BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

So I tried to hook up my battery tender to my 1150r and the red light on the tender keeps blinking. The instructions say that means the terminals are not contacting correctly. I'm hooking the red clip to the nub that comes out of the right side of the bike, and the black clip to the frame. Is there a different way to hook it up, short of pulling the tank?
I know the battery tender works because when I hook it up to my vespa battery and the red light is steady, meaning it's charging.
Andy advice?

22

Check those connections indeed go to the correct battery poles. From the above, it may be that both clips are being connected to earth (chassis) and so the tender is being shorted.

Thanks, I haven't had a chance to hook it up per Beemeridian's advice, but will give it a try tonight. I'm pretty sure I'm hooking the red clip to the right spot - it's the same one I have used to jump start the bike when the battery died from inactivity a month ago.
When I jump started it then, I did it from my car battery, and hooked the red to that nipple and the black to the frame -- seemed to work fine, but the battery tender might be more sensitive powder coating.

Assuming you have factory power socket on left side, within the starter cover:

Get a BMW/Powerlet plug, and wire adapter for your charger. Center pin contact for the Powerlet is positive, side/circumference contacts are negative.

Thanks for all the help -- I got the charger to work using the ground connection that Beemeridian helpfully pointed out. Now if it would just stop raining so I can go for a ride.

22

cswett wrote:Thanks for all the help -- I got the charger to work using the ground connection that Beemeridian helpfully pointed out. Now if it would just stop raining so I can go for a ride.

I can attest to the fact that the R1150R won't melt in the rain.

Can I get a little clarification here? There must be an easier way that I'm not aware of. I've been removing the seat and getting the little clamps from my Black and Decker trickle charger up underneath the gas tank, to the battery terminals themselves. It's tedious as hell to get them to bite on the terminals. I see the ground lug that was indicated in the picture, but is there an easier connection point for the positive to go to?

22

Is that the accessory/power outlet? Mine's not equipped with that option, just the cover/plug where it would normally be. Thanks.

The plug to the right in the pic is the acc socket. The left is + to battery. My 03 did not have that, 04 does.

22

I had one of those but it was longer than yours.

22