Anyone price motorcycle batteries lately?

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My last 6 car batteries have been RK branded Exide.

Best batteries I've ever used.

All but one lasted at least a year past their pro-rate warranty.

The last one failed after 2.3 years and got replaced for free.

I have not used their lawn or motorcycle batteries, but I did recently buy an Exide brand mower battery from Home Depot.

I usually get 2-3 years out of mower batteries, but sure would like more.
 
fratzog lover said:
They just built one near me. Cant wait for it to open, never heard of them until recently.
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You'll never walk into a TSC again!
Best price on battery's around and they have good deals on bulk oil.
If you're into guns and/or hunting, you're really going to love it.
 
Best price on R134a, too.

Some trailer parts are cheaper than wal-mart or harbor freight and better quality.

I bought all my 4500 lumen LED shop lights there for $15-17 while everyone else was charging 25 or more.
 
I wish they'd put in a RK closer to me.they can replace the TSC with it even.
TSC sucks.
 
volaredon said:
It's a sealed AGM battery cells not accessible
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There should be snap on panels that cover rubber cell caps just like a lead acid battery. Pop them off and you should be able to add some salt, wine or any other concoction that works to desulfate the mat. Why they dont make a serviceable battery is beyond me. Watch youtube on 'pakistan battery rebuild' pop the top off, pour the acid on the dirt floor (!) and get yourself a iron and a fire. desolder the plates and pull them out. Reverse...yadda yadda...seems totally doable. buy plates, add acid, recharge.
 
"pay to ride"..... BS.
I ain't any kind of " big biker dude" not by a long shot
I had a couple of small bikes (embarrassed to say they were Hon-duhs) 15-20 years ago. I sold the 2nd one (81 silver wing 500cc shaft drive) with the idea I was gonna get a bigger one as just because they have a 2nd set of pegs don't mean they are suitable for a passenger.. the 76 cb360 I had before the silver wing was actually better at that.
I was looking for a bigger bike as my wife liked going for a ride with me, but no way is/was she interested in trying to learn to ride for herself.
You should have seen her the one time I got her on a mini bike, 3 hp Tecumseh, centrifugal clutch, twist throttle etc. Put it like this/ wish "smart" phone cameras were around then it would have been a $10k winner on " America's funniest videos" and she said " never again.
This Harley was her brother's, the only thing he had to his name.
I rode it back around '01 when he 1st got, he was just kind of "showing it off" and I had one of the previously mentioned bikes then. He was so proud of it, and excited to get me on it to "compare" it to my rice burner, see if he could interest me in upgrading (no he wasn't selling this one)
Fast forward about 07, had my best ever paying job, no bills except the house payment, and started looking at bikes.
I ended up buying my 78 fury 2 door HT instead, figured I'd buy a bike next spring. Wanted to save for it.
In the meantime I got hurt bad-- chainsaw kicked back on me, I almost became " stumpy" myself in trying to cut down a stump in my front yard.
I lost that best ever paying job, due to FMLA, and frankly a bike was the farthest thing from my mind.
I'm gonna split it up into another post.
 
Part 2/
I was actually afraid to get onto a motorcycle for a while with all the rehab I'd just been thru so really didn't think much of motorcycles for several years.
My brother in law died in Nov '18, of cancer.
Never married, my mother in law (next of kin) gave it to my son.hed talked to his uncle shortly before this about possibly buying it from his uncle, earlier in his cancer roller coaster. Others knew this so that's how my kid ended up with it.
Now with 2 kids, car seats and bikes don't work. He rode it quite a bit for 2 years and not so much last year with 1 kid and now he has 2.
Then this year, $5.49 a gallon gas, my having a 70 mile a day commute, and 45 mpg beats mid teens, I couldn't afford $25-30 a day just to go to work and back/ the sportster was sitting and I basically had like no choice but to take advantage.
 
When I worked at Cycle Gear the store brand battery for my bike was $30-40. Employee cost: $9. That's still marked up 10% above store cost and tax too.
 
I thought you were exaggerating the $115 for the battery. Talked to some bikeheads friends of mine, you are right on the $.
About three yrs ago, I got a small mower battery for $60. It appears that everything has gone way up. not going to mention food, gas and rent !!
 
That's ridiculous. I knew that the markup was steep but not that crazy, sell em at $20, still make money, and more likely to have the customer pick up those add on sales that they are always wanting.
 
Park a bike just because a new battery costs more now??



:rofl:
 
bcschief said:
And the warranties suck also, like 90 days.
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The warranty for lawn and garden and motorcycle batteries is generally short. The big reason is most people don't take care of those batteries properly. They use them all summer, then they put away the motorcycle/jetski/lawnmower/boat etc for the winter and then forget all about.

