Saturday, October 18, 2008

Harley Motorcycle Battery at Sears?

After having a crappy week with things going wrong at every turn, finally a stroke of luck. But will it last? The battery in my Sportster was dead and wouldn't take a charge. Even trying to jump start it off of my truck it gave nothing back. To top that off, the power window in my truck quit working with it half way down. This made for a cold drive to work and we had a threat of rain in the next couple of days.
Searching for a new replacement battery for the bike was getting to be as tough as the search for a master link in a yard of scrap metal shavings. Oh! there were batteries to be had but they all had to be ordered from somewhere far off. Nobody had the size or type needed for this old Iron headed ride in stock. Now if the bike was a kicker, it'd be retrofitted with a magneto set up super fast to avoid this hassle. No kicker on this one though but there just might be a search for a kicker kit again pretty soon.
The window in the truck wouldn't go up and a battery couldn't be found - and there were other crappy things going wrong to in other areas - but a friend and owner of Super Fly Cycles in Burlington NC decided to lend a hand on the window. Plus while there we could see about that battery problem too. Well, we pulled the door panels from both doors on the truck and got that sucker window to work again. That saved me a hundred bucks for a new switch from Ford. Then we turned our attention to the battery. Nope! Not that size in stock so he called around to find one but the prices to get it shipped without a bulk parts order put the price over the top. Snuffed again on getting the juice box for the Sporty. He tried though with his suppliers and cross referenced back and forth trying to find one at a decent price. I really didn't want to go the mail order route for the battery. I'd much rather support a local shop whom I know will give service after the sale. You know, face to face service instead of voice to voice service over a phone with someone I'll never see. They could tell me anything but once they've got my money I just don't think the service part will be there. Who cares if they offer up a one year warranty. That would mean shipping the battery back (plus shipping charges but you can't send a battery once it's had acid in it. I'm guessing you'd have to empty the acid out and pour baking soda solution in it and recap?) waiting for them to send another one (plus shipping charges) and hope it's the right one. What a frigging hassle that'd be.
Well, another guy at work has a newer Sportster and he told me to check with Sears. Seems they have gotten together with H-D and now will have Harley Batteries. I go on line but can't find the one I need. I'm all ready to go back to the motorcycle shop and just bite the bullet and get him to order me a battery, when on the way I decide to stop at Sears automotive and see. What the heck, if they don't have it I'll just go on over to the shop. I walk in and a salesman comes right up and I give him the info. Nope! We look on the shelf and he cross references it in the book but not the one I need is there. Then he says to wait as he goes and checks in the back. Hooray! He comes out with just what I need. And, it's the only single one that he has. There it is HD-12 part# 28-44357 DieHard; it's like winning the lottery. I pay him - call the local Sheriffs office to get an escorted ride home with my treasure - wringing my hands and laughing like Dr. Frankenstein as I walk into my little shop. Just as I get set to add the acid it's noticed that the fill lines on the side will do me no good. What! The dog gone battery case is all black and you can't see inside to even see the liquid level inside. Not even with a very bright light. How am I to know when I'm at the correct level as you just can't see anything? Okay. I'm not letting this piss me off as I've been pissed off about one thing or another all week. I look at the old clear case battery I took out and see the upper level comes just below the fill caps. So I go by that information and fill it that way. It just means that whenever I need to check my levels I'll have to remove the battery from the bike but so-be-it. Now I have to charge it at 2 amps for 3-7 hours and should have at least 12.70 volts. After the seven hours I give her a check again as I did every hour while charging to see what it's holding. Still hooked up and charging the reading on my meter is 13.07 and after taking it off charge and checking again it's at 12.93 volts. I breath a sigh of relief, tighten up the fill caps and turn off the shop lights. We'll see what tomorrow holds and put that elusive rascal in the bike.

2 comments:

Kathleen Jennette said...

This is why I don't wrench. I love ya Wooley!

WooleyBugger said...

I always enjoy hearing from you lady. Was trying to get up with my brother out Seatle way for a summer ride; he just started a new job and won't have the vacation time. (see how my luck goes?)
Some wrenching is good to know, you could learn some fairly easy I suspect.