How long does it take to charge a dead motorcycle battery?

[86LG4T5]

Ballpark...?

[Capirex]

Depending on the age of the battery it may not be able to hold a charge if completely dead.

[FastCat]

It also completely depends on the size of the charger you're using.  If you've got a battery-tender or other similar "smart" charger, overnight should do the trick for almost any motorcycle-battery... certainly no more than 24 hours.

[Sport]

Never put a clock on recharging and I only use a tender anyway.  I had a completely dead battery once and left the tender on all night and the next morning it was fully charged.

[CBRXXBLACKBIRD]

I never put a time on it either I always just did it over night.

[jschmidt]

overnight.

[Snowbird]

If 8 hours on a BT doesn't produce results... I'm inclined toward "infinity."

[Andrew]

In my case if the battery is dead (will not start in the AM) On goes the tender and off to work I go on one of the other bikes in the garage. When I leave for work the next day the battery is charged, that or I need to get another battery.

[photomd]

Look at your battery. If it's a 18 amp battery and you have a 1.25amp/hour charger, and it has no charge it'll take 14.4 hours. So take your batteries amperage and divide by the amps per hour that your charger puts out. I think specific gravity is the best way to test a battery, but putting it under stress works too.

[Walker]

Look at your battery. If it's a 18 amp battery and you have a 1.25amp/hour charger, and it has no charge it'll take 14.4 hours. So take your batteries amperage and divide by the amps per hour that your charger puts out. I think specific gravity is the best way to test a battery, but putting it under stress works too.

This assumes no aging (sulfating) of the battery, but is a good initial estimate.  Here is some good information:
http://www.mcnews.com/mcnews/articles/battery.htm