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I am a fan of the oem battery from Harley for my 2003 as it is designed to be visible so I don't need to run a cover. I have gotten better life out of them as well so it's a win, win.
I have had great luck with factory batteries. People will say so and so makes harley batteries, changed over the years. Though the specs may not be the same.
That said all my other vehicles I run fleet farm batteries with great luck. So I am probably just paranoid.
The best you can buy hands down - normal life expectancy is 7+ years. Be sure to only use a good lithum battery charger.
Weighs less than 3 pounds. Btw - the smaller size 5.0 is fine for most bikes but baggers should use the larger 7.5 size.
Not sure they fully understand what is available. Also they don't know the market place with bikes that have always on electronics for security devices, etc. suggesting the battery is disconnected if you don't intend to ride in the next 7 days or longer.
Yeah, so here's some fun wrinkles, which makes Andy's comments appropriate:
I do not have a garage, so battery tender isn't really an option. At most I'm able to ride once per week, lately only once per month with my schedule and this godawful heat, so I do make sure that things like my phone charger are unplugged when I'm done riding for the day.
During my last real ride, I had my phone connected to the QuadLock magnetic charger through a BatteryTender USB connection. On previous rides before my regulator got replaced, the charger kept cutting out. It didn't cut out that last time, which seemed great, but after a good 2+ hour ride, it seems like the bike battery didn't get enough juice to charge it as well as my phone battery, and the bike battery died. I bought a jump pack and was able to get it running again enough to get home, riding around for a few minutes to try to charge the bike battery. Then it had to sit for another 2 weeks. Battery fully dead. Fun.
As much as I like the idea of a Lithium Ion battery, I'm on a 20-year-old Sporty. Whatever special charging parts might be needed are not on this bike. So that seems unlikely to be a great option, unless there's just some other component I would need that I don't yet know about.
I did see at least one YouTube vlogger giving a strong recommendation for Yuasa batteries. Nice as it would be to get something manufactured here in PA, they do seem pretty expensive. Don't know whether there's measurable benefit over something like an HD branded battery.
"As much as I like the idea of a Lithium Ion battery, I'm on a 20-year-old Sporty. Whatever special charging parts might be needed are not on this bike. So that seems unlikely to be a great option, unless there's just some other component I would need that I don't yet know about."
I have a 1991 Sportster (33 years old next month!) and have used Shorai Lithium batteries for almost 8 years now. No special charging system needed on the bike. I do use the Shorai BMS unit after a ride, then disconnect it. My bike has no parasitic load when shut off. Taking 10 pounds of weight off my battery tray was worth the price, as repairing my oil tank and mount would be an expensive hassle. You can buy LiFEPO4 batteries with integrated BMS (EarthX).
I like the Shorai as they come in several form factors, so it fits my battery tray without spacers.
I've had good results for many years using Yuasa batteries in my other bikes but one didn't work well at all on my rubber mount Sportster, the terminal connections would loosen up a few times each year (maybe due to vibration plus the lead terminal thinning under pressure) and this would sometimes cause arcing and terminal damage. I went back to a HD battery with threaded steel inserts in the terminals and no problems since then...
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Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
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Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.