I have been in the battery business for a long time. You can count on the motorcycle and boat guys showing up on the first nice day complaining that they have battery problems.
 
I suggest you buy a battery tender tickle charger--really extends the life of a battery. I have one on my R1200RT--big difference in replacement intervals while using one.
God bless
 
12many said:
Park a bike just because a new battery costs more now??



:rofl:
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More NOW? As compared to when? I bought a few old school motorcycle batteries over the years, ones that I had to fill them with acid and charge myself for various lawn and garden stuff where a regular lawn and garden one was too big, and I remember those being around $35-40. I've never bought a battery for a Harley before. When I had the rice burners around Y2K they took batteries like I described earlier in this post.
The guy at interstate made a huge deal that the dead battery is almost 4 years old.
 
I bought my kids some 125cc atvs for Christmas a few years ago. I've put 3 new batteries in one of them. I finally found an intermittent charging issue with it. I replaced all of the wiring and a new stator. I went with a new quality battery. The first 3 batteries I got were Amazon specials for maybe 40 bucks or so. The new name brand one was $160! I would have hoped for a better warranty on it but it was only 90 days.
 
volaredon said:
More NOW? As compared to when? I bought a few old school motorcycle batteries over the years, ones that I had to fill them with acid and charge myself for various lawn and garden stuff where a regular lawn and garden one was too big, and I remember those being around $35-40. I've never bought a battery for a Harley before. When I had the rice burners around Y2K they took batteries like I described earlier in this post.
The guy at interstate made a huge deal that the dead battery is almost 4 years old.
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I ride Moto Guzzi these days, everything has always cost more (for the Italian and German bikes thats I’ve owned) vs. the typical stuff out there. Theres no “bargain” or “reasonable” related to them since.....forever. It is what it is. It’s what I want to ride, so I pay what it takes to keep rolling. There’s no parking it (or any bike I’ve owned through the years) because something costs more, too much etc. It’s The old “it is what it is” When it needs a battery I’ll get a lithium, a LiFePO4. They ain’t cheap. I’ve used them on a few bikes in the past. It’s what I want, so I’ll pay.
As far as batteries costing what they cost, nobody’s gouging or being greedy. It is what it is. And they won’t go down in price. Best get one now before they go up more!:thumbsup:
 
Lucky13vrscb said:
I suggest you buy a battery tender tickle charger--really extends the life of a battery. I have one on my R1200RT--big difference in replacement intervals while using one.
God bless
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Buy a maintainer, not a trickle charger, a cheap trickle charger will just constantly send X amount of current. A maintainer will charge as needed and go into float mode when the battery is fully charged. Also make sure to get one that is compatible with AGM since that is the direction lots of batteries are going, especially motorcycle batteries.
 
Bought one for an atv at Walmart, use to give less than $50 for em now over $100. Inflation is a lot higher than reported for some products.
 
volaredon said:
I about had a heart attack when I found out a battery for my sportster will cost me more than I have spent on any car truck van or tractor battery I have ever bought in my life. And like 1/4 the size.... I can't find one for less than $115. My last battery I bought for my Durango was like $85. What makes these little batteries so damn expensive?
I probably won't be riding much more this year anyways and this ridiculous price has me thinking about parking it early for the season/ as if I buy one now my warranty on any new battery I buy, will run out of time while snow and salt season is here.
I haven't been riding it to work since morning temps are in the high 30s/low 40s
I had it out last Saturday and started like always.
I went to get on it yesterday and not even a click. And after all day and night on a slow charge it had a whole 5.6 Volts in it. Took it to work and put it on my tester and it has a whole 4 cca left in it.
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Look on Lowbrow customs .com - I bought several from them and they actually appreciate your business.
 
Tried to start the car yesterday evening after not being driven for about four weeks, and having to borrow the battery for my daily for a week.

No go. Fuel issue. No ether at the shop.

...but that AGM battery cranked at full speed for something like 25 attempts at a "five count" per attempt.

Cranking speed never slowed at all.

Round 2 today with starting fluid.
 
volaredon said:
And spend 50% more yet? They're $164
On the warranty thing nothin ""years " on a motorcycle battery, I'm seeing either 3 or 6 months
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All Harley batteries have a 1 year warranty from date of purchase.
edited: if purchased at a dealership
 
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Brooks James said:
I thought you were exaggerating the $115 for the battery. Talked to some bikeheads friends of mine, you are right on the $.
About three yrs ago, I got a small mower battery for $60. It appears that everything has gone way up. not going to mention food, gas and rent !!
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Just last year I was buying 450 cca lawn and garden batteries for $21 on sale at farm and fleet.
This year those were almost triple that.
I had to settle for 350 cca for nearly $40. I have several garden tractors, and a commercial bobcat walk behind mower too.
 
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