has any one ever heard of this problem? my battery is discharging, this is the second time its done it to me, theres not enough voltage to kick the bendex out on the starter, when i tested the batterie it read at 9.6V put the trickel charger on and then no problems for aobut a month then it did it again!
:stupid:

What year is your VROD? If its an 02 it might be time for a new one......

its a 03 purchesed in june new now i have 3500 on it:cheers:

caseywloen, the batteries are not very big and don't have a big reserve. Many people have reported that using the alarm or having the alarm self set causes this problem. Also even a discharged battery will usually read around 12 volts. A battery with one bad cell will read around 10 volts.:2cents

Yep,

Got a new battery within 9 months. European models like mine always activate the alarm after 30 seconds. No way to switch it of so it will drain the battery.
I've installed a special plug (can also been used to jumper start the engine) and recharge the battery every week.
If you pay 28 grant (thats the price you pay in Holland for a VROD) they should at least give you a trickle charger and plug installed for free.
Anyway, if it dies next year again I will claim a new battery again . They gave me 3 years warrantee.
It looks perfect, drives awesome but the word quality is not yet in the dictionairy of HD.

Jan

When I bought my bike I was warned that the battery would drain fast if you use an alarm regularly. I was recommended thatn I buy a battery tender and plug in the bike while it was sitting at home.

So far so good. 4200 mi since June 27th, and has yet to fail to start.... :)

-Bry

bbruce65 I never use my alarm and mine has a born on date of april 02 and has never failed. But my last battery test showed 12.2 volts meaning I will probably need to replace the battery soon.

It would be nice to find an Optima that would fit the hole.

Max

Max,

Unfortunately, living in the Detroit area, I use my alarm constantly. Even if it is parked in the garage. The battery tender seems to be working well for me. The start-ups have been better especially in 40 deg weather.

Let me know if you find an Optima that will fit. I think that the electrical system needs all the help it can get...

-Bry

I saw something about the Odyssey battery on Corbin Ride-on about how they made the Odyssey and how they were one of the few that meets the Government's Mil specs.

Here is a write up about the battery from the show:

http://www.rideontv.com/episodes/2003Season/CRN8001/odyssey.html

Hope this might be of interest.

Dave

Mine is an 02 and only once i had a problem with a dead battery ...... Ya cant leave the key on assesory i guess DOH!!

Harley has a trickle charger for about 35 bucks. A good investment. Mine works great. Just have the dealer install the $6 harness to the battery and have them run it along the left side and at the end of each ride plug in the trickle charger. Within 2 hrs the light will be green and your battery is fully charged!


/Mark

I bought the same charger,a battery tender jr from Arizona motorsports for $19.99 and the battery harness was included.Think I got it though Yahoo Auctions.

Dudes,

Tell me - is there a way to pull a fuze or to switch off the factory alarm? My battery is being discharged and as the bike is stored in secure parking I can't always get to a power plug for my battery tender!

I'm tired of pushing the bike to a plug, recharging, or worse yet getting a boost!

Pulling the battery is also a *lot * of work.


Thanks,

Rodman

rodman by default the US made bikes should not arm the alarm. I'll check when I get a chance you should be able to pull a fuse but if your not arming the alarm you might have another problem or just a bad battery.

G'day everyone, and Merry Christmas.
Please don't think I'm being patronising, but at the dealership here in Townsville, a fella who was storing his 03 Two Tone V Rod brought it in with a flat battery.
He was turning the key off to the Assessories position and never riding the bike, thus draining the battery without noticing in the day time sunlight.
The shop initially couldn't figure it out, as they didn't see the key position due to the key being removed by a dealer.
Not suggesting this is the fault for all of the above, but it's something to keep in the back of your mind.

Best wishes.

Ken.
(New Power Shots fitted, but was sent the wrong Power Commander, and now it wont get to me until 2004. Bugger!)

Actually, he also has the alarm fitted, so it could have been either!

I can tell you this...............after leaving the alarm armed for 10 days roughy( may have been less) my battery wouldn't turn my bike over. I have yet to acquire a battery tender for the V-rod, however I do have one on the waverunner. I found that when your out on the water with a dead battery, your up sh*t creek! LOL At least on land you can jump it or bump it!!

Iv'e got one fitted to my Seadoo GTX 4 Tech as well. It's always on when the skis out of the water.
As you said, you don't get a second chance.
I also have one fitted to my Ride On Mower, 47 Indian Chief, my 4 x 4 and my V Rod.
May seem a bit anal, but a charger is a lot cheeper than a new battery!

