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[gordy]

The new bikes with security have a low continual draw on them that requires a battery tender to maintain them over a long period of time.  My 2002 Duece never was plugged in and the battery lasted 5 years-I thought that was okay life.

[FUZZNUTS]

I replaced my original battery March 08. The original lasted 5 1/2 years. The only reason I think it only lasted that long , the bike sat in my nieghbors garage untendered while I had my hip replacement. Kinda was'nt thinkin about the battery then. I have a tender on it now and when we get a mid 40's day, the bike snaps to life with just a touch of the starter. Tendered is the way to go......................................................Fuzz  

[ridefar]

Local dealer owner, who is obviously in business to sell stuff, told me yesterday that 2 to 3 years tops on OEM battery life. He said one day I will shut off my bike to fuel it and that will be it dead. I am taking up the challenge now to push the envelope. I will not replace the battery until it strands me somewhere! Has been on a Accumate smart charger since the first winter storage. The bike is a 2004 SEEG built December 2003. Stay tuned...

[grc]

Local dealer owner, who is obviously in business to sell stuff, told me yesterday that 2 to 3 years tops on OEM battery life. He said one day I will shut off my bike to fuel it and that will be it dead. I am taking up the challenge now to push the envelope. I will not replace the battery until it strands me somewhere! Has been on a Accumate smart charger since the first winter storage. The bike is a 2004 SEEG built December 2003. Stay tuned...

Sure hope that isn't out in the middle of the desert and they have to use the circling buzzards to find you.    

Seriously, there is a better way.  It's called a battery load test, and it's the best way to determine the real health of a lead-acid battery.  Keeping the battery on a tender all the time will mask the gradual deterioration that is normal over the lifespan of a battery, thus the analogy of starting fine at the beginning of a ride but later that day not having enough ooomph to start the bike.  I would suggest that once your battery reaches about 4 years in age that you might want to consider a load test at the start of every riding season, or perhaps every 6 months for those who can ride all year.

Modern AGM batteries are much more reliable than those old style wet cell batteries we all remember that constantly needed water added and seemed to fail every year or two due to vibration, sulfation, or just poor quality.  I've had nothing but excellent results with AGM's in my bikes and my cars, and 5 to 6 years has been about average for both before I experienced enough of a deterioration to justify buying a new battery.  Having said that, I assume I will now go out and find both my bike and my car dead as a door nail.

Jerry

[ice6900]

My show bike built in 1998, which has a 1200sporty evo-motor has always had a battery prob ever since i bought the scoot in 2003.
Battery is a Odyssey PC545. Originally i found that the constructor had used a 1/4" steel bar as the battery negative conductor to the frame (which glowed redhot during hard starting), this i replaced with a normal copper braided battery cable. This helped to give more battery juice 4 starting.
Battery can be left on a tender but still it has a job to crank the motor over initial compression, rocking the motor to a tdc postion helps a little. Its normally easier to start up after the motor has warmed up a bit.

yeah yeah i will get my wallet out one day to buy a new battery.

[ridefar]

grc, I could just as easily buy a new battery and have it fail without warning. I will go with the load test as suggested. Will keep a spare battery at the nearest HD dealer just in case. Oh yeah, no desert riding for me, if its over 90 degrees I prefer AC.

[Decano]

Sure hope that isn't out in the middle of the desert and they have to use the circling buzzards to find you.    

Seriously, there is a better way.  It's called a battery load test, and it's the best way to determine the real health of a lead-acid battery.  Keeping the battery on a tender all the time will mask the gradual deterioration that is normal over the lifespan of a battery, thus the analogy of starting fine at the beginning of a ride but later that day not having enough ooomph to start the bike.  I would suggest that once your battery reaches about 4 years in age that you might want to consider a load test at the start of every riding season, or perhaps every 6 months for those who can ride all year.

