I bought my Honda Foreman 450s brand new in 1998. When I bought the bike I was skeptical that the small factory battery would last very long especially with repeated use of my 2000lb WARN winch. I was pleasantly surprised when the factory battery finally kicked the bucket after 7 years of service.

Since the first battery lasted so long and performed well I decided to spend the extra few dollars and get an identical OEM Yuasa battery from my local Honda ATV dealer. Unfortunately, after only 2 years of service the replacement battery would no longer hold a charge, forcing me to replace it again. There is speculation out there that battery manufacturers have changed some of the materials in battery construction making them less resilient.

In any case I replaced the battery with another Yuasa, but I wanted a solution to extend the life of the battery. After some research I decided to pick up a Battery Tender Junior from Honda One in St. John's. It's a compact unit that comes with a harness that can be permanently connected to the bike's battery as I did on my Foreman.

it also comes with an Alligator Clip harness for a temporary connection that I prefer to use on my Skidoo. A plug in the cord of the battery tender lets you swap either harness with ease. So far the unit is working great, whenever the bike has to be moved in the shed it starts easily (even on the coldest winter days in an unheated shed).

2012 Update: After 3 years, the battery and the Battery Tender are still working perfectly. I have since picked up a 2nd Battery Tender Jr. and regularly use it on my Snowmobile.

This simple, reliable, easy to use unit earns a 5-Star rating in my book.

Cheers, Mike