I bought a 2007 Street Glide with 7k miles a couple months ago from a BMW dealer. The dealer didn't know anything about the bike's history. The bike has a stock H-D battery (AGM), but I'm not sure if it's the original or a replacement. Is there a way to tell? Is there a manufacturing date or date code on H-D batteries?

I keep the battery on a tender when not riding. It cranks my motor over just fine. Only reason I'm concerned is because I have a few trips planned this summer. I don't want any battery issues while I'm on the road.

 

There should be some kind of date on any automotive battery, HD brand or other. Good rule of thumb is 3 years. Any more than that and your on borrowed time. When in doubt, replace it.

 

There is no date on the battery. This was the first thing I looked for before posting.

 

Almost all of the time, they never punch out the date sticker on the battery anyway.(if it had one) Im going to replace my 3 year old (2011 RKC) with the Big Crank EXT-30L on eBay for $99.95 shipped. It has decent reviews here.Why take a chance.

 

Might practice push starting it. Id replace it and scratch in the date when you do.

 

This Deka battery is made by the same company that makes H-D batteries. Anybody ever try one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DEKA-AGM-BAT...06e468&vxp=mtr

 

You can get the same battery with a "Big Crank" label on it from batterymart.com for $99 delivered to your door. The Harley, Deka, and Big Crank all made by East Penn MFG. and are the same batteries. Pay $99, $111, or $180 for the label you prefer. Oreilly also sells the same battery for around $125. Somewhere on the battery should be melted into the cas something like 6J which would decode into manufactured in October of 2006, J is the 10th letter , if I counted correctly, and means the 10th month. The 6 is pretty obvious.

 

They are not the same batteries. Just because they are made by te same manufacture doesn't mean that one has different specs... Which the HD battery does!

 

The Harley sticker has a date code on it. It's a letter and 2 numbers. Example B12, J13

 

One of the guys either on this site or on another I frequent made a visit to the factory and watched the same innards going into all of the batteries regardless of the label ultimately stuck on them. Never had any reason to doubt his story, though you are free to do so.