| Author | Message | ||
     Ratbuell |
I bought my 06 Uly brand new. It had some demo miles on it - but still well under 1,000. My bike was at our second store location (this was when I sold HD and Buell for a living), and they simply couldn't sell it. Factory bags were added to try and sweeten the deal, but still it sat. I had transferred and sold every other Buell they had in stock at that store, and my Uly was the last one left up there. One day, my manager came to me and said "that bike has to go". He knew I liked the Uly. I told him to throw me a number...and I ended up buying it. Nearly 32k miles now. Farkled with heated grips, heated clothing thermostat, aux lights, high beam mod, HID headlight, low beam mod, brake light flasher, LED signals, Stebel horn, Kuryakyn voltmeter. Maintenance wise, I've replaced the 77 connector and installed a MOSFET voltage regulator. I have ridden this bike from Maryland to Florida a number of times. To WV for the rally. To Homecoming, by way of the U.P. This bike has taken me all over, and I've smiled every mile. Yesterday was the last straw. My trip has been resetting itself, and I've had an extended crank-WAAAAAAIT-crank condition when starting. The V would drop enough to snuff the HID headlight if I wasn't careful about the crank-pause. I finally replaced the FACTORY BATTERY in the bike. Yes. 2006 - 2014. One battery. I think I cried a little when I put that little soldier on the recycle stack.  | ||
| Motorbike |
Oh thank God it was only a battery. When I first started reading I thought maybe something happened to the bike. You have my sympathy on the battery but only time can heal how you feel.  That battery had a good, long life and you can be thankful for that. I know most bike batteries don't last as long as car batteries. I have a 1997 Dodge Ram with the 5.9 V8 and the original battery lasted over 13 years. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Good one, Rat. I wish I'd kept my original battery longer. I replaced it with something from Sam's Club after about 4 years "just to be safe". ~13 months later, the bike died on the way home on the interstate in rush hour traffic when the fan kicked on. Diagnosis? Dead short in cheap-a** battery. I went back to the HD dealer for the next replacement. | ||
| Ourdee |
whew...... | ||
| Rayycc1 |
That was a great run for a motorcycle battery....I have never had one make it the whole way thru two years...let alone 8 Drink a beer in its honor....you'll feel better  | ||
| Uly_man |
I still have my old 06 bikes original battery. It was changed out on the advise of another before I knew better about these bikes. I have used it for various things like a tire air pump and, as I once said, managed to crank over a 3000cc BMW car with it. Even though it turned the engine only a few times I was truly in awe of the thing. I think the HD OEM batteries are great and good value for there service life. Mine is now doing sterling work on my MZ Baghira. It is almost the same size but 80 CCA more IE Close to double the power. | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
My 09 original battery went toast this spring. 5 years, not bad.. | ||
| Teeps |
The amazing thing is that the batteries last at all, being they are continually getting baked when the bike is ridden. My Ulysses: OEM battery crapped out summer of '06. Yuasa replacement lasted until early this year. | ||
| Big_island_rider |
2001 Harley Deuce purchased 2003, battery replaced 2010 2007 Harley Sportster, battery replaced 2014 2007 Harley Road Glide, OEM battery still in place 2007 Uly battery replaced 2014 What do the first three bike batteries have in common? All are Harley batteries. And a battery tender was used regularly. The Uly's battery was installed just prior to my purchase. | ||
| Callawegian |
Man I bought into that story, it was great. I replaced my 2006 Uly battery this past spring. The guys that inspected my bike for an update of my Misery plates had to bump start me to get me out of their parking lot. Battery Tenders are awesome! Current 2005 atv has original battery, 2003 Lightning sold in 2010 with original battery and 2006 JD tractor has original battery. They all have a tender that maintains their battery. | ||
| Fotoguzzi |
I never use a tender, started right up after winter hibernation (heated garage). there are those who claim the tenders are not good for a battery but your evidence contradicts that I guess. | ||
| Mtrider |
I bought my 09 this past March, owner said the battery lived on a tender. Less than 6k miles, it was 5 years old, tested it on an HD load tester, OK. For GP though, put a new one in. | ||
| Rr_eater |
My 06 Uly, bought from Al at American Sport Bike in 2008, battery went out back in April, and in went another HD AGM battery. Again, 8 years, cant complain about that at all!! Bruce | ||
| Simond |
My S2 battery has been on a tender for all of its time with me. I replaced what I believe to have been the original battery in 2010! | ||
| Luftkoph |
Ratbuell,better find you a battery made in the good ole mexico,with pure virgin lead,not the recycled content crap here in the EPA,I mean USA | ||
| Ratbuell |
My tender usage rule is, if it's going to sit more than a week...plug it in. Seems to be working | ||
| Cyclonedon |
I'm actually on my third battery but the second one I busted the terminal post off while tightening so that one is my fault. I replaced the stock one after about five years and it was still working but I didn't want to trust it any further. | ||
| Etennuly |
My original HD battery experience has been different than Ratbuell's. The original battery in my new '06 Uly would never register above 12.4V even after removing from the bike to put it on a slow charge overnight. Without being freshly charged it never showed above 12.2V. HD service advisers and their parts guys told me that was normal even though Buell's SM says 12.6V is fully charged and needed before any electrical system testing. They didn't care that it would barely start the bike. I put up with that crap from HD for a year and a half, realizing I would never get it warranted I then replaced it with an AGM from O'Reilly's. That new AGM battery stayed at 12.6V+ for over a year(not on a tender)cranking the Uly better than new, then slowly faded to 12.2V after it's second year(I rode a hell of a lot in winter, full heated gear, grips, lights etc). At that point I needed a new battery for the Blast, so, since it takes half the energy to start, I put that two year old AGM battery in it, and another new one in the Uly. Both bikes have been voltage happy ever since. By the way.....it was about time Joe!  I was tired of hearing about how good your HD battery was(given my case with HD batteries).   | ||
| Uly_man |
"My tender usage rule is, if it's going to sit more than a week...plug it in". These bikes, like most modern cars/bikes, have a parasitic drain while the bike is standing IE The electrics consume a tiny amount of power. If you leave it long enough the battery will volts will go down enough to make the starting harder than it already is. "normal even though Buell's SM says 12.6V is fully charged and needed before any electrical system testing". This is VERY misleading as even the bikes manual says 12.6v is 75% charged and 12.7v is 100% charged. My Ring AGM Smart Charger will charge the battery at 14.7v max and then do a test. This test will drain the battery for about 90 seconds and must NOT drop below 13.2v. If it does the unit will then try to recondition the battery until it does. A good AGM battery will hold a "off bike" standing charge of about 12.7 - 12.8v for many weeks or at least mine does. It is just my opinion, given the experience I have had, but I think that the AGM battery can suffer with a "memory effect" like the NiCad battery does. And while many will think that a 0.2v difference in charge is nothing to worry on it is in fact a very large amount on this battery for this bike. It is best to try and understand that this battery CAN NOT be charged, tested or treated like the old school lead acid type batteries would have been. | ||
| Etennuly |
"normal even though Buell's SM says 12.6V is fully charged and needed before any electrical system testing". This is VERY misleading as even the bikes manual says 12.6v is 75% charged and 12.7v is 100% charged. This is only ONE of the things that the HD service writers told me was normal that they would not fix under warranty. | ||
| Teeps |
Here's my H/D battery story from back in the day... http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142 838/207872.html |
