What is the life expectancy of an HD battery?
I have an 08 Ultra Classic with 40K on it and use a Battery Tender,the first few starts of the day it is fine but after a few starts it seems sluggish and last night when i turned on the ignition the voltmeter on the bike only went to 11 and again seemed sluggish turning over.
I think its time for a new battery.

 

Have your battery load tested, they can perform this while it's on your bike, if this is not the problem then it's time to check your charging system one component at a time.

 

Are talking about a 5 year old Battery or at least close to 5 years .. Would be happy with that and go ahead and change it ..

 

I have an '08 and just put a new battery in last month.
I do mostly 2 up riding with my wife, most rides at least 100 miles away from home.
I'd hate to have an issue that far from home with her on the back.
No real issues with the oem battery, but I'm content getting 4-5 years from the battery.
I'm sure I could have gone another year or two, but why chance it?
Peace of mind for less than $100, well worth it.

 

Mine was 'kicking back' on cold starts, (something it had never done before,) and being 12 years old and over 100,000 miles on the original starter I was thinking time for a new starter. And my current battery was only 2 1/2 years old too.

But in that 2 1/2 years I'd ridden nearly 60,000 miles in some pretty hot climates so I figured that I'd start with the battery, then put in a starter if needed.

Got the replacement from batterymart.com for $97.00 delivered. It's a Deka battery, American made and the same manufacturer as the OEM battery that you get at the Dealerships for $180.

Well it turns out is WAS the battery, so the starter stays in there to live another day!

 

Thanks Stiggy, Mine also has kicked back a few times, going to order up a new Battery today