In truth I will have to get back to you on that in whatever the time frame is for its life but I think they are.
I just see Yuasa as a good battery on the basis they have been making lead acid batteries for a very long time with a huge market share. Old adage with big market share gives more failures but possible reality is very small percentage.
My HD battery is now entering its 7 winter and is showing signs it could let me down. The average age for AGM is 3 to 5 years apparently so that was good.
Environmental conditions can adversely affect AGM batteries. I have read that an increase in temperature from 20°C to around 30°C can half the life. If the average is only 3 years your 18 months does have some truth in it.
My new seat came this morning, I had been looking for a good quality sprung seat in brown and this came up on eBay, a Rich Phillips cycles seat in veg tan leather. It is meant for an ‘04-‘09 sportster as it has the doghouse for the ECM but it fits just fine. I few more stable on it than the stock seat as I don’t slide back so easily. It has 3” chromed springs as stock but I quite like the idea of some black hairpin springs. I might also take off the doghouse and fab up a flat blanking plate to cover the hole.
I’m just waiting on delivery of some leather punches and a sheet of veg tan to arrive so I can make up a fender bib to cover the old mounting holes from the stock seat.
Environmental conditions can adversely affect AGM batteries. I have read that an increase in temperature from 20°C to around 30°C can half the life. If the average is only 3 years your 18 months does have some truth in it.
It seems my batteries from Yuasa didn’t appreciate either European or Arabian climate.
Marsikus, I am not trying to justify my purchase or your bad experience but it does seem reading around the internet (not forums) lead acid batteries are not so robust when it comes to over charging and the amount they are discharged before being recharged. The state of charge and the period they are left at a low charge. This would happen if only short journeys were performed and a charger is not employed. The disadvantages to using them stack up it seems.
It could be the battery size for the Sportster has been mis-sized and a larger capacity with a higher CCA should have been specified.
I rode it, got in a little over 100 miles this afternoon. There's not going to be too many days like this one until Spring, sunny, and temps around 68*F. Rolled over 32,000 miles on the way home.
Rode the snot out of it today, because it looks like I’m getting rained out tomorrow. Also discovered that my battery is about to die. Three out of the four Harleys I’ve owned have done the same thing: after a few years, it hesitates to start one day, and the digital display on my Speedo - which I always keep on tachometer- displays my odometer after the bike fires up. It did this for a while on my Slim before finally dying on me while I was at a gas station. My riding season is just about over, so I think I am going to wait until the spring before getting a new battery.
I rode to a coffee shop today that I had never been to. It’s right across from what appears to be the world’s largest dispensary:
10-28-2022, 04:54 AM
