Battery Question

[Parson]

I put a new battery in my bike last year. Come November the bike was put away in my parents garage for the winter, meant to get a trickle charger, just never got round to it.

Due to the nice weather, and a day off work, I went through to get it out for a spin. Battery is dead, won't even light up the dash lights.

I was going to put it on charge (normal charger, not trickle) but don't know when I would get back through to check it, so didn't bother.

Have I killed the battery, or should it take a charge again?

Trickle charger just ordered from Amazon.
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Then gsx650F - Now VFR800F

[stinkwheel]

Only one way to find out and that's to charge it and try it.

If it's totally flat, a modern charger may not notice it's connected to anything and just sit there. You sometimes have to connect the charger up then "jump" start the charger using a fully charged battery or 12v power source to get it to start charging.

Received wisdom says if you have to do this, it's dead and needs to be replaced. I have found this not to be the case.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Parson]

I intend to give it a charge with a booster charger, then if it starts, I'll put a trickle charger on it.

I guess if it comes to it, I'll need to just chalk it up to a lesson learned, and buy another battery.
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Then gsx650F - Now VFR800F

[stirlinggaz]

Hi,
forget cheap trickle chargers & "normal" chargers & definitely AVOID chargers intended for cars.
the car charger i have, even states in the instruction manual to NOT USE on batteries less than 20ah & every bike i have owned/worked on has been between 4amps -16amps.
instead, buy a "decent" charger, intended for motorcycle batteries or batteries as small as 4amp.
specifically, buy a charger that claims to "recover deeply discharged batteries" (the model i have claims to recover from as low as 4v whereas a standard charger wont recover anything less than 10v ime) & also recovers "sulphated batteries".

i have recovered many "dead" batteries, that i chucked in the corner of the garage, years ago.
all it took was a top up with distilled water (or is it de-ionised water? i can never remember, but was very cheap for the 4L i bought a couple of years ago & i havnt used half of it) and overnight on the fancy charger.
they now show over 12.8v & hold a charge.
I used to buy cheap batteries & replace them every year or 2, (sometimes more frequently if it was left outside over winter)
but i havnt bought a new battery since receiving the charger as a xmas present a few years ago.

cheers,
GAZ.