To help you choose the best motorcycle battery for your bike, we’ve looked at specs, expert and user reviews and battery comparison charts to highlight the longest-lasting motorcycle batteries overall as well as the best replacement battery for Harley Davidson and other top brands. In making our choices we looked at capacity, charging amps, performance, and weight as well as price. We also looked out for the best motorcycle battery for cold weather starts and for ease of maintenance. Are you interested in adding a new motorbike to your collection? Find suitable options in our best motorcycles guide.
Our top pick, the Chrome Pro AGM motorcycle battery, is a maintenance-free drop-in replacement battery that has a built-in LCD screen with a voltage display. Read on for more of our top picks.
Top 4 Best Motorcycle Battery
#1 Chrome Pro AGM Motorcycle Battery
Award: TOP PICK
WHY WE LIKE IT: One of the least expensive high-performance absorbed glass mat (AGM) motorcycle batteries on the market, it can be installed in any orientation and even has an LCD voltage readout.
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- Best AGM for the money
- Fits Honda, Suzuki, Triumph and many others
- Maintenance-free gel electrolyte design
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- Not as robust as lithium-ion motorcycle batteries
- Fewer cold cranking amps (CCA) than the ThrottleX MX30L
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This best AGM motorcycle battery or absorbed glass mat motorcycle battery is a great value if you don’t need the absolute most cold-weather performance. Its gel electrolyte construction and heat-sealed cover let you install it in any orientation, and it’s highly vibration resistant. The 12V Chrome Pro weighs under 8 lbs, making it a great choice for smaller sportbikes and cafe racers. It also fits a variety of ATVs and jet skis.
The Chrome Pro is factory activated, meaning you don’t have to perform a specialized setup and initial charging procedure. Installation in most applications is fairly simple, and it ships fully charged. One unique and useful bonus with this value motorcycle battery is that it comes with an LCD voltage read-out, so you always know how charged it is. Whether you drive an adult bike or an electric motorcycle for kids, you need a good battery.
#2 Throttlex MX30L 600+ CCA Motorcycle Battery
Award: HONORABLE MENTION
WHY WE LIKE IT: With over 600 cold-cranking amps claimed, this spillproof and ready-to-install absorbed glass mat battery is the best motorcycle battery for cold weather on our list.
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- Best for cold weather
- Spill-proof
- Vibration resistant reinforced terminals
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- Heavier than the Chrome Pro motorcycle battery
- More expensive than some Harley Davidson batteries
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This fully sealed and robust absorbed glass mat motorcycle battery produces the most cold-cranking amps of any battery on our list. With a rating of 600+ CCA, it is a great choice if you’re looking for top quality and the best motorcycle battery for cold weather. This ThrottleX battery also packs the usual durability features including a fully sealed cap, vibration-resistant terminals, and spill-proof embedded glass mat technology. It can be installed sideways as well.
Promising to meet or exceed factory battery specs for the 1997-2020 Electra Glide, Road Glide, Road King, Street Glide, and Ultra Classic, this is an excellent choice if you’re looking for the best motorcycle battery for Harley. It’s designed for ultra-low discharge rates and to resist the vibration of big V-twins. You might also like the best motorcycle lift for working on your bike. Also, take a look at the Battery Tender Automatic 12V Power Sports Junior Charger and Maintainer, which is easy to use and provides a full charge to your machine’s battery before switching into float mode which monitors voltage levels to prevent overcharging.
#3 Chrome Battery YTX30L-BS Motorcycle Battery
Award: BEST BUDGET
WHY WE LIKE IT: This high-performance AGM motorcycle battery offers respectable cold-weather starting and tremendous versatility, fitting Harleys, ATVs, watercraft, and snowmobiles.
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- Long-lasting Versatile for top or side mount applications
- Fully sealed and ready to install
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- Fewer CCA than the ThrottleX MX30L
- Heavier than the Chrome Pro
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A budget choice with decent cold-weather performance and easy installation, plus excellent vibration resistance and convenient fully threaded top and side terminals for versatile mounting options, this 12V Chrome battery fit a wide range of bikes, jet skis, snowmobiles, and ATVs. And it’s also one of the longest-lasting motorcycle battery models for the money that you can buy today.
