batteries

[Chopper Dave]

My local Harley dealer is outrageous. Said it'd be $130 out the door for their AGM battery and only 6mth warranty. And they couldn't even tell me what it was rated for. Advance Auto Parts carries 270cca AGM batteries now (ETX20L) for ~$90, 1yr warranty. Put one in my 2001 Mastiff (107ci, no releases) before I traded her in. Whatever you do, stay away from Batteries Plus. I went through 2 of their 310cca batteries in one year, each with a dead cell (always on a tender). Friend of mine who rides a V-Star had also had a cell die on him in less than a year (from b-plus).

wow!

yeah...I had the Interstate 310cca battery in mine....always on the tender...even in the summer time.....it still starts my bike...but a couple of times when I started it when it was 40 degrees...it clicked a couple of times and my hazards came on....I only had the battery in my bike for a year....so after talking to Alhall...I figured if I am going to spend a hundy on a battery...I might as well spend the extra $50-60 and buy a good one with a 2 year warranty:2thumbs: and its like 425 cca...won't have to worry about that anymore!
I ordered my Braille battery from a linky that Sporadic put up in another thread....
Braille B2015 Carbon Fiber / Non-Carbon Fiber All Season Battery

 

[coach]

I bought a 2yr warrantied AGM battery from battery-plus this year. They offer the Odyssey as well as a 1yr warrantied. Batteries last me about two years no matter what I buy. When I had the Harley it was the same and I always bought them from Harley dealers. Is Battery-Plus just a distributor? The last battery I had was an Interstate, looked the same with different label, Lasted 2yrs. I believe these are, for the most part, common manufactures........The Odyssey was interesting, expensive, but I didn't like the terminal setup.

I will say the new battery turns the motor over stronger than the Interstate which had a higher cca rating. I hope this will be a positive experience. First time trying Battery-Plus. I will let you know.

 

[soonertodd]

i have the braille in mine also,it spins it over like a top.was 160 shipped from jegs.well worth the money.
todd

 

[LDO]

Dang, I'm going on 4 years now on same battery...thinking I've pushed the envelope as far as I can even though it still spins the motor just fine and I only recently added compression releases!

I'll be picking up one of the HD AGMs in a few weeks (or maybe sooner:lol: )

 

[Thumper169]

How long do the batteries typically last? mine is two years old and doing fine but I'm one for prevenitive maintaince if at all possible,

 

[Cephus]

This will be my 3rd season with a Yuasa battery and I have had no problems. Keep it on a tender when not in use.

 

[Marco Polo]

I just bought my Wolf and haven't been reading here for more then a few weeks but it really seems odd how many battery post I've seen and how many people are changing out batteries every 2 or 3 years. Also, it seems common knowledge here that you basically HAVE to use a tender which I've never seen for any other motorcycle.

On my previous bikes forum everyone always got 4 or 5 years out of their stock batteries (Yuasa) and very few used a tender unless they didn't ride often or when it was stored away for the winter. I know Dog owners don't typically ride as often or as far (the poll makes that very clear) but still, something seems wrong when batteries aren't lasting more then this.

My biggest complaint however is my brand new $40K bike wouldn't start today and after only 4 attempts to start it (5 seconds each) with rest in between (turned key off for 20 seconds between 2nd and 3rd try even) I got off and pulled the seat to discover the battery terminal was half melted. I call the dealer asking him WTF this is about and he acts like I should have known to retighten the battery terminal before every ride. This bike has less then 100 miles on it by the way and was just delivered and gone over by the dealer on Sunday. My last bike was 4 years old and to my knowledge the battery terminal was NEVER checked or retightened but this bikes going to need it every freaking day or I'm going to ruin the battery, EHC, starter and everything else? Eh, whatever, I'm just ranting now.... :rant2:

By the way the difference with the Odysey batteries is they are a deeper cycle battery and are made of much higher quality lead and other components. That's why they're more expensive as well, not because they pack more CCA into their size (they're actually larger per CCA then others). They're not going to perform better typically but they will last longer and do better without a tender on average as long as you're comparing them with equivelent other batteries in the CCA and AH departments.

That Braile battery looks good but I'm curious why they choose not to use the most common standard for rating theirs. That always makes me a little skeptical even though it sounds well designed.

 

[Raywood]

I just bought my Wolf and haven't been reading here for more then a few weeks but it really seems odd how many battery post I've seen and how many people are changing out batteries every 2 or 3 years. Also, it seems common knowledge here that you basically HAVE to use a tender which I've never seen for any other motorcycle.