Best wishes.

Ken.

Ken..sounds as if your all charged up my friend!!:rofl3: :rofl3: :rofl3: :biker:

I left the key on once... battery will keep the headlight on for 3 hours, but not start the bike. also found that with this bike, you can't push start it. My thinking is no electricity=no fuel pump= no fuel pressure= lots of sweaty upset friends. luckily I was at the dealer, and they charged up the battery for me for free. lesson learned

Guys,

The Alarm is killing me.

I'm sometimes unable to get to the bike for 2 weeks. By that time the battery is discharged... Turing off the alarm doesnt seem possible.

There is a storage mode, but if I remember correcty that only shuts down the alarm after a very long period.

I'm thinking that the easiest solution would be to pull a fuse and cut off power to either the whole bike or just the alarm... any idea which fuze? Maybe I should add a kill switch somewhere convenient.

Thanks,

Rodman...

I bought a battery tender. Problem solved.....

Actually Greg, that's a good point re the push starting.
Hmmm, I'll keep that in mind should I ever kill the battery.
How's those photos of the bag comming on? ;)

I have the same problem as rodman.
Live in a secured garage, with no power access.
The only solution is to remove the battery.
SOunds involved, but hope the whole battery removal process should not take more than 25 mins

Rodman, Last night i went through the process fo removing a battery. The whole process with all the screwing around and taking picture took about 30 minutes. If you are still having an issue let me know, maybe i can help you do the same.
Once the battery is out, you can charge it in the house.

Roman,

Thanks for your post, I've removed the battery before and it took about 30 min to get it out... It took much longer to get it back in as the battery strap is very difficult to get around the battery in the cramped compartment... I don't want to do that again.


Is anyone familiar with the wiring diagram... where is the bikes main fuze?


Rodman

Originally posted by TBAG809
I bought a battery tender. Problem solved.....


The battery tender is great, but you do still need a power socket...;)

My bike is in a rented spot in a secure garage.. So my battery tender soesnt get used much.


Rodman

Originally posted by Max
rodman by default the US made bikes should not arm the alarm. I'll check when I get a chance you should be able to pull a fuse but if your not arming the alarm you might have another problem or just a bad battery.

Thanks MAx,


The Euro bikes alway arm the alarm... I don't know how to stop it from happening...

Originally posted by rodman
Roman,

Thanks for your post, I've removed the battery before and it took about 30 min to get it out... It took much longer to get it back in as the battery strap is very difficult to get around the battery in the cramped compartment... I don't want to do that again.


Is anyone familiar with the wiring diagram... where is the bikes main fuze?


Rodman
Are you refferring to the maxifuse?
That's located under the right grill, right next to the coolant container. However, please keep in mind that the battery has a natural tendency to loose it's charge. So if you just let it sit for prolonged period of time, your battery will drain anyway.
Good luck.

Thanks Roman,

I understand that the battery discharges, breaking the circuit will help though. I cant get to the bike as often as I would like...

Rodman

They do push start. Had to do it last week, left the bike on for about an hour while talking to a neighbor and what do ya know, it was dead. I just started running down the hill with the bike, threw it into first and tada, it started.

where is the battery on the v-rod?

Originally posted by EL03HOG
where is the battery on the v-rod?
It's located just under the airbox cover. right in front of the airbox.
In order to remove the battery, remove airbox cover, and remove the air box, then you can remove the battery.
If you need access to the battery, all you need to do is remove the airbox cover.

thanks for that, save me a lot of time, mine is flat as U.K. models have automatic alarm fitted, drains in 2 months, need to purchase optimiser

One thing you might consider doing is pulling the maxifuse.
I would try arming the system, then just pull the maxifuse.
This will still drain the battery eventually, but at least this way, it will take alot longer.

I just had the airbox cover and lid off my 04 rod and noticed that the factory did indeed include a pigtail on the battery with the same connector as the battery tender. So now I have two and put one on my Monte Carlo SS. I can swap the tender back and fort just by unplugging one and plugging in the other. cool.:D

You guys are scaring me. I usually use the battery tender every night, because it is easy for me to do. An alarm system should not discharge a good battery in a few days. The battery should be able to sustain an alarm system for at least 3 months.

