So my battery died. Purchased from local HD dealer in May '13. Didn't even get three years out of it and I keep it garaged and on a HD tender all the time.

Instead of spending near $190 on another HD branded battery I opted for a cheapo from Batterymart.com. $84.95, no tax, free shipping. Specs on it were better than the HD at 420 CCA 30 Amps vs. 400 CCA ? Amps.

Dropped it in the battery box and when I went to put the hold down clamp on it, uh oh! Clamp won't fit over the top of the battery. It is taller by about 5/8". Now I had already dumped the original battery as when I went to Autozone to have them run a load test on it, it failed so I just left it with them to dispose of. So I couldn't compare exact measurements but all of my on-line searching yielded the exact same dimensions as the one I purchased from Batterymart. Unfortunately, even without the clamp on I could not get my custom C&C seat back on the bike.

After several frustrating moments of removing the battery to make sure there was nothing sitting in the bottom of the battery tray keeping it from seating properly, I decided to modify my seat by removing a large portion of the fiberglass under bottom using a Rotozip tool. A half hour or so later I was real close but still not quite able to reach the rear fender mounted stud to bolt the seat down. I then re-routed all of my wires (for the tour pak, speakers, CB antenna and everything else) hoping to make just a little more room. Now very close but still about a half of the stud away from dropping over.

I put a couple of jam nuts on the stud (to protect the threads) and with a large pair of channel locks I was able to bend the stud back toward the rear of the bike, just enough to be able to drop the seat bracket over the stud and wa-la. It fit, albeit very tight, so tight in fact I don't think not having the clamp bracket over the top will be an issue, it isn't going anywhere. It still amazes me though that as big as these bikes are, everything is still so cramped!

I would guess, although I did not try to confirm, that my stock 2 up seat would not have an issue, but I hardly ever ride in 2-up full tour pak mode anymore since my better half no longer rides.

Anyway I just wanted to post this up for you guys that maybe shopping for a new battery to replace the original HD. I am happy with the $100 savings and I am hopeful I will get at least the same longevity out of this one although time will tell. Less than 3 years out of the other one is certainly no high bar for this replacement battery to beat.

 

U are a brave man, no way would I start shaving the pan of my $700 custom c&c seat in order to make a $100 battery fit. Glad to see u made it work though

 

Yeah, I had reservations, however since every other battery I saw online had the same size specs as this one, I figured any future replacements would have the same issue. A one time mod on the seat would prevent any future fitment issues. The seat does not bear on the center portion anyway so I was comfortable in doing what I did. I only removed about 1/8" of fiberglass and the steel plate (tongue plate) that runs though the middle of the seat is still fully intact.

 

I'm glad somebody besides me isn't afraid to chop up a seat! I cut a tailbone 'relief' in the bottom of my stock seat,about 2 inches wide and 5 inches long.
Worked great-no more tailbone pain,which was terrible with that seat. I almost wanted to cancel the Mustang seat I had ordered.

 

I can only imagine the face the next owner makes when he sees this "mod". Moral of the story is " not all batteries are created equal".

 

There's nothing to "see". I pulled back the fabric cover from the seat bottom, shaved off about 1/8" of fiberglass from the center of the pan, applied spray on carpet/headliner adhesive and re-applied the fabric cover. There is no noticeable change and since the metal spine of the seat was not compromised, there is no functional change either. Just a little more room.

 

Sorry you have had so much unfortunate trouble with a battery swap. Lots of info on this forum that would have helped you had you researched the topic.

Many of us use this:






There's simply no logic in paying HD $89 more for a battery when this one is better.

 

^^ This is the one I was going to go with but decided to try the MTX30L which has even higher CCA (410 vs. 400) and surprisingly was even cheaper. According to the Batterymart.com website, these two batteries have the exact same dimensions (within .010 inches in height). It was cheaper the the ETX30L but I bought this one due to the slightly higher CCA. The fact that it was less money was a bonus. Unless the dimensions on their website are incorrect, either battery would have posed the same problem. In fact, every single battery I looked at online had the exact same dimensions, within .03" or so.

The little bit of trouble I went through on this will certainly prevent any future fitment problems. I consider this a "problem solved" rather than "problem created" and my custom C&C seat is not compromised in any way, shape or form.

 

Glad you got it installed and clear of the seat pan.

 

Chopping up your bike to make a aftermarket battery fit does not sound logical to me.Like what was said previously,if you had done some research,you would of found a battery that fit at a price you wanted to pay and the correct amps that your bikes charging system can charge.