I bought my bike on Nov 23rd 2004, up until today I had never changed the battery and this was sadly prononced dead by the RAC man this morning 23/02/08 at 08:02 R.I.P.

He said (the RAC man) "you shouldn't complain, most batteries last 2 years!"

However mine lasted me 3 years, 3 months more or less. I asked him, so why did mine lasted so long? he looked at the mileage, 34'000 miles he said do you use it every day? I said yes, yes! He said that's your answer, the more you use the bike, the more you prevent it from going below charge which is what makes them weak and starts their diminuishing process, so the moral of the story is, either you ride your bike all year round, day in day out, or you invest in a battery optimizer that you keep connected when you are not riding it for more than 3 days. Even if the bike is not running, the clock and the red flashing light on the dash will eventually drain the current.