Yeah, I start keeping a close eye on them after five years myself.

 

Thge battery in my '02 FXST is going out, problems holding a charge. Not surprising considering it is the original battery and about 7 years old. Probably going with a HD replacement, called and they said it's around $118.00 with a warranty and old battery disposal.

I figure 7 years is pretty good for a sealed bike battery.

 

Here is the desert Southwest batteries do suddenly die and can't even be jumped. The battery in my fatboy is on a tender and the light is green, but if I try starting it, if fails almost immediately. I've got a new battery that I plan to install this week. When my batteries get 3 to 4 yrs old, I spend a couple of bucks to replace them so they don't fail and leave me out in the middle of nowhere. How many here wait for their oil to fail before changing it?

 

I've bought batteries at independant battery shops, WalMart, and Harley dealers. I bought a '93 Sportster in 1999. Two 'other' batteries later, I bought a battery from a Harley dealer in 2003. It was still cranking the bike when the motor blew last Oct.

I bought an '02 Heritage last month. I don't know how old the battery is, but when it goes I'll replace it with one from Harley.

 

i had one explode on me once... was a horrible mess that was a pain to clean... that battery was a whopping 3 months old but the battery on my bronco II made it about 13 years before i wrecked that

 

Some people don't know that heat is harder on a battery than cold...
More fail in hot summer than cold of winter..
I've never keep a bike long enough to need to replace one, but car battery's usually go 5-6 yrs and I've had some in older trucks go 7-8 yrs before biting the bullet..

our 07, bought new, in 07 and I am not even thinking of replacing it yet... yes, she's on a tender all winter.

 

The batteries deteriorated over time. You just *noticed* suddenly.

We only notice when they leave us stranded. If we were to check the battery on a regular basis (which almost no one does), we'd notice it going downhill.

 

I'm sure you're right, it seemed "suddenly" to me because it had been cranking good, when I turned the key, NOTHIN'!

 

IMHO, For anyone looking to replace, I can't recommend Odyssey Batteries highly enough. I always used them in my off road trucks, ATV's and dirt bikes and they are bar none the best out there. A little pricey, but worth every penny. They have direct HD replacements...and it's what I will put in when mine dies.

 

More batteries fail in hot weather than cold. Mine was the original 05 and on a tender for the last few months. Went to start it a couple of weeks ago........ guess what?
I now have a new battery.