen35]

To preface this, when I bought my FTR, the salesman was pushing the extended battery warranty they offer ($xxx for free batteries for life if your battery tests bad (needed to go through like 3 batteries to break even)) because the batteries Indian uses are in his words "equivalent to 4 C batteries strapped together with a rubber band." I ended up declining but I just wanted to check with people who have had their FTR for a while now to see how long you have gotten out of your battery.
I do not keep my bike on a tender; I live in Fl. and ride at least 4 times a week year round so the bike/battery see plenty of use. However given the supposed state of Indian's batteries, I just want to see if a tender would be a good investment now while my battery is still young and fresh.

 

[Max Kool]

If you ride a few times a week you don't need a tender.

 

[murr2k]

The battery is nothing like "4 C batteries strapped together with a rubber band"! Indian doesn't even make the battery, it's made by Yuasa, and it is excellent. Good cranking power, and lots of reserve capacity. The salesman wants to sell pure profit warranties, that's all. You don't need a tender if you use your bike that often all year round. This battery should last a few years at least, as long as you don't forget to turn the key off when the engine isn't running. It'll last about 1.5 to 2 hours before it runs down enough that it can't start the engine any more.

 

[bgillen35]

The battery is nothing like "4 C batteries strapped together with a rubber band"! Indian doesn't even make the battery, it's made by Yuasa, and it is excellent. Good cranking power, and lots of reserve capacity. The salesman wants to sell pure profit warranties, that's all. You don't need a tender if you use your bike that often all year round. This battery should last a few years at least, as long as you don't forget to turn the key off when the engine isn't running. It'll last about 1.5 to 2 hours before it runs down enough that it can't start the engine any more.

I had a feeling such was the case. If it was really that bad, once this one dies I could buy a better battery for half the price of the warranty and still come out ahead...

 

[R. Warshawsky]

Maybe it's because of prior HD ownership, but I bought a full 12 pack of Yuasa batteries, have them all on tenders, just in case...sorry, couldn't help it. I do use a tender, just to make sure I'm in the habit when winter comes.

 

[Pale Horse]

Unless you paid MSRP for the bike plus a big freight fee, prep / assembly fee, and doc / paperwork fee, they don't make a whole lot of new bikes. They do, however, make $$ on all the extra add-ons that they push on you when you just want to get the hell out of there and go riding on your shiny new FTR. Unless you're going to put 10-15k miles / year on the bike, pass on the maintenance plan. Same with tire / wheel warranties. As for the extended warranty, if it's offered by the factory AND you ride a lot AND it's cheap enough to give you peace of mind without breaking the bank AND you can't do the work yourself (no shame in that since things are getting more and more electronic)... then consider it. Otherwise pass on everything, IMO. If these add-ons were likely to put you ahead, they wouldn't be able to afford to sell them to you -- and they certainly wouldn't be the big money makers that they are.

 

[ferraiolo1]

The battery is actually a really good yusa, and almost every major manufacture uses one.

My guess is they bought a shit mod of them and they sat for a long time with the delay of production, then sat some more with the bikes sitting on the showroom floors with no tenders for a year.

I’ve had zero issues with mine over the past years of ownership. And it sits in a freezing garage all winter.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bart Carter]

The battery is an AGM battery type. These are typically better made and longer lasting, especially compared to a wet cell battery.

 

[K9F]

I didn't ride for nearly 10 weeks due to a surgical procedure bike was hooked up to an Optimate 4 as it always is when not being ridden and always starts on the button. A decent tender is always worth the outlay in my book. My last Optimate lasted me the best part of 17 years.