I didnt post that I kept the battery tender hooked up most of the time when not riding so I'd guess that had something to do with the longevity of the OEM battery.

Yeah... I do count my blessing by getting lucky as to where it stopped working. Sometimes, its better to be lucky than good.

 

This is my 3rd year on my battery. I keep it on a tender full time when its parked in the garage. I will replace it before the next season. I live very rurally and ride my bike to work etc. I've given my previous batteries to friends and they always get a couple more years out of them. I just don't like the gamble. To me 3 years is a good run.

 

I just posted about paying attention to your thoughts. THIS is what i was talking about! (my post turned into a tire plug thread...)

 

Every 4+ to 4.5 years the battery gives up the ghost on my bike with a tender.
Used to buy the Harley battery with points or incentives.
I got the one from advance auto parts this time by ordering online with 20% off coupon and then walking into the store to pick-up.
Basically you get the hint (click click) if you wait longer than the time it takes for fuel pump to build pressure.

 

Amazing..You got 7 years, I got less than 3 years on my battery.

Since new I have kept mine on a tender at all times when not riding. Still only lasted 35 months. It died like yours, started fine all one day, next morning dead as a hammer.

The battery died while we were on vacation, couldn't have happened at a better time. LOL. The tool kit I made up sure came in handy that day.

Maybe I'll get lucky and get 7 years out of this one. Probably not.

By the way Jim, I still love my 7" FastAire Aero. It's a great shield.

 

Apparently Jim, you got all the luck as to where your battery took a crap. I made up for that a couple of weeks ago. Patriot Guard Mission, 120 miles from home in the rain, leaving the church for the 42 mile escort, in a community that doesn't even show up on Google Maps. Got a jump start to try to make it the 20 miles to the nearest parts store, made it 4 miles on a very twisty road and bike was trying to die, with volt meter going nuts. Made it to a pull off area and had zero cell phone service. A very nice gentleman drove by me and recognized me from the funeral and turned around and came to my rescue. Drove me the 16 miles to the O'Reilly store, I sent a message to the Ride Captain that I had been rescued and the guy brought me and the battery back to the bike. Changed it out and rode it home in the rain.
I learned that battery tenders will trick you, so an occasional load test will be on my future maintenance list for both bikes that are on a tender if not being ridden.

 

I'm sitting here, home, at the kitchen table, reading this thread because my bike is out in the garage with a dead batt. Forgot to plug it in to the trickle charger Saturday night, the batt doesn't last more than a day if it's left unplugged. I guess I'll stop by Sears on my way home from work today. Bike is an 09, I bought it in 2011 with 17K on it (just turned 30K) so it's a good bet that it still has the original battery in it.

My Dyna seems to eat a battery every year, that bike is hard on batteries. I'm part of the problem though, sometimes they get hooked up to the trickle charger, sometimes they don't.

E

 

The problem with relying on a battey tender is you are not really seeing the true condition of your battery. There are no tenders out on the road, if you do any serious long trips, you may wish you had let the battery show it's true condition at home.

 

When I start gettin' the jeebs about old battery woes, I make sure jumper cables are with me whatever ride I am in.
Then when it gives me a sign of weakness, I replace it.
I don't replace a good battery just because of a few years on it.
That's the way that those of us with big fuzzy ***** roll.

 

Me too....my first one lasted less than 2 years and it gets plugged in as soon as I pull into the garage. I'm guessin it was started/stopped, started/stopped a bunch of times by the dealer before I bought it which takes years off a battery's life, sure did on this one....less than 2 years. Mine didn't just quit, it kept giving me a compression start lag like it wouldn't turn over. I thought it might have been interference from my PCV but I was wrong. Started with once in awhile to doing it every time. Got smart and got me a new one before it completely quit on me.