As a new owner of the Harley Ultra Classic I was reviewing the manual to access the battery. Am I reading this correctly that the tour pak behind the passenger seat needs to be removed in order to remove the driver's seat(gawd I hope not)... Just familarizing myself to access the battery for the upcoming winter months. Do other harley owners use a battery tender or remove theor batteries?
Any advice on this would be great.....

 

I have an 08 Ultra Classic and there is no need to remove the Tour Pak to take the seat off. There also is a connector near the battery just waiting for a Battery Tender to to be plugged into. Buy a shop manual the best 60 dollars you will spend.

Tim

 

I don't have an ultra but I think the seat comes off the same way as the other touring bikes. Remove the screw at the end of the passenger pillion, slide the seat back and up. Oh, if you haven't already you will need to remove the grab strap too. Most people take it off and throw it away. It's a two minute deal without the strap.

 

What year are we talking about here?

My 99 has a screw that goes through a tab on the rear of the seat. It can be reached either under the tour pak or with a long philips screw driver run down in front of the tour pack while the lid is open. One screw out then tip the rear of the seat up to clear the tour pak and put toward the rear of the bike.

 

I am a new owner as of January and have removed the seat a number of times. No, you don't have to remove the Tour Pak. The owner's manual is pretty helpful. Basically, you open the driver's side saddle bag which provides clearance to the screw on the left side which holds the passenger seat strap on the bike. Remove the screw, withdraw the stap. Then, locate the screw behind the rear of the seat that holds the seat to the top of the rear fender. It's sort of hidden behind the passenger's backrest which you lift up to see the fender. Once that screw is removed, lift the rear of the seat. I recommend you place your fingers over that rear metal tab so as you lift it, it doesn't scratch the paint on the front of the Tourpack. Once it clears the Tour Pak, slide the entire seat assembly towards the rear of the bike, effectively releasing a catch-tab near the gas tank. That should let the seat come off entirely. Again, if you're not certain, the owner's manual is pretty good about describing this. Good luck,

 

Like mhud said, remove strap and one screw at backend of seat. My 06 came with a pigtail already attached to battery. All I did was get the battery tender and leave it hooked up all winter. Battery stays in bike. No problems in the spring so far

 

I am still trying to figure this one out.

 

I think what is confusing barrm is the owners manual says "The Tour-Pak must be positioned to the rear to gain access to the seat mounting bracket screw. If the Tour-Pak is in the forward position, remove the Tour-Pak and install in rearward position" (page 202 '08 touring owners manual). If you tourpak is in the stock location - you are good to go. When re-installing the seat, buy the thumb screw so you don't have to use a screw driver anymore. I have seen a lot of people scratch their rear fender with the screw driver.

 

I don't know if anyone else does this, but after losing the screw that holds the back of the seat on the fender, I put a drop of locktite onto the screw when I re-install it.

 

Ok....I have a 2009 Ultra Classic. A completely new bike to me. Thanks for the responses...am I to assume there is a pigtail/adapter somewhere to simply plug in the battery tender without removing the seat?
Then again....I do feel it is important to learn the ins and outs of the seat removal. I consider myself quite literate,however, the manual is not the greatest.