Anyone price motorcycle batteries lately?

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volaredon

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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.
 
Try adding epson salt to each cell in your old battery and slow charge it overnight. I did so on my mower battery this spring when it would not start or take a charge. It has started well all summer since. This doesn’t work ‘all’ of the time, but I have had much success over 40 years doing so. If your battery will not work you have nothing to lose. A standard size car battery will take a measured teaspoon per cell so you may want to adjust the amount accordingly to the size of your battery.
I would be interested in knowing if you are successful.
Yote
 
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.
Click to expand...
You have a Rural King around you?
They beat the pants off anyone around on battery prices.
 
Yote said:
Try adding epson salt to each cell in your old battery and slow charge it overnight. I did so on my mower battery this spring when it would not start or take a charge. It has started well all summer since. This doesn’t work ‘all’ of the time, but I have had much success over 40 years doing so. If your battery will not work you have nothing to lose. A standard size car battery will take a measured teaspoon per cell so you may want to adjust the amount accordingly to the size of your battery.
I would be interested in knowing if you are successful.
Yote
Click to expand...
It's a sealed AGM battery cells not accessible
 
gunbunny said:
You have a Rural King around you?
They beat the pants off anyone around on battery prices.
Click to expand...

1WildRT said:
Amazon.com : Battery HD sportster
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Any time I try to get anything from our local TSC they are way higher on whatever they have than anyone else around. I look in there but mostly walk out empty handed from there as a result.
Closest rural king is about 85 miles away.

And yeah I was looking at those on Amazon.
The warranty thing has me seriously thinking about parking it for the season now whether I otherwise would have or not.
45+ mpg or not we've had some chilly mornings, I'm not that die hard to bundle up like the Michelin man like some that I know. I'm down to weekends when I need just a couple of things that I can stuff in the saddle bags at present unless we get a hell of a warm spell I'm not for seeing. The afternoons would be great to ride home from work on but the mornings have been quite chilly and often Foggy lately so I've been back to the truck for a couple of weeks now. Was hoping to get to ride to work at least a couple more times this season (70 mile round trip) but not having a crystal ball to say for sure the weather will warm up in the mornings before spring and not wanting to piss away the warranty time on a new battery while in storage makes me think riding season may be over til spring. Got a side job in the garage (that I wasn't expecting -- rotten leaky fuel lines on an 87 yo neighbors '01 Chevy truck) that may help but my new battery if I decide to put one in it before winter comes.
 
I just wish I knew why these tiny batteries are so much more expensive than one to for either of my trucks.
 
volaredon said:
Any time I try to get anything from our local TSC they are way higher on whatever they have than anyone else around. I look in there but mostly walk out empty handed from there as a result.
Closest rural king is about 85 miles away.

And yeah I was looking at those on Amazon.
The warranty thing has me seriously thinking about parking it for the season now whether I otherwise would have or not.
45+ mpg or not we've had some chilly mornings, I'm not that die hard to bundle up like the Michelin man like some that I know. I'm down to weekends when I need just a couple of things that I can stuff in the saddle bags at present unless we get a hell of a warm spell I'm not for seeing. The afternoons would be great to ride home from work on but the mornings have been quite chilly and often Foggy lately so I've been back to the truck for a couple of weeks now. Was hoping to get to ride to work at least a couple more times this season (70 mile round trip) but not having a crystal ball to say for sure the weather will warm up in the mornings before spring and not wanting to piss away the warranty time on a new battery while in storage makes me think riding season may be over til spring. Got a side job in the garage (that I wasn't expecting -- rotten leaky fuel lines on an 87 yo neighbors '01 Chevy truck) that may help but my new battery if I decide to put one in it before winter comes.
Click to expand...
I don't buy anything from TSC. They cost to much.
Rural King is waaaaay better and more affordable.
It might be worth the drive to just check it out. The closest one from me is an hour away, but when we go, we make it count.
I don't understand why the smaller battery's cost so damn much either.
I had to buy one for my granddaughters civic and the battery I bought at Rural King for $70 cost $200 at the parts store and WalMart wanted $159.
 
4 of the last 5 batteries I've bought from Rural King (thinly rebranded Exide) have lasted at least a year beyond their warranty date.

The last one I got for my 15 Renegade only made it 3 of the 5 year free replacement years, but I did get a free replacement.
IIRC the warranty pro-rates out to 8 years.
 
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
 
The only problem with adding the emsom salt......or aspirin, I had a friend's dad that used to do that and both work, is that when you do that, it will usually bring the battery back BUT they won't last much longer after that and when they die after that, they're DEAD. lol If you really want to save one that won't charge, the best thing to do is, if it's not maintenance free, empty ALL the electrolyte out, rinse it out with a strong garden hose and put new electrolyte in it and charge it. New electrolyte is CHEAP.
 
I thought when I first seen the title of this you're going to say two or $300. I paid $100 for small batteries for years...
 
Since you apparently didn't follow the link I posted above... $45, AGM, 1 year warranty... Quit yer bitchin....

Screen Shot 2022-10-04 at 8.15.13 AM.png
 
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.
Click to expand...
I bought a Lithium battery for my bike a few months ago. It wasn't cheap at over $300, but it has over double the cold cranking amps of the best AMG batteries available. Speed costs money....

The bike cranks over and starts dramatically faster than any previous battery I've run. It's also much lighter.

The motor in my bike was stroked and the compression raised to what the engine builder claimed was still low enough to crank over fast enough to start reliably. Any higher with the compression would require two batteries according to him. He does know his stuff. With this new battery, I could have used even more compression and use only this single battery.
 
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The last bike I had took a battery just like the one posted above, but.....

The top was flat and only the terminals stuck up.
The raised portion of the battery pictured wouldn't clear some obstruction over the housing.

This was back in the 2000's, but the one posted above was roughly the same price- $35 or $45.
The one I needed which was virtually identical except for the non-raised top was $89.
 
1WildRT said:
Since you apparently didn't follow the link I posted above... $45, AGM, 1 year warranty... Quit yer bitchin....

View attachment 1715993954
Click to expand...
Yeah I got on that link, gotta bunch of different ones, didn't see that one but looking now that one is a"14L" mines (the now dead one) a "20L" whatever that means. I'm not up on codes for motorcycle batteries like I know car/truck ones
Thanks for trying to help
 
My old HD Shovelheads I converted to "Lawn And Garden" batterys years ago.
$25 apiece and they last 5 to seven years on a maintainer.
 
volaredon said:
I just wish I knew why these tiny batteries are so much more expensive than one to for either of my trucks.
Click to expand...
They charge it because they can..... I have always tried to look at a motorcycle much the same as a boat in regards to the price of enjoyment.... Kick starters are basically non-existent now except for certain classes of off-road bikes so unless you can push start your bike then a battery is your only option....

So they got you. Either pay their price or don't ride. Same as a boat. Either you pay their price for a coil or you don't float lol... I would agree there is always a supply and demand situation with pricing in regards to volume but that's not the situation here....

As they say if you want to play you will pay!

JW
 
My lawn trator battery this summr is now dead and lasted about 5-6 months. Never had one THAT sorry. From Tractor Supply. Chit place.
 
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