| Author | Message | ||
     Ferrisanyoneseenferris |
Highest CCA, etc? What are you happy with? My Drag Spec is on its way out... | ||
| Milo_h |
I'm getting this one for my 06 ULY: http://www.batterystuff.com/powersports-batteries/ hYTX14H.html | ||
| Ftd |
I have had real good luck with the stock HD batteries over the years. | ||
| M2nc |
Ditto on the OEM battery. I get about four years per stock battery. Once we tried another brand and they lasted six months. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Another vote for the OEM battery. | ||
| Ferrisanyoneseenferris |
Anyone tried the LI's yet? Thanks for all the input, I was really surprised when this one took a crap on me. It takes 100% charge but no load. Pisses me off. | ||
| Steveford |
http://www.tristatebattery.com/ They provide good service and a good price. | ||
| Hotcad |
The Braille battery is the best I've found at 360 cca and 15 ah. It really cranks the Ully with no kick back. | ||
| Ratbuell |
My 06 Uly still has the battery it left the factory with. 30k miles. | ||
| Motorfish |
My '06 too has the original, with 19k on it. Turn over fine. | ||
| Ferrisanyoneseenferris |
I'm looking at these Evo2 LI's online, they're really pricey, but 500 "Burst Cranking Amps" as they call them. Anybody bought into that one yet? | ||
| Motorfish |
According to some here, they have had good luck with the Big Crank, batteries. I have one in my FXR, and it cranks it over nicely. I don`t ride it too often, so its hard for me to totally judge it, and its about a year and a half old. Been good so far. Reasonably priced too, I think around $89 shipping included, and made in U.S.A. | ||
| Ferrisanyoneseenferris |
Motorfish, Thanks, I looked at them, they look good, and not too bad on the price. $73 on special today. http://www.batterymart.com/p-Big-Crank-ETX14-Batte ry.html I think I'm trying it, and for the life of me, I don't know how you guys with 2006 bikes got 7 years and so many miles from a stock HD battery. I think you should have a contest to see who has the most miles on one. I usually changed the batteries on my other HD's (1984FLT, 1993 custom bobber, 1994 Fat Boy, 1980 FX) almost yearly. | ||
| Ferrisanyoneseenferris |
Oh yeah, I'd spend the money and try the LI but I'm waiting on a large payment right now and can't wait so long. I think that Evo2 thing looks good, and I'd buy it just to see how it held up and let everyone else know... | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Price per performance I went with the Big Crank, and have been very happy with it. | ||
| Ferrisanyoneseenferris |
Big Crank ordered and on the way. Thanks guys! @Hotcad, I didn't look up the Braille battery, but it sounds great. My vision is great so I don't think I'd need it just yet, but maybe in a few years? Thanks. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
I was happy with the big crank until it stopped holding a charge when I was in Mn last month. Napa battery in the x now and so far so good. Any battery can go bad i guess but the timing of it sure cut my mn riding season short. I will keep you posted on how the warranty policy works out for us on the big crank.. | ||
| Ferrisanyoneseenferris |
Back to the drawing board-Batterymart has some interesting ways of handling clients, not up for that mess. | ||
| Motorfish |
I think Amazon has them too. | ||
| Uly_man |
"I think I'm trying it, and for the life of me, I don't know how you guys with 2006 bikes got 7 years and so many miles from a stock HD battery". It is because it is a top quality battery. I still have my old 06 bikes battery and only changed it out on the advise, before I knew better, of someone else. All big V-Twin engines will give a battery a very hard time. Use a cheap one and it will die on you quick. It is just my opinion but I think the problem is the bikes charging system, with a AGM battery, not the battery or the CCA rating of the battery. Even on a long run it does not charge the battery enough or right. The point being is that I do not think the bikes charging system is designed to work as well with a AGM battery as it should. It is just not "smart" enough to do that. And that is what you need. A "smart" charger designed for the AGM type battery. Ok a HD AGM battery is not cheap nor is a proper "smart" charger for one but if you use them, as I do, you will not have any more battery problems. People need to get out of the "old school" thinking as used for old type lead acid types. Even the new type lead acids need a specific type of charger for best results. | ||
| Ferrisanyoneseenferris |
Motorfish- Found them there, couple bucks more, but not the customer service hassles of batterymart. Won't be going back to them... Uly_man- You're probably right, its a good way of looking at it. I've owned a lot of HD's, and mostly 1340's which probably take more to crank than a 1200, but I never saw one last as long as you guys are getting. I think I had a stock HD battery in a Fat Boy last 4 years as a maximum. I'm really interested in the LI's and will look into them some more. This technology is changing almost daily it seems, so I hope they have something that helps us enough to not need a change in the bikes charging system. What smart charger are you using? Are you hooking it up to a battery tender as well? Thanks! | ||