Rick I'm not sure that any manufacture would give you a three month time on a battery with or without the alarm. Average draw on the system just to keep memory and settings alive is probably around .002 milliamp add the alarm to that and keep alive is probably close to .006 which would mean in about 30 days your battery should be low enough to require a boost to start. Given the extreme small size of the battery to start with and the numbers are probably very generous.

Rick,
You are right. The battery should last longer, however the battery in the V-Rod is smaller than the 'normal' motorcycle battery. It doesn't have the charge capacity as well.

For those of us that have the factory alarm, siren, and pager module it is almost critical that we plug the bike in., especially if you don't get the opprotunity to ride it daily.

-Bry

My dealer offers a pre-paid maintenance program. It is like $1800 for three years unlimited milage. They said it includes parts, labor and battery replacement. I thought that was a little strange, until talking with you guys.

Rick,
Not sure that the maintence program is worth $1800 unless you are going to ride a hell of a lot. You can buy a lot of batteries for that kind of dough!!

BTW: new battery is $65.95. Battery Tender Jr is $39.95.

-Bry

I just listed in the problem area I had about no-start and an unplugged selenoid wire.

In my tracing, I saw in the manual that the battery should have 12.6 volts in order to be at its highest or peak condition. I checked mine with a volt meter, and my v-rod was bought new in Sept 02. Mine checked at the 12.6 volts.

However, before checking the battery, I thought maybe the battery was low, and hooked the battery tender to the batter, and the light showed red, as if the battery needed a charge. But after reading with the volt meter the battery was at 12.6 volts meant the battery is still healthy.

So I want to know what gives with the battery tender showing that the battery needed a charge. Is it a topping off these tenders do, or do they take time, like a few miniutes to register what the battery has in its reserve before charging?

Any ideas?

Rich,
The battery tender will 'top-off' the charge as needed. I'm not sure which unit you have, but I believe that the red indicator is stating that it is placing some level of trickle charge. This is normal as the bike just sitting there will use some energy keeping the electronics alive.

If the light turns green after a few minutes, then you have a fully charged battery. The tender will go into monitor mode and will 'watch' for the charge level drop to a pre-determined level before turning itself back on.

-Bry

BTW: 12.6 V eh? No wonder these batteries are so marginal. A car battery is considered fully charged in the 13.5-14.1V range!

-Bry

bry,

The battery has 6 cells, each at 2.1 volts. That is a total of 12.6 volts. The voltage regulator controls the output from the alternator at 14.1 volts in order to charge the battery. The voltage regulator also contains diodes (triode pack) to change the three phase power from the alternator into dc voltage.

HMMM. even with the almost daily riding and temperate climate the battery still drains off. I know on the car, with the clock, you' d have energy consumption. Whats on, on the V-Rod when the switch is in the off mode?

Does that mean that th esystem actually is in a monitor mode, so when the switch is turned on to energize all the systems, it actually keeps the system from a surge to protect its components?

Why Harley-Davidson does not try to resolve this problem?
Why I spent all this money to live with this problem?
I don't wait more, I'm writing to push them to do something and to have the money back of the battery tender that they forced me to buy to keep alive the battery.
It's my right to drive the bike without to buy something else to make it running.
I will let you know the answer they will give me.
Sorry for my english, I write from italy. :chair:

I think something else is wrong if the bettery dies. Mine starts in a couple of seconds, after sitting in the garage for a week, when its below freezing. Something doesn't jive here.

Why Harley-Davidson does not try to resolve this problem?


The problem is that battery technology has simply not kept pace with the increase in demands on the bike's electrical system. Batteries today use essentially the same technology as they did fifty years ago - while today's bikes have all kinds of electrical systems and sensors that each take a little bite out of the total power available.

A bike in the 60's would essentially only have lights, turn signals, a horn, and the spark plugs - so they could get by with a little 6-volt battery. Starting was done by your foot - and all the instruments were mechanically powered. Not only do today's bike have electric starters, but they also have lights that are on all the time, electronic engine management systems, electronic fuel injection, electronic instruments, all kinds of sensors (IAT, bank angle, turn signal, etc.) that essentially on all the time. You also have only limited space to put a battery - so its not like you could put a very large one in there. Couple this with a vehicle that usually gets only intermittent use, and usually on relatively short trips, plus has an alarm system that is putting a constant drain on the battery - and you have a recipe for battery issues.

The best advice I can give you is to regularly test your battery with a voltage meter - and if your bike sits for any length of time hook up a battery tender.

