Dead battery - recharge on bike?

[tonyk]

Guys, the battery is dead as a dodo...
Any way i have got a oxford oximiser, can i just connect the leads while on the bike or do i need to disconnect it totally from the bike to charge ?.
Any help ..please.

[Biker Biggles]

You can trickle charge on the bike.But batterys dont like being drained especially if they get left drained for any period so worth checking the battery to see if it is now fooked.

[Sir Trev]

Oximiser/Optimate are designed to be used with the battery in situ. To help diagnose if I had a short though I have in the past removed a completely dead unit to charge it on the bench to be really sure. Try it first to save the hassle though (assuming you have power where your bike is stored).

[Ceri JC]

In my experience, even when an oximiser/similar can recover a battery so that it is technically 'useable', said battery will never hold charge anywhere near as good as it did originally and you will notice it loses its charge much more quickly after the failure.

My philosophy is that oximisers are a preventative measure to stop batteries going flat in the first place (which they do very well; I had a battery on one for almost 4 years and it was not possible to perceive any difference in performance from when it was brand new).

[ruddlad]

Mine totally died over xmas, battery had been dodgy for a while. Left on trickle for a day but nothing. I got new battery but for the hell of it i connected my old one using the crocodile clips off the bike that were supplied with my optimiser. It lit up and fully recovered it!!?? Still using the old one so new one on standby. Not sure why it recovered it using croc clips?? As soon as it goes again i will put in the new one but whilst i can eek power from the old one i will.