Actually HD batteries are made by East Penn Manufacturing in Pennsylvania. They market the same battery as Deka. They also now cobrand with Duracell.

Edit:
https://www.techbatterysolutions.com...es-s/17140.htm

http://www.eastpennmanufacturing.com...ive-batteries/

 

Some additional information on the East Penn-HD-Deka batteries. The same one is the Big Crank!,,

The perfect replacement for your 66010-97A,B,C Harley-Davidson ® motorcycle battery. Comes with flush mount terminals and a solid 1 year replacement warranty. Match teh power and quality of the ETX30L East Penn Deka battery sold under various private labels at automotive and retail changes such as Advanced Auto, Auto Zone, O'Reilly, Sears, Duracell, Batteries Plus and Braille.

The ETX30L battery is made by East Penn / Deka in Lyons, PA. It is a true American designed, American loved, genuine OEM part made in USA power sport battery!

It is no secret that East Penn manufactures the OEM Harley Davidson battery under the part number 66010-97B. It is also no secret that East Penn also sells the ETX30L battery to major automotive box stores under various private labels as well as to other prominent franchises, brands and online stores. Don't let the sticker fool you, take notice of the unique battery case and terminal structure to confirm you are looking at the same product.

Below are some of the comparable East Penn ETX30L labels for your review:

O'Reilly's (Super Start Extreme)
Auto Zone (Duralast Gold)
Pep Boys (Magna Power)
Advanced Auto (AutoCraft)
Braille (LightWeight AGM - B3121)
Battery Mart (Big Crank)
ThrottleX (X-rated)
Deka (Intimidator)
Harley Davidson (66010-97)

 

Not to be a total dick, but you got 1.5 years out of a part with a 1 year warranty, so what's the issue?

Lon

 

It was all the rave around this forum last i looked also.

 

I'll stick with Yuasa.

 

Well, dude...I'd say either folks didn't know **** back then...or they don't know **** now!

What say you?

 

One thing to consider...

When a company like East Penn contracts with a company like HD, for a LARGE product contract, like the HD batteries surely are... They make the batteries to specifications agreed on and paid for by HD. In most cases, there will be a clause in the contract that precludes East Penn from making a battery, with the exact same specifications, for any other label.

So even though East Penn makes many batteries that size for different labels... they all will not be the same battery. Sometimes the differences are significant, like plate weight/thickness... or maybe just something simple like not having the same post design... but there will be a difference. Any label decides how much they want to spend on the quality of their battery, but they can't say I want the same as "XXXXXXX".

That is part of the reason you will see a similar battery, with a much different price. It could be due to the quality of that particular battery's components/specifications. The manufacturer's capabilities do not mean all similar batteries by them, are at the same level of quality.


Just offering this up, because same manufacturer and same size, can have a significant difference in the quality purchased by a different label.

 

Soooo...... I know what DK is. Why waste the effort to put a teaser in parenthesis and waste time giving the reference?! Cool tho....

Hope you get your battery situation resolved. I can see the reluctance from a company to not replace something 6 months out of warranty.

Buy a Yuasa. Or lithium.

 

Think we will ever hear from the OP again on this thread??

 

I hope so! I just bought one last season because of the praise on the forum!