I changed out my battery a few yrs ago,last yr midway thru riding season it started acting up.If I let it sit for say 2 wks without tender on it, It would crank over too slow and would not start. battery is for a touring 04 Flhtc.The Battery is a East penn AGM.I replaced battery cables over the winter and made sure all connections were tight. Anyone else have a Battery failure in such a short time.

 

It happens sometimes that a battery can be defective right off the bat. Deka is a good battery but as we all know, if it's made by man - it can fail. Many years ago I purchased a new bike and the battery internally shorted out within a couple weeks. Dealer replaced with another and never had a problem again.

 

what's a 'short time'? in your post, you said you changed your battery 'a few years ago'.... people are getting anywhere from 1 yr to 6 yrs on their batteries. i'd say if you are in that range, then you are getting normal life. not as good as some, but better than others.

 

Have you read the instruction manual for the tender you bought? There is two functions of a tender. One is for storage to have a fresh battery when stored. The other is to prolong the life of the battery

A tender that is used 24/7 by unplugging when the bike leaves the garage and reconnecting when it returns can double to triple the typical three year life of a motorcycle battery.

When one pays for a tender shouldn't it be used as intended?

I have gotten over 8 years out of the oldest bike that I had. Going on 6 years with the second oldest.

I store seven bikes and 6 motor vehicles and have used tenders on all of them over the past 10 years. But whatever you do do not use proven success to influence what you do. Or instruction manuals either.