Let's see if I can come up with exactly the right way to put this... HELL YES YOU SHOULD USE A FLOAT CHARGER THIS WINTER!

Ok...I am calm now. Look. There are two really good reasons to use a float charger (a.k.a. Trickle Charger or Battery Maintainer) First, it will save you from needing to buy a new battery in the spring. Second, they are dirt cheap...particularly when compared to the cost of a new battery. It isn't complicated.

There are lots of trickle chargers out there. I guess maybe there are some bad ones, but I suspect the degree of "specialness" some claim to have to justify their inflated price tags is just bogus. I shop for units with a convenient array of connectors included for a good price rather than the ones that claim to have special smarts of some sort.

I have one with a 2-conductor DC plug on the end. It came with a matching female 2-conductor DC socket on a short wire that I connected to the main battery terminals. The socket hangs inconspicuously from the battery where it is easy to reach. The charger wire hangs from the ceiling of my garage where I park the bike. I pull in and plug in. No muss, no fuss. No wires to trip over. No dead batteries. Simple. Cheap. Effective. I like that.

You will too. Get one.

Here's the short answer...YES! 

Now...let's qualify what "works" means. Will they guarantee you won't get squashed like bug while riding your bike? Sorry, No. You still need to ride smart and as we all know, not even that can guarantee the worst won't happen.  But I can tell you from my personal experience riding over sixty thousand miles on several bikes equipped with modulators, on almost every ride I can actually tell when drivers see me. Sometimes I can see their eyes tracking me...sometimes as I approach from in front of them, sometimes I see them watching in their mirrors and sometimes as they are about to enter traffic from a driveway or at an intersection. I see it happen around town and on the highway. I like those occasions a lot. 

But let me offer a word of caution. DO NOT TAILGATE WHILE USING MODULATORS! Why? Because sometimes when drivers see you in their mirrors, they hit their brakes. Not hard...but enough that if you are stupid close to their bumper you could eat it. Don't do it. Still, I mark that as ironclad proof my modulators are working.

So yes. I am dead sure that drivers notice the modulators. A dozen drivers have pulled up next to me and asked about them. That is pretty clear confirmation. And I have ridden bikes without modulators. The difference is amazing to me; disturbing in fact. You might think modulators should be REQUIRED by law, not just allowed by law. But here's the deal on that point. If every bike had them, maybe folks wouldn't notice them so much. No other bikes in your town running modulators? Great for you! You get to have the most conspicuous bike in town. What are you waiting for?