Posting for a friend. He has a 2015 Ultra. He has been replacing batteries every year. Service at Harley shop told him that HD had a bad batch of batteries. His charging system checks out normal. Sounds a little hokey to me. Has anyone else heard of this?

 

Nope....

 

I haven't heard anything but regardless this winter I am going to replace my battery with one from Batteries + Bulbs. Less cost plus 2 year warranty.
If you don't have a store around you go online an check them out.

 

Two batteries in two years doesn't sound right. Not impossible but improbable.
I hope they are covering them under warranty.
Who is checking the charging system? I'd do it myself with my own tools.
If an HD dealer has checked the system I'd get another dealer to recheck it.
To your question, I've not heard about a run of bad batteries.
Once out of warranty there are better, less expensive battery options than the HD branded ones.

 

i spend at least 3 months during summer on the road alnost every year.

i only run harley batteries. i average about 5 years per battery. ive had one last 7 years and 1 last 3. this is between multiple bikes.

replacing batteries every year is a sign of another problem, not a batch of bad batteries.

something does not sound correct.

 

Nope, never heard that one.

I have a 2015 Ultra also (purchased new in March 2015), and still on the factory original battery.

 

Before we start chasing gremlins that don't exist, let's go to the simple and obvious issues. How often is the bike ridden and for how many miles? Is it kept on a Battery Tender?

If that bike is rarely ridden and for very short distances, and isn't on a Tender, it's not a problem with a battery.

It's a problem with a bad owner.

​​​​​​​If that bike is seeing regular use and attention, THEN start looking further!

 

I got 9 years out of my original battery. Refused to pay 275 for a replacement from HD so went aftermarket. It's 2 years old and working well. I never use a tender. In the winter I pull it out and it sits on a bench. I throw the trickle charger on it once a month for 24 hrs. Summer I ride when I can and it's never been an issue.

 

Not all battery tenders are created equal. Make sure it is AGM battery compliant
if you have a sealed battery. Deltran Battery Tender Jr 021-0123 meets all the
requirements for both open and sealed batteries. It can be purchased with or
without pigtails for ease of hookup via amazon. Because I'm not a trusting soul
I have mine on a timer that only leaves it on 1 hour a day. For my bagger I like
Yuasa's 500 cca battery; they make it for Drag Spec also and many Indy shops
carry it. In the long run premium batteries with big cca's are cheaper than starters.

 

I don't know if Harley had a bad batch of batteries, but the battery in my 15 Ultra was replaced under warranty after a little over a year. When I'm not riding it's on a battery tender jr.