I'm not willing to pay the cost when a battery finally dies trying to find how long it will last. So, for me all vehicle batteries get replaced after 3 years.

 

I wonder how many batteries the Stealerships sell because of a simple ground fault. Seems to me the moco went out of their way to ground my 2012 Sporty in the dirtiest, hardest to reach place on the machine. My battery is 3.5 years old. On two occasions I have gotten intermittent low voltage trouble codes, most recently last month at 1:00 AM on my way home from my favorite brew pub.

Pulled the battery both times, charged and load tested it, load test was Good. Cleaned and lubricated both ends of the terminal connections with di-electric lub, re-installed (cursing the engineer that put that ground wire connection in such a tight, dirty place) good to go. This time I installed an auxilliary ground wire that is easier to service and check , and secured to a cleaner attachment point on the bike, so that if it happens on a dark lonely road late at night (like last time) it will be easier to check.

 

The one on my Dyna was about 7 years...sold it with the bike.

I live in New England, harsh winters, unheated garage, and about once every 6 or so weeks I'll put the old fashioned trickle charger on the battery for 1 weekend.

Bought my Shovel with one in not so great shape, so dunno...quickly replaced with a "Big Crank" by Deka/East Penn.

 

For decades I've generally followed this rule for bikes and cages: change battery at ~5 years. I'm sure I've wasted some battery life, but IMO that's acceptable compared to the annoyance of a dead battery. The one or two times the battery died sooner were in a cage. I generally keep my bike on a tender.

 

I replaced the battery on my '03 Deuce last weekend and the one I took out was from 2007. Still worked fine, but no desire to get stuck with a dead battery. I know you can bump start an EFI Twink with a big assed hill, but you still need the fuel pump to kick in. Doesn't make sense to wait for a problem.

 

Not as long as this thread is old!

Mine lasted less than two years and it started dragging. Now, when I know I'm not riding the next day, I hook it up to my tender.

 

06 Road King purchased Nov '05, 35k miles on the clock. Changing out batt next week just because. Use a 1amp float changer every winter. AGM batteries tend to last longer and recover quicker then the old traditional flooded battery. They also do not sulfate as quickly. 10+ years - I think the MOCO provided plenty of value for my dollar with the battery. Just saying.......

 

i've always used a battery tender on all my bikes, seem to get at least 6-7 years out of a quality battery.

 

Have about 8-9 years on my truck (optima yellow top) and goin on 6 or 7 on the cycle, it's an odyssey. Anyone that says deep cycles arnt worth the extra $$ have not tried one. The odyssey was only $20 more than the standard batt, to me that's a no brainer

 

The reason most people get 6 months to 2 years out of a battery is from lack of knowledge.
Most over the counter batteries are just bought and installed and this is the surest way to minimize a battery's life. Usually a battery is pulled from the carton and either the dealer or you adds the acid and distilled water. At this point the battery has close to full voltage but about 70 percent of its rated current capacity. You MUST NOT install it and ride off, doing so will guarantee a shortened battery lifespan. Once the chemicals have been added you must slowly bring the battery up to full current capacity by charging it with nothing greater than 10 percent of the battery's capacity. Meaning a 10 amp battery should be charged with a charger that cannot deliver anything greater than 1 amp, or 10 amps for a 100 amp battery etc. At least 8 hours should pass on a charger this way. This gently brings the battery up to snuff without overheating the plates or chemicals.
Doing it this way should give you at least 5 years of trouble free life, and this only applies to a batteries first or initial charge. A proper battery house will prepare a battery for you in this manner if you call in advance and let them know a day before picking it up. Initial high current charging, or just buying and installing a battery and riding away is the guaranteed way to premature failure.