Nice day here in Central Texas, wife is in her mood again, so I figured nice time to take a ride up to the hill country and see the sites and open road. I get all geared up and the horse doesn't want to start. Battery is bad. Only got 3 years out of it and it's always on the tender. Kinda strange, thought I'd get a lot more.

New battery is in the mail.

 

It's certainly no fun when the bike won't cooperate. My first battery lasted 2 years, 8 months and it was always on the tender as well. Barring voltage regulator or charging system issues, they last as long as they last, that's it. Hopefully the new one will last longer.

One thing is for sure. It's riding weather in Texas. There are already posts about winterizing bikes

Ride safe.

Boog

 

Agreed with you both on the weather. I did need a flannel shirt!

My first batter lasted 18 months and was only on a tender in the winter. I'd love to have one last 3 years!!!

 

Today I rode from Camp Verde, AZ to Payson, AZ, east to Eagar AZ, south to Alpine, AZ then southeast to Silver City, NM. Cold as hell at 70 MPH. At least I will be back in Texas tomorrow.

 

FWIW, it's been reported that Battery Tender has the highest number of failures of all the various battery maintainers on the market.

Just read back thru a few years of threads and you might notice many failed batteries were on a Battery Tender...

Coincidence???

 

OP; original battery, or replacement...HD, or another vendor/type...curious minds want to know.

Also, battery life span can range from 3-5 years on average so...you're in the zone.

 

Only on a tender during the winter months.
I manage to get at least an hour or two ride in every month even with Nebraska winters.

My battery is at 40 months old and still seems strong.

 

Original battery HD. Bike's a 2012, 3-5 years, so I guess I'm ok then. All the lights come and it'll roll it over once or twice, but not nearly enough to spin it hard enough to fire it up.

 

Over the years I have had batteries that last one season and some 5 years. I treat them all the same. It is just a mystery.

 

I use a HD battery tender year round, but still generally don't trust a battery over 5 years old. I didn't know how old the battery in my '07 Deluxe was (maybe original?) but I had not replaced it since I bought the bike in 2012. Decided to put a new Big Crank in before the ride to Sturgis.