OK, here's my battery story:

I picked up my V-Rod in late May, 2003. About a week later it failed to start. I could hear it rattling the solenoid but that was all it would do. The bike is kept in a garage with the alarm turned off. I called the dealer's service department and they sent over a service truck to pick up the bike. (I'm pretty sure they thought I was nuts about it not starting so the two techs that came over tried to start it too - with the same results).

The dealer had the bike from Thursday to Saturday afternoon. During that time they ran several tests trying to determine what was draining this battery. By Saturday morning they had determined that the battery was bad. They got one off the shelf only to find is was as low as mine. The other 3 or 4 they had were just like it. So they took the best one and put it on a charger. I came by late that afternoon and picked up the bike. They said it was "at 85% charge." It started right up and off I went.

On the way home there was a problem. I stopped at a stop sign on an upward incline. I needed to turn left. As I started off and began to turn, the motor simply stopped. This could have been because I was not used to the way the Revolution engine operates (I could have let it drop below 900RPM) or it could have been something in the electical system. Anyway, it happened at a very bad time and I ended up on my left side with the V-Rod on top of me within about 2-3 seconds! To make a long story short, I got a broken leg out of the deal and the Rod was in the shop for about 3 months. Of course, I couldn't have ridden during that time anyway and missed most of the rest of the '03 riding season.

Bottom line - I got an H-D Battery Tender Jr. and have kept the bike on it ever since. I don't ever want to go through that again!

Oh yeah, the service manager said that if I got caught with a partially dead battery again and couldn't call for service, the best way to start the V-Rod manually was to get it rolling, put it in second gear, turn on the ignition, and let out the clutch. (as opposed to using first gear as someone had mentioned) :2cents:

My bike sits most of it's life in the garage without a batt. tender...sometimes up to 6 weeks before i can be home to start it, and it always starts right up....i am with daniii on this, something does not jive.

Same here... I have never had any problems ..... :ride: :ride:

same here 02 with 16,800 miles no problems,

IndianaSteve,

Do you have a alrm? It drains the battery very fast. 1 month and it's dead , 2 weeks and you'd better be lucky.

Last week (Sunday) I pulled the bikes maxifuze I'm going to try and start it in two weeks to see if that has helped.

Rodman

Do any of you guys having this problem have a siren on your alarm? I don’t see the alarm itself being able to drain the battery that quick. It should be only a few milliamps. However the siren has a rechargeable battery. If this battery is low it could drain the main battery real quick. If the battery is bad it could drain the main battery in a few hours. :2cents:

Where are you guys hiding the pig tail so you can get to it with out taking the bike apart?

VrodG: Assuming you mean the battery tender pigtail, mine tucks up nicely on the right side near the front of the seat.

Where are you guys hiding the pig tail so you can get to it with out taking the bike apart?


Just ran it down the RHS along the radiator- very unobtrusive and very handy.

Do any of you guys having this problem have a siren on your alarm? I don’t see the alarm itself being able to drain the battery that quick. It should be only a few milliamps. However the siren has a rechargeable battery. If this battery is low it could drain the main battery real quick. If the battery is bad it could drain the main battery in a few hours. :2cents:


Yes I have a siren. The siren doesnt last long once you disconnect the battery so it cant hold too much current.



How do you come by this knowlege! Have you had experience with a bad siren battery? I notice that HD has a new alarm battery kit available, I wonder if there is a problem with the OEM unit.

This would explain a lot.

Rodman

Rodman,

I am an Electrical Engineer. I do mostly programming now, but still remember some of the basics. I just purchased a siren for my alarm system, and the instructions state that it has a rechargeable battery. When batteries start to go bad they short internally. This causes a huge drain on the charging system. When your motorcycle is not running, the charging system is the main battery. The current draw from a bad battery can be several times more than the headlight.

You could just try disconnecting the siren and see if the situation improves.
It just doesn't sound right to me, that the alarm system itself could drain the battery that quick.

Rodman,

You could just try disconnecting the siren and see if the situation improves.
It just doesn't sound right to me, that the alarm system itself could drain the battery that quick.


Cool - I guess that pulling the battery (looks like a 9volt cell) out of the siren would eliminate any drain but still leave the siren there for most of it's use cases.

The battery in my siren is sealed. I can not remove the battery.

