While getting things ready to bring the bike out of winter hibernation my battery that was on a trickle charger must have boiled out one of the cells. Not wanting a starting issue I went to wally world and was going to pick up a new one. having some nice weather they had none in stock. I went to Batteries plus they had a agm that was rated for 350 cca. my last wally world battery was rated at 260 cca. They tested the agm battery at the counter(it was charged by them) and measured 462 cca. My question is did it measure higher because it was not in the bike? At $93 out the door I thought it was a good deal. What are the advantages of o agm over a led acid battery ?

 

This is a good question that I don't have the answer to but I can say for sure that is a descent price for the battery. I just replaced my $165 Harley battery that I think was 2 years old and I paid a bit more than a $120 for same cranking amps and same warranty as the Harley battery, in fact I think they all have 1 year warranty.

 

I have been buying a new battery from walley world every year but last year I put in a new rotor stator and voltage regulator seemed to be the fix. It was not as bad to put them in as I thought. I wanted a better battery this year since I fixed the problem.

 

Yep I hear you, I put in a new charging system as well a couple years back when I put the harley battey , cyclelectric. Nice when things start coming together on these old bikes.

 

3 Years and Counting on an AGM from Chrome battery...Never trickle charge a good battery, Overcharging is the single most cause of Killed Batteries...Only give them the charge [time and amps] that they need....

 

Lesson learned

 

I've had the Harley agm battery for over 3 years now. I also do not use the trickle charger. My next one will be like above a new agm from Battery Source.

 

I will never put another lead/acid battery in any bike I ever own.

 

CCA rating is not going to depend on if it is in the bike or not. It is a minimum rating that the battery will out put to a dead short (like a starter virtually is) for cranking. It is not surprising that it did more on the counter than the spec, as I'm sure it was warmer than what the CCA spec temp is (Cold Cranking Amps) and it just came off a charger.

Main Advantage of AGM that I see: No fluid spills.

I just put this one (AGM, 350 CCA) on my bike before the Texas meet:

$75 delivered. Can't beat that. My bike is a batter killin' machine! I would like to put a battery kill switch on somewhere if I could figure out where. I think that over the winter months, that would save the battery. But the only place I can think of is right on the battery terminal, and if I have to pull the saddle bag out to get to it, may as well just disconnect the battery cable.

Also, guys, note the difference between a trickle charger and a battery tender. A battery tender will not overcharge, but will just replace what is lost to internal discharge over time. They also won't charge very well either. Long term storage: Battery tender. Overnight (or couple nights) charge: Trickle charger.

 

if your going store your bike over the winter pull the battery and store it in you're cellar or something and if you store it on concrete or on a metal shelf put a piece of ply wood under it, (both those can draw out the battery over time) and if it's fuel injected with an ecm at least disconnect the terminals. Then charge a couple of days prior to use...