I just replaced my battery today in my Ultra. I got 7 years out of it. I use a battery tender all the time it is parked in my garage, year round. It really would have lasted a little longer, but I noticed it started dragging a little after I put the big bore kit in my bike. What is the average battery life, without a tender, just for comparison purposes?

 

I live in the midwest and store my bike a lot. I used to buy a new battery every spring. Then I bought a battery tender. Now I replace a battery about every 7 years or so, just like you did. Noname

 

8 years LOL

I usually got 2-3 years out batteries when I just parked the bike over winter and 4 or 5 years when I pulled the battery and stuck it in a warm place over winter (no charging). Then I started bring batteries inside and charging them for about a hour every month, now I use battery tenders over winter. Problem is I never remember when I replaced a battery, but it has been several years since I bought one.

 

no battery tender and i got 3 years out of OE battery,replaced it with a new HD battery and at the same time bought a battery tender plus and use it all through the year two or three times a week over night and this battery so far is as strong as day one unlike the first battery that always acted weak so I expect to get way more than three years out of this second battery.

 

our 07's still strong. tender it all winter..

 

Before Tenders the longest my bike batteries went was 3 maybe 4 yrs.Now one bike 9 yrs, one of my muscle cars batteries still in and strong since 95.

 

My factory battery only lasted 19 months WITH a tender. Replaced under warranty, in my driveway, by dealer. My mechanic told me he'd seen a higher than normal rate of battery failure on bikes built around same time frame as mine.
Replacement is about 22 months old now.

 

Do you put the bike on the battery tender year round or only when its not going to be ridden for an extended period?

 

Mine stays on year round, when I'm not on it riding. As soon as I pull the bikes in the motorcycle garage after riding, I plug them up, after the pipes cool down.

 

I ride almost every weekend but the first thing I do when I get home after a ride is plug in the pigtail to the tender. It takes 10 seconds and I am confident every time I go to start her she will fire right up.