Whats the life span of a bike battery? 1 year, 2...........?

I lived in Darwin 10 years and was lucky to get anything longer than about 2 years out of a battery no matter what it was in bike, car, 4x4 ride on mower didn't and matter or how frequant it was used, now I am also a mechanic so I know how to maintain a battery, but the territory climate and humidity is really hard on on them, I was told by an auto sparky to look at deep cycle gel cell or calcium to get a better life out of them but then ya gotta weigh up is the extra cost worth it and am not sure how much longer they would last

one thing I did find was cheap shit was usually lucky to see out it's warranty period.

I always go for Exide in the cars and boat as they have a 2 year warranty plus they are the only ones that give a 2 year warranty on deep cycle batteries.

My bike battery is still OK after 2 years but I think its on the way out. Resets my trip computer or changes the display from the time to the odometer every time I start her up.

about ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- that long ... soz im drinking ...lol

Yep reckon ya on the money sayin it's on its way out I have seen the same thing with trip computers and radios resetting, battery is usually completely dead within a couple of months. Also agree exide were one of the better brands, Had a maintanence free AC delco that lasted ok too

I,m thinking i also have a battery problem, not enough in it to start if i leave it for a week

Hi Chillian - try taking it out the bike and give it a dose of battery conditioner and a good slow charge, if its still ok ya should get another few months to a year of normal use, or better yet take it into a battery shop and pay them to test and recon it.

Magilla - you could try this too but I found all the batteries I went though when up north didn't pick up with conditioner or if they did usually dropped a cell within a week or so, seems to work ok in cooler climates ???? yet cold weather can put extra strain on them ????

Any sparkies out there got technical answers for batteries and climates ?

Hey Gilla do you keep a trickle charger on it? I'n ya only ride short distances, the battery won't like it. After you suck the guts out of it to start the bike, it will usually take a good 10 to 20K ride with no traffic light idling to get it back to where it was prior to the start.

20mV won't get ya too far BEEZA..... I reckon ya Ipod will sound like Lurch.... Luv how your meter reads the voltage through that huge air gap.

Back on subject though, Most Lead Acid liquid filled batts last around 2 years if looked after properly. When I say two years, I mean two years of reliable service. Gel filled batts will last around four if looked after properly. You blokes with Dynas will find your batteries will last a bit longer 'cause they're not being cooked all the time like they are in Softails. The oil tank oven on a Softail will usually cut the reliability down quite a bit. If you look at most Aussie supplied batteries they come with a sticker on them to show when they should be replaced. Had a look at my Softail HD supplied battery and it doesn't have one but it's a gel batt so should last about 3 or four years.

I used to ride every day at least 20 miles which used to keep my battery in good condition. When I had liquid filled batteries all I did was check the electrolyte levels every week and would change it every two years without fail. Now that I only ride once or twice a week (due to health) I make sure I keep my bike hooked up to a trickle charger.

A trickle charger, especially an intelligent one, will keep your battery at its optimum charge all the time and won't cook the fluid out of it. If you just hook up a normal fast charger to your machine for maintenance purposes, you'll have a cooked battery within a few weeks.

HD put out a smart charger which will do the job nicely but I reckon they're gold plated by the price they charge. Ya can get plenty of good intelligent chargers from REPCO and SUPERCHEAP which will run forever and do the same job. Just make sure you get one that reads the charge of the battery and adjusts itself accordingly to keep a nice trickle of current into the battery. If you buy one and hook it up, just check the day after you hook it up. If the battery is hot, it's getting too much current from the charger.

Hope I'm not telling those who know how to suck eggs but for the inexperienced with batteries I hope this helps.

For my FXDX, 4 years so far and have had no problems.
However I fitted a battery smart charger from new and it continually keeps the battery voltage at around 12.9 to 13 volts.

As a bloke who does electronics I do recommend that when you buy one of these devices that you check the voltage level at which they switch over to trickle charge, I've seen ones that do this at 13.8 volts and they will cook your battery.

Look for one that trickle charges at 13.2 volt, any more and you're looking for trouble. As for temperature the lower the current in a high temperature e.g Darwin will keep your battery at its best. For those in colder climates, the same applies.

Just remember that all lead acid batteries need an AC component on its charge voltage to reduce sulphidation on the plates, a pure DC charger will kill your battery in a short period.

Just a quick observation, If victoria is the place to be, why do I see so many of the mongrels and their number plates up here in Brisbane?

Had my battery since bike was new, now 4½ years & no trouble starting even when bike sits for about 3-4 months over winter.

Never had a trickle charger hooked up to it. Don't know whether that's a good thing or not

On my last bike the battery started to seem a bit lazy at 3 years. Probably would keep working, but I erred on the side of caution and bought a new one. When you stick a new one in you certainly notice the difference. The efficiency drops off that slowly that you don't really notice.
I have since used trickle chargers as I read they continually condition your battery and keep it in top condition. Bought one for the tractor as well and that doesn't get used very often. Fires up every time, whereas I used to have flat batteries all the time that didn't last long. So to me that has proved the point about trickle chargers.

So, as the debate over oils rage on..... what about batteries....... do I go the HD version or is there a better option on the market?

I bought HD, but one they advertise in the magazines is called Dekka and they get a good rap.

I would certainly replace with a HD battery as my bike is an '01 with its original battery with 8/01 written on it. Can't complain about that. I've never put a charger on it and it starts every time. It'll have to die soon, surely.

My last battery 4 years Genuine HD only replaced it because going on a trip nothing worse if you are in renner springs [Half Way to no where in the NT] ready to go and CLICK CLICK not worth the gamble and trickle charger good value.Am also in the motor trade and checked the Exide price to me and Genuine HD much the same for a Ultra so stayed HD sealed gel.Charlie

My old 95 superglide fitted with stock battery lasted 7 years before failing.

 

Fringe, your first post on this site is in a conversation that ended in 2009.

Had a DEKKA in my heritage when I got it and was still going good 10 years later when the bike went so to me is a good one but bike was a daily ride not a only on a sunny day on the weekend bike

smut

I get 5 years out of harley batteries and i have found that to be consistent over my past few harleys.

I trickle charge sometimes but not always