Topic: Remote battery charging leads

[Gorms]

I have my battery located under my cafe seat and want to make it easier to keep my battery topped off with a battery tender without having to take off the seat every time.  Its quite a pain.  What would be the best and safest way to do this?

[Alan F.]

How about a pair of wires with ring terminals on one end, and a slick polarized connector with a water resistant cover on the other end?

Battery Tender already thought of it.
http://batterytender.com/product_info.php?products_id=39
-Alan

[seaweb11]

When I finished my 836 Tracy build I had charging issues so I installed exactly what you are talking about. Seems once I disconnected the headlight it was fine, but removing the body work from this bike was a real pain in the ass.

The small charger Unit I bought came with a permanent attachment so it hangs out a bit.  I have one on my boat now as well. Plug in easy night before and full charge in an hour or the next morning depending on how drained they are.



Circled it what hangs out of my Tracy bodywork.



I hope this helps. The tender also came with alligator clips that plug in to same as above.  I bought mine at Canadian Tire here in Canada, but I'm sure you can find a similar unit at your automotive store.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

I use Battery Tender brand. It has a nice pigtail to permanently attach to the battery terminals. The end that attaches to the lead from the Battery Tender has a nice cap to cover the end and will not short out. I keep mine tucked loose under the top of the side cover on my 75 750F. The one I use on my Harley is zip tied to the upper portion of my swing arm. Both are readily accessible.

[Gorms]

Whadayaknow.  My battery charger came with one and I just found it.  Didn't know what it was for before.  Sweet.

[Alan F.]

That's perfect Gorms, here's to ya!
-Alan

[Hush]

I got the same as Seaweb, just bought another for my partners 400, damn handy not having to pull the battery all the time.

[Gorms]

Ys this is what I found (minus the black box):


I find it very cool that I can "plug in" my bike at night.  Stay tuned for pictures of the bike.  Final assembly was today and I got to tell you, it looks awesome!  Complete cafe build.

[Alan F.]

Cool man, can't wait to see it.
-Alan

[Bodi]

The black box holds a fuse, in case the positive charging lead somehow shorts out to the frame. I would want that!
The female side of the connector goes to positive on the battery, male to ground. The female is recessed in the rubber and won't short to ground unless some metal bit pokes into it, pretty unlikely.
Not as unlikely is setting the centre stand leg on the cable and crushing though the insulation, or some accident where the wire is cut into by a sharp metal edge.
The charging wire will melt and flame in a second or two with a solid connection to ground and a charged battery.

[Gorms]

I see.  Mine doesnt have a fuse built in, just + and - eyelets which I screwed to the terminals.  I have a rubber boot on the + battery terminal. Am I OK?

[bucky katt]

i have those charger leads on both the bike AND my lawn tractor. kind of nice to not have to pull the seat to charge the battery.

[bistromath]

I wired a female cigarette lighter jack to the battery, and a male lighter plug to the charger. I bought both at Radio Shack. This lets me fuse the jack so it won't melt when shorted, and also lets me plug in a cell phone charger or other accessory to charge on long trips.

[TwoTired]

Ever see battery terminals with corrosion on them?

For this reason, you make your added charging lead connections electrically the same, but physically distant from the main battery terminals.

It's not the charging lead terminals that are the major concern, its the wire to lug connection that usually gets dodgy after a while.

[BVCB650]

Ever see battery terminals with corrosion on them?

For this reason, you make your added charging lead connections electrically the same, but physically distant from the main battery terminals.

It's not the charging lead terminals that are the major concern, its the wire to lug connection that usually gets dodgy after a while.

Not in the last 25 years or so.

[Terry in Australia]

I bought the genuine BMW battery charger for my K1100LT after destroying a starter relay due to a flat battery, BMW's have a handy female power plug located in a couple of positions on the bike, so it's easy to just plug it in and let it do it's thing, and my BMW is always ready to go, no matter how long it sits.

http://www.r1200gs.info/misc/BMW-charger.html

I found a similar el-cheapo knockoff on Ebay for around a 10th of the BMW item's price, and bought a female plug which is permanently connected to the battery, and I've mounted it on the frame beside one of the sidecovers on my Suzuki GS1000S, and once again I just plug it in and leave it. Great stuff, and no more lifting the seat, removing the air box and attaching alligator clips like I had to with my previous battery tender. When I want to ride, I just pull the plug, and I'm gone.  Cheers, Terry.