Warming up Harley before starting?

[CapeTeddy]

Hi, I recently moved from Southwest Florida to Northern Florida. The weather up here is much colder and I have no room in the garage for my Freewheeler. I keep it in a large tent but my concern is the battery and starting when the weather drops into the 20's overnight and mornings.. The weather warms up during the day so if I decide to ride, the trike might still be cold. I don't want to ruin the battery or starter and another Harley rider suggested I run a space heater for a couple hours before I start it? Sounds like a good idea but I have no experience with cold weather and trikes. Is it a good idea to run a space heater in the tent? Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[rhino 2]

Hi, I recently moved from Southwest Florida to Northern Florida. The weather up here is much colder and I have no room in the garage for my Freewheeler. I keep it in a large tent but my concern is the battery and starting when the weather drops into the 20's overnight and mornings.. The weather warms up during the day so if I decide to ride, the trike might still be cold. I don't want to ruin the battery or starter and another Harley rider suggested I run a space heater for a couple hours before I start it? Sounds like a good idea but I have no experience with cold weather and trikes. Is it a good idea to run a space heater in the tent? Any suggestions? Thanks

Just keep it on a battery maintainer not a trickle charger a battery maintainer and you’ll be all right……

 

[priell3]

We have 3 bikes in an unheated garage. We get below zero temps in the winter. I rotate a battery tender between them. No problems starting them up (if I have to).

If I'm going to ride in cold weather I'll let them idle until the RPMs drop and the fluids warm up.

 

[Jack Klarich]

A battery tender is your trikes best friend, I live in Jax Florida. My trike stays on a tender when I am not riding

The colder weather will be a real test on your battery, you may want to have your battery load tested now

When I lived in Minnesota, my bikes stayed on tenders also, they never failed to start in my attached but not heated garage

I did ride many days in the cold ( some days never got up to 25 degrees

The bike/ trike needs to be fully warmed up in colder weather for sure before riding, I would wait til the rocker boxes felt warm to the touch with a bare hand

 

[CapeTeddy]

A battery tender is your trikes best friend, I live in Jax Florida. My trike stays on a tender when I am not riding

The colder weather will be a real test on your battery, you may want to have your battery load tested now

When I lived in Minnesota, my bikes stayed on tenders also, they never failed to start in my attached but not heated garage

I did ride many days in the cold ( some days never got up to 25 degrees

Jack Klarich;872430] The bike/ trike needs to be fully warmed up in colder weather for sure before riding, I would wait til the rocker boxes felt warm to the touch with a bare hand

Sounds good. I'm in Quincy, west of Tallahassee and it dropped to the low 20's a couple weeks go. I'm originally from Chicago but moved to South Florida in 1983 so I been a bit de-wintered. I've kept a tender on it all the time since I bought it in 2019 but I'll have it checked. Thanks

 

[CapeTeddy]

We have 3 bikes in an unheated garage. We get below zero temps in the winter. I rotate a battery tender between them. No problems starting them up (if I have to).

If I'm going to ride in cold weather I'll let them idle until the RPMs drop and the fluids warm up.

Good idea, Thanks

 

[CapeTeddy]

Just keep it on a battery maintainer not a trickle charger a battery maintainer and you’ll be all right……

Thanks, I use a Battery Tender Plus, 12V Battery Charger and Maintainer: 1.25 AMP Powersport Battery Charger and Maintainer. I hope this is good, it's been working so far.

 

[Old Road Dog]

A battery maintainer is all I use. If you have ever done the breather bypass you will see the snot that comes out of the breather system.Ugly mixture of water vapor and oil. I want that removed so below freezing it wont turn to sludge at shutdown. DK Custom has the kits for a happy motor.