As the motorcycle battery comparison chart shows, it comes with a rating of 385 CCA and about 400 cranking amps at room temperature, nearly matching the specs of Harley Davidson OEM batteries. This AGM motorcycle battery is also rated for 2000 charging cycles and claims an ultra-low discharge rate. Another one of the best lead-acid batteries is the Might Max YTX14 AhGEL, which uses 210 cold-cranking amps, 12 amp hours, and 12 volts to power motorcycles, jet skis, snowmobiles, and other machines used for power sports. This maintenance-free battery works right out of the box and has long-lasting performance in higher and lower temperatures as well. In the winter you need to make sure your battery is working great, even if you are just using the best ATV snow plow.
#4 ThrottleX HDX20L Motorcycle Battery
Award: BEST FOR HARLEY
WHY WE LIKE IT: Our pick for the best motorcycle battery for hot weather starts on your Harley, this OEM replacement AGM battery is maintenance-free and ultra-durable.
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- Matches OEM spec cranking amps
- 18-month free replacement warranty
- Vibration-resistant and fully sealed
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- Not an upgraded motorcycle battery for cold weather
- More expensive than some budget Harley batteries
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This high-quality replacement battery for Harleys matches the OEM battery specs for the Harley Davidson Fat Boy 1991-2016, Softail 1991-2016, Sportster 1997-2003, Low Rider (Dyna) 1993-2016, Night Rod 2008-2016, Super Glide 1995-2016, V Rod 2008-2016, and Wide Glide 1993-2016. It meets or exceeds factory durability standards, with threaded solid lead terminals and stainless steel bolts, a fully heat-sealed design, and plated absorbed glass mat technology.
Made using the same manufacturing facilities as original Harley batteries, this is our pick among direct replacements for the best motorcycle battery for Harley, especially if you don’t live in a very cold climate. It’s vibration-resistant and rated as one of the longest-lasting 12V motorcycle batteries you can buy. Another option is the ChromeBattery YT12B-BS Powersport Battery, which is compatible with more than 30 different motorcycle models. This is a rechargeable sealed AGM battery box, and with its patented sealed post, corrosion is prevented and battery life is extended. A sealed battery type does not require maintenance. Maintenance-free batteries like sealed batteries should be replaced with other maintenance-free ones, not conventional types. If it takes a while to start your motorcycle, it’s also better to go with a new motorcycle battery with a higher CCA. These are also qualities that we look for in the best ATV battery. Speaking of which, the best ATV winch is a must.
How We Decided
In order to narrow down our choices for the best motorcycle batteries, we limited our search to fully sealed, maintenance-free AGM motorcycle batteries. Using absorbed glass mat technology, these batteries are far safer and easier to keep up with than the old-style wet lead-acid batteries. Most OEM motorcycles these days use AGM motorcycle batteries.
We also only looked at batteries that met OEM specs for voltage and cranking amps for their intended applications. This way, you can be sure the replacement motorcycle battery you buy will start your bike as easily as the original.
In making our selections for the best motorcycle battery for Harley Davidson, we narrowed it down to batteries that met or exceeded factory specs and that were specifically designed for vibration resistance and external durability.
Best Motorcycle Battery Buying Guide
Features to Consider
- Type
Motorcycle batteries come in wet cell lead acid, gel electrolyte, absorbed glass mat, and lithium-ion. Lithium motorcycle batteries are typically rated for a larger number of recharging cycles but are more expensive. Old-style wet cell batteries, the oldest form of car and motorcycle battery used, contain lead and lead oxide plates in a sulphuric acid and water solution; since they’re not fully sealed, however, they need to be topped off with distilled water once in a while, and they may be sensitive to vibration and orientation. Gel cell batteries have the electrolytes suspended in a gel and are more resistant to vibration and heat. AGM or absorbed glass mat batteries are similar to gel batteries but use glass fiber sponges between the electrolyte plates, allowing for more control over the acid movement between them, and thus smaller batteries for the same amperage. For these reasons, most motorcycles use AGM batteries. - Fitment
When looking for the best motorcycle battery for Harley, Suzuki, Honda, Triumph, or other bikes, first make sure the batteries you’re looking at will fit your make and model. - CCA
CCA, or cold-cranking amps, refers to the maximum number of amps the battery can produce in 30 minutes at 0º Fahrenheit. When looking for the best motorcycle battery for cold weather, look for a CCA rating of at least 380-400. - Voltage
Most modern motorcycles have a 12V electrical system, but always make sure the replacement battery matches the voltage requirements of your bike.