Modern AGM batteries are much more reliable than those old style wet cell batteries we all remember that constantly needed water added and seemed to fail every year or two due to vibration, sulfation, or just poor quality.  I've had nothing but excellent results with AGM's in my bikes and my cars, and 5 to 6 years has been about average for both before I experienced enough of a deterioration to justify buying a new battery.  Having said that, I assume I will now go out and find both my bike and my car dead as a door nail.

Jerry

Where do you get the load test done, at the dealer?  If so, wouldn't they just say that the battery needs to be changed to sell one?

[grc]

Where do you get the load test done, at the dealer?  If so, wouldn't they just say that the battery needs to be changed to sell one?

You can have it done at the dealer, at many auto parts stores, at independent repair shops (motorcycle or automotive shops), or you can buy a relatively inexpensive consumer level tester yourself.  As long as you walk in knowing how the test is supposed to be run and what the results are supposed to be, and they let you watch the test, it's pretty straight forward.  Start with a fully charged battery, connect the tester and set the load at 50% of the cold cranking amp rating of the battery (ie. 300 cca battery, set the tester for 150 amps) while observing the voltage for 15 seconds.  At 70° F the voltage should not drop below 9.6V after 15 seconds.  If it does, it's time to consider replacement.

Jerry

[Decano]

You can have it done at the dealer, at many auto parts stores, at independent repair shops (motorcycle or automotive shops), or you can buy a relatively inexpensive consumer level tester yourself.  As long as you walk in knowing how the test is supposed to be run and what the results are supposed to be, and they let you watch the test, it's pretty straight forward.  Start with a fully charged battery, connect the tester and set the load at 50% of the cold cranking amp rating of the battery (ie. 300 cca battery, set the tester for 150 amps) while observing the voltage for 15 seconds.  At 70° F the voltage should not drop below 9.6V after 15 seconds.  If it does, it's time to consider replacement.

Jerry

Thanks, I'll have that done before I head out to Sturgis this summer.

[ice6900]

With todays quality of manufacturer, there gaurentee that ur new battery will not just die on u! 


OPPPS sorry i have to write you not u, some of the aged have been complaining about work abbreviations!

[Decano]

Yes, I saw that the claws came out on an earlier post.

[DCFIREMANN]

Jerry is right LOAD TEST a battery after a few years will give you a heads up if it is getting tired. Another problem is a low battery with not enough power to start your bike and you try to start it. You have put a load on your battery it may never recover from. Also when buying a new battery ALWAYS fully charge your battery before using.

Be Safe

THE DAWG

[WFP]

Well, it is time of year to say goodnight to the SED    So I did the winterization and put it up on the tender as I always have done.  The bike turned over no problem to circulate the new oil before the long winter hibernation.

So why am I posting?  The bike is a 2003 SED, bought new by me in Feb 2003.  I have been very consistent in keeping it on a tender when not in use and in the garage.  I credit that with the fact that I am still on the original battery...ELEVEN riding seasons!

In the spring, I will install a new battery now that I have posted the current life here for all to see...no sense tempting fate!

Bill

[cahdbiker]

ridefar, I purchased my 09 in August of 08. My original battery lasted for about 4 years and was on a tender when not in use. Most of my rides are never less than 80 miles with a few long distance trips to Canada and Arkansas and Nebraska. Funny and lucky thing is we took about a 90 mile ride the week before our trip to Arkansas in 2012. It started fine 4 or 5 times that day , but when we got home I shut it off in the driveway and when I went to restart to pull into the garage 5 minutes later it just did the clicking noise. I think it is just the luck of the draw regarding batteries whether you keep them on a tender or not.CAHDBIKER

[MrSurly]

My '01 RK went nine years on the OE battery. Interestingly, it never really "died" but it became unable to maintain enough voltage during idle to keep the ECM happy, leading to lots of drivability weirdness...but it would always crank the bike!
It's replacement from the dealer lasted two years. Now it has a Deka (mfr of the OE battery) which can be had for 99 bux.
The RK was rarely tended, but we've got year round riding here.
The CUSE5 (2010) is getting sluggish when cold now; it's going to get a new Deka soon.