BMW charger?

[BASEJET]

Hello, is it best to use the BMW charger for a gel battery? Or can I use any old trickle charger? 2004 R1150R Thanks

[bikermeow]

If you are charging using the BMW power socket at the side of the bike, only a BMW charger. If charging the battery directly, i.e. via another power socket connected directly to the battery or to the battery after you removed it from the bike, then any charger will do.

Cheers

[frbank6]

I hate to differ, but I've been using a Deltran, not BMW, charger for almost six years via the plug installed on the bike without problems. I think you only need the BMW branded charger if you have a BMW gel battery, and even then, I thought this was discussed on the board somewhere as being a purely marketing gimick. I had an old-style, lead acid battery as OEM and changed to an Odessey about two years ago.

[Beemeridian]

11

[towerworker]

Battery Tender Jr.

http://batterytender.com/

[Beemeridian]

11

[lake_harley]

Still on the subject of battery charging but yet a different question......

I tried starting my 2004 R1150R today for the first time in about 2 weeks. It has been cranking more slowly lately it seems, but today (in 30-ish degree temp) I got a few revolutions of the engine and then the relay chattering. I'm sure I'm due for a new battery but looked in my owner manual for a location to hook up a 2 Amp charger without taking the tank off. I found the reference to the accessory plug on the left side of the bike but don't have a plug to fit it (unless there's something hiding somewhere). There's a 2nd male lug next to the accessory plug but the manual didn't address what it might be. At this point I just want to get it started to ride to the dealership to have the battery replaced. They're closed on Monday and this may drive me crazy by Tuesday. I have all this cold weather riding gear and want to get some use out of it!

Thanks

Lynn

[mauledrvr]

1 bmw-charger-plug - BMW Motorcycle Charger Plug $13.95
Shipping & Handling (US Mail Super Saver (3-5 Days)) : $2.99
This item is out of Batterymart.com it has the two pin end to hook up a "Tender JR" or others with this semi-universal plug end. The BMW end fits the accessory plugs on the side of the m/c perfectly at half the price.
Just bought another one for a friend. I have NO connection other than a customer to Batterymart.
KCB 04 1150RT

[NoRRmad]

That "male lug" is for jump-starting the bike. If your charger has alligator clips, hook to that, and a ground (I hear that a cylinder-head bolt is a good ground,) and let her sit for a while. Alternatively, do a jump-start to get to the dealer. There are adaptors for the accessory plug (called a "powerlet" or "BMW plug," that convert to a cigarette-lighter female plug, and a lot of chargers have a cigarette-lighter male plug included.

Hope this helps.

[challey]

If you don't see the accessory plug, you probably don't have it installed and there will simply be a round black cover plate about the circumference of a dime holding a place for the plug on the starter cover.

You may be able to remover the starter cover and charge the battery by using the lead to the starter solenoid. One of the guys in my local riders group (Brian Curry of MacPac) has generic R11XX instructions posted on the IBMWR for this http://www.ibmwr.org/r-tech/oilheads/jumpstart.shtml. I don't have any first-hand experience with this technique but I believe others on this forum have and may be able to chime in with specifics for the R1150R.

For the future, the easiest way to connect a charger is indeed via the accessory plug. All the wiring for it is right there under the starter cover on the left-hand side. The plug itself is realatively inexpensive (maybe $25) and should be readily available from you local dealer. The install is pretty easy, a 30 or so minute job. The hardest part is cutting the tire around the wire bundle without touching the hot lead on the solenoid (not much room, you'll see what I mean if you put the plug in place). I'm pretty sure someone on this board posted some pictures and instructions that you can probably find with a bit of searching.

Good luck.

Charlie

[marine dad]

while i had my tank off a couple of weeks ago wiring up driving lights, i figured while i was there i would hook up the battery leads from my trickle charger also. these are about a foot long and have an sae connector on the end, which plugs right up to my trickle charger. zip tied the sae connector so it is sticking out from under the seat, and i can just plug up the charger any time i want.
mike

[lake_harley]

Thanks for the help. I was thinking/hoping that the male lug was a battery + lug and that I'd just hook the charger - to a convenient spot of the engine or frame. I wanted to ask first rather than fry the whole electrical system.

Lynn

[Beemeridian]

11

[harveyrawn]

I checked my 2002 R1150R last night after reading the above posts, and it doesn't seem to have either of the external lugs described above. I guess that connecting a charger through the accessory plug port will be my best solution for convenient battery charging.