Rick - you are not trying hard enough!! ;-)

Check out

http://www.harley-davidson.com/gma/gma_product.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442270573&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374309034119&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374309034119&bmUID=1076098432761&bmLocale=en_US

HD provide a replacement kit so there must be a way into the battery...

Rodman,

You are right, I did not try hard enough. But it does have a rechargeable battery. This could be your problem. At least I hope it is something as simple as that.

Do you have a alrm? It drains the battery very fast. 1 month and it's dead , 2 weeks and you'd better be lucky.

Sorry for the delay in responding. Yes I do have the alarm but I think all V-Rods have one. However, the alarm was not activated as the bike was parked in our locked garage.

Mine also has the siren and it was added after I purchased the bike and before I picked it up the first time. Someone else has pointed out that the alarm battery gets its charge from the bike's battery and maybe this is what discharged the bike's battery in the first place. I didn't get to ride the V-Rod much that first week between bad weather and not much free time, so maybe the initial charging of the siren battery from the V-Rod's battery was what killed the bike's battery within a week of delivery. hmmmmmm.

I don't have the wire diagrams, but I would guess the battery in the siren charges even if the alarm is not activated.

Please, all h-d owners. Just buy a Battery Tender or equivalent. I have "honest to God"
never had a battery die on me since I started using them about 8 years ago. I even had a road king that was 6 years old that got stored every winter -never took battery out , just hooked it up and forget about it. They transfer to your new bike. You can put a harness on it for easy connection........50 bucks so well spent. Every time I get off the bike in the shop it goes on the charger. You just get used to it and it becomes habit. :soapbox:
I'll shut up now. :laugh:
BobT

Bob T,
You are right, I have been using a battery tender for three years, and I have no problems.

But, some of the riders stated they don't have access to an outlet.

Quote : Rick,
But, some of the riders stated they don't have access to an outlet. : unquote
********
Yup, I forgot, the thread is so long that i got off track. Sorry people. :spank:
Maybe some sort of battery-cut out switch ? Good for drive away bike thieves anyway...... Just an idea.
BobT

Just pull the maxi fuse.
It's located right next to coolant expansion tank under the right grill.
That effectively cuts of all power. (I think)

Bob T, No need to be sorry, all comments are useful.

Roman, I think this would disable the alarm system. The idea here is to get the alarm system to work correctly.

I could be taking everyone down the wrong path. Battery problems could be a number of things. The siren battery just seemed to be a good place to start. :2cents:

Rick, I believe you are correct.
However, many people complain about the fact that alarm system engages, and kills the battery. Am i correct in the assumption that if you arm the bike, and disable the battery, the bike will stay armed. It won't make any noise, or blink if someone takes it, but essentially, this will disable all the electronic componets until you bring it out of hybernation?
For me the issue was long term storage over the winter. In the warmer months, I try to get on the bike at least once a week, and it always starts right up. In the winter, it's a different story: I live in a high rise, and there is no electrical outlet in the garage :(. So i had to take out my battery for the winter, but before i did that, I armed my bike, which essentially disable all the electrical systems.

Here is my 2 cents: People that need to store the bike for more than one month, and can't hook up a battery tender to their bikes, and don't feel like pulling the battery (~20 minutes of work for an uninitiated dude such as myself) can simply pull the maxifuse. That will prevent complete battery discharge. Besides, i don't remember the details, but after a while the bike goes into storage/hybernation mode. Which means all systems are disabled, but alarm will not work if the bike is tilted or moved.
Although, your thoughts on the alarm battery are quite interesting, I wonder if that could be the key.

Roman,

Without access to the wiring diagrams and the code in the computer, I could not tell how the alarm system operates. We have gotten beyond the scope of information available to me at this time.

Rick there are extensive :lamer: wiring diagrams in the service manual , but They are way to big for me to scan. And I would have to tear my book apart to get it flat.
BobT

Bob T,
I ordered a service manual from the dealer. It has not arrived, yet.

Hey guys, its not the security system that is causing the issue. The parasitic draw is caused by the memory in the diagnostic computer in your instrument cluster. It draws current to keep the codes stored in the system. As far as I have been told all H-D's currently use the same system for 04' and all will experience this parasitic draw. However, other H-D's have larger batteries with a higher amp hour rating. I haven't read it from a H-D manual yet, but this info is according to our technicions that have been to the H-D V-rod schooling. Also, you can see the amount of draw simply by hooking up a multimeter between your battery and bike. If this is a repeat post...sorry...didnt want to read all 5 pages.

