Heads up HD battery tech

[hacksaw]

As some of you may already know. My 2003 fatboy and quite possibly other softails of this design have their battery’s under the seat and kind of set down in a cutout of the wrap around oil tank .
Due to the short pos lead one needs nimble fingers to hook the leads up properly.
Now I had disconnected the battery . When I reconnected it , I also reconnected the tender eyelets . Starting the bike melted the battery posts .

Why? Common theory is loose leads arc and melt the lead posts .
But I though mine were tight🤨!

I get the replacement battery .
It came with 2 brass colored spacers with a flat side. My existing battery (the same brand) did not use these in my existing set up.
So I used them and was amazed to see that these spacers made everything line up better and it was much easier to get the screws in.
What this means in there is a little lip on the battery case between the post and battery side . W/O the spacers the leads don’t fit flush and the battery tender eyelets compound the issue .
So with my poor eyes I had tightened the screws up, but didn’t see that the terminal ends were half cocked leaving a space that arced and melted my posts .

Here is my simple tip.
The battery I bought was fairly expensive and model specific . I have to assume the person installing the original battery just didn’t bother with the spacers and was fortunate to have screwed it together and it worked np.
But being model specific and having these spacers come with the battery , it stands to reason they were included for a reason .
If you replace a battery that comes with seemingly extra stuff , take the time to find out why .

[Fatfatboy]

I made the mistake of not using those little brass spacers on my fatboy and had the same outcome as yourself. The battery was four or five years old when it’s roasting happened. I’m surprised it lasted that long.

I believe those little spacers come with all powersport batteries that I’ve bought at my local auto parts store even the ones for the mower.
I don’t need them on all batteries so I save them for those times I loose one when it drops in the great void.

It would be nice if they made them with a small stem attached to them on the opposite side of the flat to give a needle nose to grip on to and then broke off or bent over.

[hacksaw]

yes it certainly would.
its not a problem if the bike you have can use the top attachment. but we have no choice as to the side,
i will say its a lot better than the old nuts , well the nuts would stay ok if you stock a piece of overflow tube behind them. remember them? lol.

[Fatfatboy]

Some batteries still use the square nuts that are supposed to stay in the post. The beezer has one of those batteries.
The over flow tube is a good idea. I’ll have to remember that. I’ve always just stuck a flat blade screwdriver between or pocket knife in to hold the nut in place.

[hacksaw]

well that battery is a kickstart sportster battery. so i dont know if there is a modern replacement as such.