Best battery?
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,396
Likes: 266
From: Southern California
For longest life go with AGM style with the lowest CCA and highest Reserve Capacity (RC) you can find.
CCA ratings are used as a marketing tool. To get a high CCA rating the manufacturer has to use more plates in a battery. But at some point (in any given Group size) you run out of space for more plates. So what is done is to use thinner plates. This frees up room for more plates. The more surface area exposed to the electrolyte (acid) the more CCA you get. However, thinner plates are more sensitive to vibration damage which is sort of a problem on a motorcycle.
Reserve Capacity, abbreviated RC, is a function of how much lead there is in the battery. RC rating is a number that represents how many minutes you can continue to run the car or motorcycle before the output from the headlight is no longer "safe" should the charging system fail. Essentially how long you've got from when the red light comes on to when things start getting to be an issue safety-wise. Adding plates will increase the CCA and will also increase the Reserve Capacity . . . up to a point. When the design is maxed out and more but thinner plates are used to boost the CCA rating a bit further, the total amount of lead in the battery can actually decrease. As a result the "Top of the Line" battery will usually have a higher CCA and lower RC rating than the model just below it in the line-up. Usually the battery second from the "Top of the Line" will get you way more CCA than is actually needed, will also deliver better vibration resistance because it is using thicker plates and it will have a higher RC.
AGM (Absorbent Glass Matt) batteries are usually preferable in a Motorcycle because the design makes the battery less prone to vibration damage when compared to a traditional "Flooded Battery." An AGM Battery does have problems with high charging rates, but this really tends to be an issue in a car with a high output charging system as opposed to a motorcycle with a far smaller charging system. Because AGM Batteries are completely sealed they are usually the only ones you can get through the mail or UPS/FedEx etc.
CCA ratings are used as a marketing tool. To get a high CCA rating the manufacturer has to use more plates in a battery. But at some point (in any given Group size) you run out of space for more plates. So what is done is to use thinner plates. This frees up room for more plates. The more surface area exposed to the electrolyte (acid) the more CCA you get. However, thinner plates are more sensitive to vibration damage which is sort of a problem on a motorcycle.
Reserve Capacity, abbreviated RC, is a function of how much lead there is in the battery. RC rating is a number that represents how many minutes you can continue to run the car or motorcycle before the output from the headlight is no longer "safe" should the charging system fail. Essentially how long you've got from when the red light comes on to when things start getting to be an issue safety-wise. Adding plates will increase the CCA and will also increase the Reserve Capacity . . . up to a point. When the design is maxed out and more but thinner plates are used to boost the CCA rating a bit further, the total amount of lead in the battery can actually decrease. As a result the "Top of the Line" battery will usually have a higher CCA and lower RC rating than the model just below it in the line-up. Usually the battery second from the "Top of the Line" will get you way more CCA than is actually needed, will also deliver better vibration resistance because it is using thicker plates and it will have a higher RC.
AGM (Absorbent Glass Matt) batteries are usually preferable in a Motorcycle because the design makes the battery less prone to vibration damage when compared to a traditional "Flooded Battery." An AGM Battery does have problems with high charging rates, but this really tends to be an issue in a car with a high output charging system as opposed to a motorcycle with a far smaller charging system. Because AGM Batteries are completely sealed they are usually the only ones you can get through the mail or UPS/FedEx etc.
Club Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 145,895
Likes: 821
From: 40 miles Northeast of Indy..
Same here, my 07 Heritage battery went belly-up this winter, and yeppers she's always on the tender if she sit more than a week.
I thought I read the HD battery was 275 CC or close to that. After my HOG discount it'd be right at $120 for my Heritage.
I looked on line and found a Battery Plus store really close to home and their replacement batt was 325 CC. Cost was $119.99
So I thought I'd get the Batt + cause I have to drive 100 round trip to get the HD one.
and the HD's warranty is 6months vs the Batt+ 2yrs..
But after reading the post above about the plates being thinner on the higher CC's, I am now leaning back to the HD battery. cause it makes sense.
I thought I read the HD battery was 275 CC or close to that. After my HOG discount it'd be right at $120 for my Heritage.
I looked on line and found a Battery Plus store really close to home and their replacement batt was 325 CC. Cost was $119.99
So I thought I'd get the Batt + cause I have to drive 100 round trip to get the HD one.
and the HD's warranty is 6months vs the Batt+ 2yrs..
But after reading the post above about the plates being thinner on the higher CC's, I am now leaning back to the HD battery. cause it makes sense.
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