| Uly_man |
"What smart charger are you using?" I use a Ring Smart Charger Pro 25 but that is over the top for bikes but I use it for other types of battery as well. I put the 10 bikes battery on charge three hours ago, it read 12.7 v, and it went into recondition mode. At this time it is at 14.4 v, 0.12 amps and will self/auto adjust until it is done. The charger auto tested the battery and found the need to go to "re condition" mode. I am unable to use a tender as have no garage but if you do use one made for the AGM battery. | ||
| Ratbuell |
If my Uly has been sitting for a couple weeks, I plug it into the Battery Tender Jr overnight before I ride it. During winter months, I have four bikes tagged and two BTJ's - I simply rotate them weekly, and if we get nice ice-free roads I ride whichever I get the urge to ride. Occasional tender use, and strict adherence to the "30 minute rule", keeps my battery (all of them, actually...) going. Uly? OEM. S2? HD battery bought, I think, in 04 or 05. S1W? 05 HD battery. CR's was replaced when they did a stator, VR, and battery back in '11 under warranty. I see no need to reinvent the wheel. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I now have two "half dead" Harley AGM batteries. I pulled the first one and replaced it last year because it was cranking the bike over slow, and just threw it on the battery tender to use later for other projects that don't require so much current. The new Harley battery was even worse 8 months later, so I popped the previous one off the tender and threw it back in the bike, where it was then working much better than when I pulled it off. Interesting. So I put the "new" bad one on the tender and go out there once a week or so and disconnect then reconnect it to get it to "re-cycle" whatever voodoo it does. The old one is cranking slow again, so maybe I'll swap again and see if the cycle repeats. So maybe just having two of the Harley AGM batteries laying around is a viable approach, one on the charger, one in the bike, swap them once every month or two. Or maybe the crap "new" one will still be crap. | ||
| Biffdotorg |
My OEM battery in my XB12xt was cranking slow, so I purchased the Big Crank. It said it was ready out of the box, but it cranks slow as well. Under suggestion from the great guys here, I put it on the charger, that was no help. Since my charger was aging, and charger technology has gotten better, I purchased a new Schumacher charger that recognizes the type of battery. Cranking, deep cycle, AGM and I choose the size of battery etc. After a night on the charger, there was little difference. It still has the pause on crank. It has not left me stranded, and starts every time. But I am to the point of putting that fancy new charger on the old battery just to see if it does anything. Good luck, | ||
| Ferrisanyoneseenferris |
The Ring Smart Charger only comes up in the UK. In GBP. I'm not due back there for a couple weeks... Anyone using something in the US that can be comparable that they have good success with? I had a stock battery in my 1994 Fat Boy, I remember once I had it stored- inside my apartment (15th floor) and went to start it after 6 months and it turned slow, but eventually fired up and recharged itself in about 20 minutes... Those were the good old days. And no, it wasn't on a trickle charger or anything... | ||
| Reepicheep |
I got this one at a local WalMart off the shelf. Didn't know what to expect, it seems to be working very well. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-XM1-5-Maintai ner-1.5-Amp/15140193 No idea if it is smarter or dumber than a "battery tender". | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Shorai lithium in both of our ULY bikes and they have performed real well since last year when they were bought. | ||
| Motorfish |
With my original '06 battery, I didn't use a charger for, at least, the first two years. I then started using a Battery Tender in the winter, in an unheated garage and still do. I've been real lucky. | ||
| Uly_man |
"After a night on the charger, there was little difference. It still has the pause on crank." They can all do that even the 10 bike as mine does once in a while. That is the engine crank position, at the time of starting, and not the battery. Ok so how is a AGM battery tested. It is NOT done with the old "load/amp" type test. It is done via a tester that charges the battery to 13.7 v, in this case, and then applies a VOLT discharge. If the volts drop below about 13.2 volts after a certain time the battery is faulty. THAT is how the battery supplier will test your battery for a fault. How well a battery will hold its charge depends on many things IE Age, use, temp, conditions, etc and even a new one can fail. The use of a "tender/charger" can mean anything. What you need is one that can test the battery and then apply the correct charge type, for that battery chemistry, in the condition it is in at that time. I spent a lot of time looking into chargers, for the AGM type battery, and found that although many say they do what you need they in fact do not always. And while I had no wish to spend big money on a charger I found that none of the good ones came cheap. But then again I like high quality tools. That is just me though. |