On my previous bikes forum everyone always got 4 or 5 years out of their stock batteries (Yuasa) and very few used a tender unless they didn't ride often or when it was stored away for the winter. I know Dog owners don't typically ride as often or as far (the poll makes that very clear) but still, something seems wrong when batteries aren't lasting more then this.

My biggest complaint however is my brand new $40K bike wouldn't start today and after only 4 attempts to start it (5 seconds each) with rest in between (turned key off for 20 seconds between 2nd and 3rd try even) I got off and pulled the seat to discover the battery terminal was half melted. I call the dealer asking him WTF this is about and he acts like I should have known to retighten the battery terminal before every ride. This bike has less then 100 miles on it by the way and was just delivered and gone over by the dealer on Sunday. My last bike was 4 years old and to my knowledge the battery terminal was NEVER checked or retightened but this bikes going to need it every freaking day or I'm going to ruin the battery, EHC, starter and everything else? Eh, whatever, I'm just ranting now.... :rant2:

By the way the difference with the Odysey batteries is they are a deeper cycle battery and are made of much higher quality lead and other components. That's why they're more expensive as well, not because they pack more CCA into their size (they're actually larger per CCA then others). They're not going to perform better typically but they will last longer and do better without a tender on average as long as you're comparing them with equivelent other batteries in the CCA and AH departments.

That Braile battery looks good but I'm curious why they choose not to use the most common standard for rating theirs. That always makes me a little skeptical even though it sounds well designed.

Marco, your riceburners or stock HD's aren't pushing 4 1/4" pistons around. These motors large motors are hard on both the starter and the battery. 2 yrs is about standard then you replace it. That's just the way it is!!

I got 2 1/2 on my last one but it died on my at Daytona last year on the day I was heading across country back to Washington St.
Also, I tighten up my battery posts every week. They just vibrate loose. I would look at your and see if they have lock washers or better yet star washers on them. This helps but you will still be checking them weekly.

 

[Marco Polo]

I suppose you're right about the "That's just the way it is!!" part but my old motorcycle was a 1700cc, not much smaller then the 1900cc motors in most BDM plus our bike has a larger battery to help it handle that larger size motor right? Not to mention the X-Wedge is supposed to have vibrations reduced 21% compared to evos.

You're the 5th person today to tell me it's normal for American V-Twins to to rattle themselves loose (after 4 days and less then 100 miles even?!) and how it's a good idea to always tighten up the battery terminal but doesn't it bother you that people with bikes costing 1/4 of ours never have to bother with any of that for years and are still posting 11 second 1/4 miles with similar size motors?

It's just REALLY discouraging after spending that much money to already have something go wrong before I can even get the first real ride on it. I'm sure I'll get over it soon (once I DO get that ride) after I put the new new battery in tomorrow. And hopefully no more melting or smoking parts from here on out now that I've learned to put a wrench to it before every ride.... God that seems fucking insane to have to do. Thanks for confirming that that is in fact "the norm" at least Ray.

 

[oldfool]

Thats why some people that have had harleys go back to them after owning a custom. Some just need a little more care.

 

[bdmridgeback]

http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/technical/7131-batteries-options-specs.html#post110687

 

[jerr-06k9]

Interstate 310cca battery :2thumbs:
No Problems!!

 

[Eric]

I got a interstate 310 also, just installed it, works great but have herd people say dont use, dont know why, of corse i didnt here this till i got one

 

[BorgerBigDog]

I still have my original battery,i dont put it on a tender when i am riding 2 to 3 times a week,but i keep it on the tender during the cold winter months, it fires right up. I geuss i will get the harley battery sometime this riding season...

 

[chaingunner]

Well the dog left me and the bride late saturday nite at the Hogs Head Saloon:bang: :bang: :bang: :angry: , of course the bar was full, and all the HD guys thought that was just funny as shit. "Fukin 30k bike won't start! what a piece of shit" (even though they know I have an HD too they couldn't let it go) that will be the last time, I just put a new battery in it, but I see it was a 270cca, so that went back, guy told me it was actually rated at 310cca , any ways I ordered the Braille!:2thumbs:

 

[Thumper169]

I just ordered this same battery...that Alhall has in his scoot:2thumbs:
battery will be here Thursday... $162 shipped!

Mine is on the way as well......

 

[Gas Man]

Well the dog left me and the bride late saturday nite at the Hogs Head Saloon:bang: :bang: :bang: :angry: , of course the bar was full, and all the HD guys thought that was just funny as shit. "Fukin 30k bike won't start! what a piece of shit" (even though they know I have an HD too they couldn't let it go) that will be the last time, I just put a new battery in it, but I see it was a 270cca, so that went back, guy told me it was actually rated at 310cca , any ways I ordered the Braille!:2thumbs:

Yeah I have heard the ole "what your dog got fleas" line before too!