02-07-2019, 01:38 PM
When I price out batteries compared to mufflers; well, I'd rather buy a battery. 
What complicates things today; most bikes have a parasitic draw on the battery to keep things like the system clock, system memory and such working. So I find it easier and safer to just pull the battery (I also work under the hypothesis that a leaking battery damaging the bike is a really bad thing so instead of taking a chance just remove the dang thing!) and hit it with the charger from time to time. That seems to work for me; but like oil, we all have our reasons for choosing something. So if your method works for you - well nothing succeeds like success!
Side bar: I was under the impression my XR650L did NOT have a parasitic draw but the battery did seem to go dead on me (could be several short rides that did not charge the battery enough to replace the drain caused by a couple difficult starts) recently and I typically leave it in the bike.
What complicates things today; most bikes have a parasitic draw on the battery to keep things like the system clock, system memory and such working. So I find it easier and safer to just pull the battery (I also work under the hypothesis that a leaking battery damaging the bike is a really bad thing so instead of taking a chance just remove the dang thing!) and hit it with the charger from time to time. That seems to work for me; but like oil, we all have our reasons for choosing something. So if your method works for you - well nothing succeeds like success!
Side bar: I was under the impression my XR650L did NOT have a parasitic draw but the battery did seem to go dead on me (could be several short rides that did not charge the battery enough to replace the drain caused by a couple difficult starts) recently and I typically leave it in the bike.