Later,
BART

The computer should only draw less than a milliAmp of current, definitely NOT enough to draw down our batteries in a couple of months!

What it should draw and what it does are two completly different things. All the V-rods at our shop that we have tested are on the very upper limit of factory specifications for parasitic draw. Do this once, take out your TSSM and see what your parasitic draw is, you will find that it is almost EXACTLY the same as the draw with the security system disarmed. When the security system is armed you will notice a very SMALL amount more of current draw which will pulse with the telltale on the speedo. This is not new information, it is just new to you. Dont kill the messenger. Here is a bit more fat to chew on....If it was the security system......why is the V-Rod the only 2002 & 2003 model to have that level of parasitic draw? Remember, the TSSM is the same for all the bikes.

BART!

Do this once, take out your TSSM and see what your parasitic draw is, you will find that it is almost EXACTLY the same as the draw with the security system disarmed. When the security system is armed you will notice a very SMALL amount more of current draw which will pulse with the telltale on the speedo.
...

.If it was the security system......why is the V-Rod the only 2002 & 2003 model to have that level of parasitic draw? Remember, the TSSM is the same for all the bikes.

BART!


Hey Bart,

That is an interesting observation!

Can you suggest a solution, i.e. wiring a switch in series with the +ve cluster lead?


Right now I have the maxifuze pulled, kinda a hack solution.

Rodman
Rodma

Well....I am not a tech. I really don't know all that much about it to tell you the truth. At the shop, we recommend a battery tender to all the purchasers of V-rods, also we let them know that it is also a great idea to remove the maxi fuse when not using your bike for more than 30 days. With both a tender and the fuse pulled there never has been an issue. We actually pull all the fuses on all the V-rods that we have on the floor. As far as a switch would go, hell man, go for it! As long as that is something you think you want to do. I personally wouldnt do it just cause it is much easier to pull the maxi fuse. Also, we have experienced this same issue with all of the 2004 models due to the upgraded serial bus systems on all the 2004 bikes. This serial bus system is very similar to the VRSC system, in that it has diagnostic capabilities in the speedometer that holds the fault codes. The VRSC is more suspetable to the problem due to the smaller batter size.

Oh well, what you gonna do?????? RIDE MORE!!!!!!

What a crappy solution!!!

Later & I hope this helps,
BART!

Hey Bart great post, i have never had any problems starting the v-rod ( has no batt. ten.) and sometimes it sits for over a month at a time.
When the time comes to replace the battery,what do you recommend?
So far the stock battery has been great, but is there something better?

as far as a battery goes, i wouldnt look any farther than a H-D parts counter. The stock AGM batteries are damn good. In my opinion.

After reading the entire thread, I must add my 2-cents. I have one battery tender and a pigtail installed on all of my toys. Two snowmobiles, a four wheeler, a riding lawnmower, a lowrider and two V-rods. Switching between them as necessary to maintain charge. Everything is in an unheated garage in the wonderful climate of Wisconsin. I feel it is a must because these toys may sit a long period of time without use. For me, a great investment, less than $50.00.

Sorry it took me so long to respond, I’ve been out of town on business. I took an amp reading on my bike without the alarm siren. The amp draw is about 3 milliamps (.003). I installed the alarm siren and took another reading. The amp draw was 25 milliamps (.025). The siren worked the first time I armed the alarm, so the rechargeable battery had some charge to it already. So, I don’t know how many amps a dead or weak battery would draw. After I charged it with the battery tender for two days, the amp draw was 3.5 milliamps (.0035). The TSSM draws some power to keep the alarm from activating. If you arm the alarm and remove the maxi fuse the alarm will activate. You don’t want the thief to be able to disable your alarm by removing one bolt. It will also activate if you remove the security fuse. The security fuse supplies the TSSM and the siren with power from the main battery. The only thing I did not try is removing the wire from the security fuse to the siren and replace it with a wire from the ignition fuse. This would only charge the siren battery when the motor was running. I don’t know what will happen if the TSSM and the siren are not powered up together.

I don’t know the amp/hour rating of the V-Rod battery, but if it is a 30 amp/hour battery it should be able to hold 4 milliamps for about 17 days.

This is not good news if you don’t have access to a power source for your battery tender. You may want to look into portable battery jumpers. Look on the internet under battery booster. Here is one site that I found. http://www.automotive-battery-chargers.com/boosters.html

Hope this is helpful information.