ok to charge battery while still on the bike?

[kalessin]

Generally speaking, using a trickle charger (Battery Tender is a good brand) that comes with a connector to a set of ring terminals will work fine for in-bike charging. The Battery Tender will also refuse to charge unless it can sense that it's hooked up properly to a 12v battery that at least has a chance to take a charge. Battery tenders come with ring terminals screw down to the battery posts and won't slip off and make sparks, as well as a set of clamps. There's a wire from the charge unit that ends at a connector, and you can attach the wire with the ring terminals (which come with an inline fuse for attaching electric cold-weather gear) or clamps as appropriate.

I know many, many people who use this setup, including myself for the past five years. I haven't heard of a report of an exploding motorcycle battery other than the one in this thread.

[Rake78GS]

I agree. There is no electrical reason to disconnect the terminals especially if the bike has been operational. On a bike thay has been laying for an extended period i would disconnect the terminals in case there was an electrical fault somewhere.

A few years ago my GS wouldnt hold a charge. The stator was the problem as usual.

But I had an automotive charger at work and one at home. Not a trickle charger. When I got to work I would just riase the saet and hook up the charger to it. Same thing in the morning for an hour or so before going to work. Never had a problem durring or after.

[ScottHarriss]

In every case, when charging any battery, you should insure that you have plenty of ventilation to carry off any hydrogen emissions. In this way, you greatly decrease the possibillity of un-wanted excitations.