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From: Left Ohio for the middle of no where in Fla.
Well unless the aftermarket battery somehow provided a whole lot more current than an HD battery there is, no way it "burnt" anything.
I can't believe the stealers keep trying all their B.S.
As many have mentioned, whoever told you the non-HD battery "burned up" the electrical system is talking out his posterior.... unless you used wrong voltage and wired it wrong....
There are 3 main components; battery, stator, regulator.
If any one of those goes bad, and it's not corrected fairly quickly, it can over stress and damage the other components.
You have a new battery... was the old one load tested or just replaced? Was the old battery the problem, or a symptom of another problem? ie: Did the battery truly die, or was it just in a low state of charge do to a faulty regulator or stator?
Since this is your second battery in a short time. I would test each component individually. Load test the battery, then test the regulator, and then do the test for the stator.....
The tests are simple if you've got basic mechanic and volt-meter skills. The tests have been spelled out on this forum several times. A quick search should find them for you, if you don't have the electrical manual...
My 99 EFI RKC seemed to go thru batteries every 13-15 months or so. It didn't matter whether it was a Harley, Deka, Yuasa or Napa. In may picked up a 15 RGS w/ 4300 miles on the clock. Recently I started getting the slow to crank syndrome which always precedes battery replacement. I had a Battery Plus Duracell I had bought just prior to replacing my bike and I installed that, all's good again. The Duracell is made by Deka and has a 2 year warranty so we shall see. I had used a Battery Tender jr on my old batteries in the winter as I'm in Montana but normally brought the battery indoors for the winter. I didn't use it continuously but would put it on for a couple days every couple of weeks. I just purchased a BatteryMinder 1510 that is suppose to be "smarter". We shall see how that goes. AS far as the dealer they are not called "stealers" for nothing.
goldie
I heard if you use non HD air in your tires, they will go bald and blow out on you in 15 miles or less, and if HD hears about it, they will not let you on their property no mo.
Harley batteries produce electrons with a tiny Bar & Shield on them. Without that, the electrons will not work in Harley electrics.....
What a load of Bollocks.... Batteries/bikes dont care what brand the battery is, as long as its the correct size/voltage/capacity aftermarket will work just fine. Something else fried your system such as installation, faulty wiring or just a dipshit dealer
Undoubtedly the service guy made NO mention of the bikes that came in with the same component failures you had that had HARLEY batteries in them. As mentioned earlier, a failure in any one of the main electrical components, battery, voltage regulator, and stater can damage the other components. The name on the battery is immaterial, if it failed and took with it one or more of the other components, it is not uncommon. Also as another poster mentioned, you may have had a deteriorating component earlier that contributed to the first battery failure. What kind was THAT one? Next time you get a hard sales push like that, ask if he can use a little KY first.
On my last 2 bikes when the HD overpriced battery went away I replaced them with interstate batteries with more cranking power and have never had a problem with anything except that my bike will start even after sitting for a couple of weeks off the tender. Your dealer is trying to sell you a bill of goods.
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