2-3 years is the norm here for me in la. heat is worse on a battery than cold.

 

Even though this is not a Harley, I bought an '05 DRZ400s back in July '07. Battery was toast when I bought, so first thing was put new battery in it. Rode that bike a lot that summer. Winter came and bike sat in garage, unridden for about 3 months. Had a nice day, so took bike out and found battery was dead. Thats when I found out that the DRZ's ate batteries and needed to be on a tender if sitting. I bought a new battery, along with a battery tender in early '08. That battery is still in the bike. When not being used, it stays plugged in to the tender.
Now my '12 Heritage still has the factory battery, but it is time to replace it. Started getting a little weak last year.

 

I change every 21/2 to 3 years. You can tell when it starts, maybe cranks little more, volts so on. anyway cheep maintenance, By the way when it goes it goes not much warning.

 

For a $100 though Battery Mart i'll just replace it every 3 years, no matter what. I hate jump starting bikes.

 

I generally change my battery at around the 2 yr mark. At my age that 950 lbs is just too much to push around. Usually have some other piece of equipment in need of a battery. If not that someone else is in need of a free battery.

 

That video is a little outdated - it shows the use of an old fashioned "trickle charger" which can overcharge, whereas these days the smart battery tenders can be left on indefinitely.

 

Had a battery tender brand maintainer go bad on me and cooked a good red top. I have maybe 8-10 batteries sitting around with all the stuff I have, and Dewalt and Milwaukee changers etc. I use a 24 hr timer to a power strip set to one hour a day to keep any more bad tenders from cooking batteries.


Sorry for the unintentional necrothread...

 

3 years is about all there is and i never ever use a battery tender, but thats just me. i get mine at napa for 70 something every three years. its a AGM.

 

Get rid of those .75 and 1.5 amp tenders and get a battery that uses virgin lead instead of recycled if you prefer an AGM.