It's stupid question time !!!.....Here we go.............
I have just managed to get electricity plumbed to my garage. Also I am away from home with work and the weather is crap. Therefore my 999 is sitting in the garage all tucked up for the winter.
I have asked the wife to plug in my trickle charger and leave it on.
Now for the silly question. Is it okay to leave the bike on maintenance charge indefinetly? or is it better for the bike and the charger to switch it off from time to time???? I may be away for a month or so. Is it okay to leave the bike in maintenance charge for this long???????????????????
I go away for periods of a few weeks / months and have always left my bikes plugged in to an optimate. They have always started ok when I get back, and it hasn't shortened the life of the battery, as far as I can tell.
Bradders is correct about a concern with charging the gel batteries. However, lead-acid batteries can be connected indefinitely to most chargers. Check with the charger manufacturer if in doubt. This link explains:
As above - if gel exercise caution, but with standard, and assuming charger is one of the more modern 'intelligent' chargers - Optimate, Ctek etc - then connect and leave, they're designed for exactly that.