The stock battery in my '10 FXD is not holding a charge and has left me stranded twice.
My question is, is it normal for a battery to only last a year and a half?
I ride year round, so it's never set up for an extended period of time. I ride it almost everyday. I don't use a maintenance or trickle charger. Connections are clean and tight.
I've checked and there isn't any draw on the battery with the key off and it's putting 14-15 volts into the battery at idle.
I'm shopping for a replacement now, but since it seems odd that the battery would fail in less than two years, I want to make sure there isn't anything else I should check for so I don't have the same problem with the new batt.

Also, are the JP Cycles brand "High Output" batteries any good, or should I go with another choice?

 

18 months life is not unusual but if you getting 14-15 at idle I would get your regulator checked as 12.9-13.5 is more the correct figure....it may be cooked from over charging.

There are only two batteries you should fit in a Harley in my opinion, one is the genuine H-D brand and the other is Motobatt.

 

I just replaced my original battery 3 months ago. The original lasted 5 years. I religiously use a battery tender.

 

My first battery was bad from the start. Lasted 1 month and dealer replaced. My second lasted about 2 years. Heat kills them. I am trying a different brand this time.

 

My original Harley Davidson battery crapped out within six months, and was covered under warranty. After five years I replaced that one with a Deka East Penn battery http://www.dekabatteries.com/ , they make the Harley Davidson battery's

I also have my bike plugged into a Battery Tender when ever I'm not riding, made a big difference on my last bike for extending battery life.

Info below is from other threads:

I would order online, it would be cheaper and they probably sell a lot more of them then a local shop, which would most likely get you a fresher battery then one that has been sitting on a shelf for who knows how long. Some quotes from other threads that should help.

 

My original battery lasted 23 months so it got replaced under warranty. They also checked the charging system when they did it. You hopefully still have some warranty left, right?

 

Yup over 14 Volts is suspect. I would install a trickle charger and see if that fixes the problem. If not get one of these:

http://www.powersports.braillebatter...tteries/b2015/

If this thing craps out then you know you have a different problem. These braille batteries kick ***. This is the same battery I'm using on my TP124 with 10:1 compression with no comp releases. Will fit your dyna battery box.

 

Sat.mine started acting like it was weak. Hope it's not the starter! Gonna take it and load test it. It'll turn over some and backfire sometimes and stop turning over so I let off.often have to do it a few times.sound like batt or starter?