Anyone with a vehicle they store for a period of time needs a Battery Tender to trickle charge and maintain the battery.

The Battery Tenders all come with 2 connection types, a ring terminal harness and an alligator clip harness. Each accessory has a 2-pin quick-disconnect plug so you can, like it says, quickly disconnect. You can also buy a cigarette lighter plug attachment in case your bike has those kind of connectors as well, like my BMW K75 had.

But I’m not here to sell you a Battery Tender, I’m here to do a quick tutorial on my way of permanently attaching the ring terminal connectors to the Honda Ruckus and get around a couple of the issues you may find while doing it.

All you need is:

• #2 phillips head screwdriver
• 10mm socket
• your ring terminal harness.

Battery Tender ring terminal harness and 2-pin quick-connect plug

Step 1: Remove the Ruckus battery box cover

There are 4 pretty obvious screws that hold it on. If you can’t find these screws you probably should stop right here and take your ruckus to the shop and pay them $75 to do this.

Remove the Honda Ruckus battery box cover by removing the 4 screws. Two on the left, two on the right.

Tilt the battery box cover back and pull it up and out.

It will feel like it doesn’t want to tilt back, but once the screws are out it’s free and clear so if it resists you’re gonna have to use a little gumption to get it to release.

There are most of the electronic guts of the Ruckus.

There’s your Honda Ruckus Battery

 Step 2: Expose the battery terminals

The positive terminal (red) is under the fusebox cover, the negative terminal (black) is just out in the open on the left.

Popping off the Honda Ruckus fuse box cover.

 Step 3: Remove the battery bracket to give yourself some space.

The under-appreciated 10mm socket gets a turn to help.

It’s freedom, like taking off a sweaty sock.

Step 4: Attach the ring harness to the terminals.

I’m not going to talk about the negative (black) side because that’s straightforward. Remove the screw from the terminal, put the screw through the ring harness, screw the screw back in. OK, there’s one tricky part, but BARELY. The thickness of the ring harness makes it a LITTLE tricky to thread the screw into the floating nut, but you can do it, just fiddle with it.

What I’m going to do is show you MY trick for connecting the ring terminal harness to the positive (red) side and avoiding the Battery Tender Idiot Nub. I don’t know WHY there’s a GIGANTIC plastic nub on here, is it for looks, function, safety? Don’t know, don’t care.

The idiot nub.

I’ve tried to bend the ring at a 90-degree angle but the idiot nub interferes with the terminal screw. Or it hits the fusebox plastic housing, or the housing doesn’t allow the screw to thread back into the floating nut. So here’s what you do, slide the ring terminal connector under the fusebox housing and under the screw as far as it will go.

DON’T try and get the screw to go through the hole in the ring connector, just the edge.

Screw the terminal screw in and keep pushing on the ring harness to make sure it stays under there and keeps tight.

It JUST fits under enough to have good contact.

Step 5: Install the battery bracket OVER your Battery Tender wires.

Clamp down the wires with the battery bracket.

Step 6: Feed the wires up to the top of your Ruckus.

Follow the other wires on the Ruckus and feed them however you want, just make sure the 2-pin quick-disconnect plug ends up near the handlebars.

Step 7: Replace the Battery Box Housing

Re-jigger the housing back on with the 4 screws that hold it on.

You’re now ready for Battery Tending

There’s your plug ready for use or for hiding when riding. That rhymed.

Tending…tending…tending…

I realize I could do some cutting to make this fit as well, but this is Emily’s Scooter and I’m not sure she wanted me chopping it all up, but I’d love to hear other ideas for doing this.