BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

I'm not sure whether I read it on this forum but I don't think so.
There's a theory that much of the battery die away issues our motorcycles suffer during winter storage are due to the battery slowly depleting through the stand (side or centre) going to ground for extended periods - I'm leaving aside any nascent power demands from alarm/tracker etc kit.
I'm supposed to be good with electrics I think but I'm not sure about this at all.
So that they can prevent static build up in the chassis while riding, our tyres do conduct electricity to some extent but only slightly due to them having a very high electrical resistance value. Given the usual bike battery is tiny compared to a car battery - does even such low conductivity in the tyres further add in practice to help deplete the battery?
Anybody out there got and willing to share any informed thoughts/knowledge/advice about whether storing the bike on some kind of insulating material would help sustain the batteries or even whether it's worth taking a simple step like disconnecting the battery altogether?

Dunno about that theory , i used to take my battery off and charge it in the winter (as i ride my bike in the winter months) however i then invested in an Optimate 4 automatic charger which plugs into the connection on my 2019 RTLE , no more messing around taking the battery off no more dead battery worries.

I’m the same, just leave it on trickle charge with an optimiser.

Batteries can self-discharge even if not connected to anything. For a discharge current to flow through the battery, there needs to be a circuit +ve to -ve and a load applied.

Static electricity is created when two surfaces are rubbed together. If the bike is stationary, static cannot build up. The idea that static electricity can discharge a battery seems unbelievable to me. As a preventative measure, my bike is stored with both wheels off the ground and the centre stand on a motorcycle dolly which has insulated wheels.

As posted above, just leave the battery connected on the bike and maintain it with a battery charger.

This Yuasa article gives some insight in to battery discharging, https://www.yuasa.co.uk/info/motorcycle ... teristics/

Static electricity, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z ... es/zshqqfr

I've tried two optimates. The first fried the battery on my ST1300 and was discarded just in case it was faulty. I use the second once a week to charge my bikes when we have very low temperatures.
So the consensus recommends disregarding the idea of it being beneficial to insulate against ground contact via either stand - fair enough! The RT is so new to me that it hasn't been in the charging regime but now I'll use the remote + and battery - to connect the optimate for a weekly top up.
Thanks for the inputs.

I had to double check it wasn't the 1st of April. Unless your parking on metal with battery leads attached to your stands there is nowhere the situation you state can happen. Batteries will lose power by not being used. You have more of a chance of a clock or an alarm discharging the battery cells.
The advice i was given by Ctex and Oxford regarding battery chargers is Do not leave your battery connected to a charger for more than 3 days at a time. Charge 2/3 days remove the charger for 3 days the charge for 2/3 days again. A battery charging for a long time will damage a 12v battery and will kill cells. This advice is for the tender, trickle, and maintenance chargers. Older car type chargers are OK for a quick charge over a short period due to them forcing 12v straight to the battery whereas newer tenders charge in pulses and check cell condition between each pules.