Deka / HD Battery Life

[04 SE Deuce]

I use to think Deka batteries were great. But now they don't seem to last as long or have same power. I thought it was in my head until I saw this thread.

Lots of guys have been getting/posting approx. 2 year service life...they aren't what they use to be.

[aquaman]

I posted back in April 2009 when I bought my current Deka battery. Still going strong. Always on a batt tender.Maybe I got lucky? Guaranteed to fail me now : O

[Tsani]

My battery had been doing good. Could be the tender. I switched to one of those desulfating jobies. Even brought back an extremely low battery I had sitting around. Still doesnt explain the differenceswith the newer batteries tho.   

[IanSG]

Man thought it's was a fluke for me.. I always hook my battery to the battery tender and my battery  in my 2013 Street Glide doesn't sound as powerful, sounds like not much life left.  My last battery in my softail wad at 7 yrs and still going strong.

My dad needed a battery last minute before a trip and had to get one at walmart... suprised it has a 5 yr warranty and has been working well for him..might go that route...there are walmarts everywhere so 5 yr warranty is a nice option.

[boooby1744]

There have also been a few bad regulators out there the last few years. Check the idle and low rpm charging output,especially softails.

[IronMike113]

Where have you all been picking your battery's up from ? Also, anyway to check build date or does it not matter with a battery.......... 

[sneakypete]

I changed the factory Deka battery in my
06 RoadKing last month for the first time, 10 years on it and I thought that was damn good. Really gonna miss those long life batteries. Now that I have a new St. glide I godda say the battery that came in it just doesn't crank the engine over as strong as I think it should. I won't be surprised  if it gives up soon. sounds like Yuasa will be the way to go.. No alarm system on my St. glide, the only draw is the clock, that Im aware of. 

[truck]

Where have you all been picking your battery's up from ? Also, anyway to check build date or does it not matter with a battery.......... 

Build date doesn't mean much but activation date does. Deka batteries used to have a date sticker on them, don't know if they still do, it was round , about the size of a nickle or maybe a quarter and it had a letter and a number on it. The letter is the month, A for January and so on, it was activated (charged/formed) and it changes in the middle of the month. The letter I is not used due to being confused with the number 1. The number is the last digit of the year that it was activated.
There is also a pin stamped series of numbers and letters on the upper left rear of the case that contains all the information about the battery. Before the round stickers we used to hand stamp a letter and number next to one of the terminals on the top edge of the cover but that was more than 10 years ago.

[Jaycee1964]

I'm 4 years into my Anti-Gravity and it it awesome.  Plenty of cranking power.  Only down side I have experienced is it hates temps below 35*.  Needs to wake up a bit in the cold.  It is expensive but if I get 5-6 years out of it    the price is a wash if I had to change 2 regular batteries. 

[a_disalvo]

FWIW, my 2 cents- almost all the new Harleys run at least a 103 motor, and they have electronic compression releases, sooooo, they don't need the higher CCA the older bikes do. It seems very likley the MoCo would specify a cheaper battery for all the new bikes. Frank

[Tsani]

Since I am working on the bike, I checked the battery. It is a EPM Branded product. Don't know who made it for them. Three years old and going strong. ETX20L type battery, CCA 310 listed on battery. I know I paid less than a 100 for it. I think EPM means East Penn Manufacturing which = Deka

[truck]

Since I am working on the bike, I checked the battery. It is a EPM Branded product. Don't know who made it for them. Three years old and going strong. ETX20L type battery, CCA 310 listed on battery. I know I paid less than a 100 for it. I think EPM means East Penn Manufacturing which = Deka

That is correct. You'll sometimes see Baltimore Md. on some labels.

[04 SE Deuce]

Here's the appropriate symbol for the last 3 HD/Deka batteries I had......

[hyperrah]

   My 2 cents. The original battery in my '08 Heritage was still good when I traded it in for my '13 Road Glide. I just put a new battery (GLZ32) in the Glide today, got to where it wouldn't take a charge. No difference in how they were treated, on a trickle charger/maintainer when not on the road at least every other week. The '13 battery was getting weak back in September but finally crapped out in January.

[Glide1962]

My '02 Road Glide almost 12 years on the original battery and first replacement (HD).  The last HD battery I got for it cost a lot more and crapped out after 2 1/2 years.  I don't know how long the Yuasa I replaced it with will last, but it was cheaper and spins the motor without the CRs pushed in as well as the HD battery did with them pushed.  Time will tell, but if it dies in 2 1/2 years I've still saved money.

[wholehog]

The most problems I see are people that do not know maintenance of agm style battery's.

that's it 

[truck]

The most problems I see are people that do not know maintenance of agm style battery's.

that's it 

Book

[04 SE Deuce]

The most problems I see are people that do not know maintenance of agm style battery's.

that's it 

I said this a couple years back,  I'll say it again....It won't be real for some people until it happens to them.

Deka battery service life has changed.

[7hogs]

Good info............... I just bought a Deka and will keep an eye on the voltage...........

[Ohio HD]

Yesterday at 11:42am eastern time, my HD Deka battery gave it's last grunt in the '08 FLHX. I hopped on her to ride over to my buddy CW's place, and it's all she wrote. This was the original battery, and has been struggling since about August of last year. I think had I not had ACR's on this motor, it would have given up already. I thought I may order a Yuasa battery, and hop on the EG, but I decided to run up the street about six miles to buy a Deka that's sold at Smyth auto for $101.29. I bought the same battery for the EG last spring. 

So this bike has never spun over so fast, at least that I remember. I have the mileage and date documented on both bikes as to when the new Deka batteries went in. So the FLHX battery lasted for 60,545 miles, and approximately 8 years. The EG battery lasted for 23,656 miles and approximately 6 years. Both bikes on tenders in the winter since 2011.

We'll see how they do.

[Bigs]

I just changed out the battery in my '11 RGU due to it's age, (January 2011) for a GYZ Yuasa battery. I kept a Battery Tender on the bike after every ride and the old battery is still holding a charge, (12.93 volts) after 3 weeks. The battery is part # 66010-97C, 405CC and 28AH. I don't know how long it will last but I didn't want to be out somewhere and have it go dead. I checked my charging voltage with a Fluke meter with the Yuasa battery installed and it read 14.35 volts.
   Bigs

Note: sometimes it can be expensive if the battery craps out when your away from home. We went to Myrtle Beach Bike Week a few years ago and one of the guys took off alone. He stopped for gas and the battery took a dump. Instead of calling us he called HOG for a tow. Well they came and towed him to the nearest Harley dealer (Savanna, GA) which was way farther than they allow so he had to pay $100+ dollars. Got to the dealer and $180+tax for the battery and $40 to install it. He was not happy!
Something to think about before you go on a long trip.

[a_disalvo]

My friends girlfriend bought a new 2015 Deluxe, took it home and put it on a battery tender. Next day bike would not turn over. Jump started and returned to dealer where they changed the battery. 500 miles and so far no new problems!!! Frank

[tbird]

16 yr old r-king[bought it new],it has its second HD battery. I put it away last October.  Been in cold storage. I live up by Canadian border. Saturday we got up to 35 degrees. Took cover off, pumped throttle a few times[carbed] turned over just fine. Fired on second attempt and rode down to my shop. Looks like dam battery is good for awhile yet.

[jrgreene1968]

My deka battery gave up last week, little less than 2 yrs old. I blame a lot of the short life on high compression, and just not riding enough. With that said, I ordered a Braille battery. Now the bike spins over like the spark plugs are out

[harleytoprock]

jrgreene, Which Braille battery did you get ?