Can you get at battery leads without taking off fuel tank?

[ChaosCrayons]

Simple question, I own no tools other than what comes with the bike and I am not very good with mechanical items. I can turn most anything into a functioning PC but if it has an engine in it I am at a loss. Long story short, battery died and for the life of me I cannot hill/roll start it. the back tire seams to lock and skid no matter what I do. I can jump it off a friends bike but I would rather not take the tank off if I dont absolutely have to. opinions, advice, anything?

 

[Shamus McFeeley]

The toolkit that comes with the bike has everything you need to remove the tank. You'll need one of the allen keys and the 10mm wrench. The spark plug tool also works great for getting the rear tank bolt as well because it has a 10mm socket at one end.

Remove the 2 allen bolts at the front of the tank

Remove the 10mm bolt at the rear of the tank

Gently slide the tank to the rear of the bike to clear the fairing and then lift it up out of the way. Be careful not to lift too much or too hard because the connections for the fuel pump can be damaged.

Now you should be able to get at both terminals. While you're in there, you could take the opportunity to install an SAE plug for a battery tender. It seems like a lot of work, but once you do it a few times you should be able to remove your tank faster than a nascar pit crew.

 

[Motogiro]

Simple question, I own no tools other than what comes with the bike and I am not very good with mechanical items. I can turn most anything into a functioning PC but if it has an engine in it I am at a loss. Long story short, battery died and for the life of me I cannot hill/roll start it. the back tire seams to lock and skid no matter what I do. I can jump it off a friends bike but I would rather not take the tank off if I dont absolutely have to. opinions, advice, anything?

Try bump starting it in 2nd or 3rd gear.

You'll need to take the tank up to get to the battery terminals. See the 2 allen or hex head bolt at the front of the tank?

Take the seat off the bike. There's a long bolt at the back of the tank you will need a 10 mm wrench or socket to remove it. Have a 2 foot long stick for propping up the tank

A quick way to get the tank up is remove the 2 hex heads at the front of the tank then remove the long bolt at the back of the tank and hold on to the long bolt. Lift the rear of the tank a little so you can slip the tank rearward so you can clear the plastics in the front. While holding the front of the tank, put the rear of the tank back down and re-insert the long bolt. Catch a few of threads on the long bolt. Now prop the front of the tank up with the stick.

This is important so please know that if you jump start your bike with a car, the car engine should be off!

Our bikes use shunt regulators and you can toast them with the car alternator running.
Hope this helps

 

[agf]

thanks for the heads up on jump starting with a car- I didn't know about that and I'm sure I would have fried stuff if I ever needed to jump it.
fingers crossed
Hey Cliff, you are the man for all things electrical, what sort of plug do you guys use when you talk about wiring in for "tenders". I must admit that I am only familiar with Battery chargers for rejuvenating a battery from flat. Can you use the same wiring and plug for a charger and/or a tender.
and correct me if I am wrong in my thinking, but is a tender just to maintain a batteries condition over a harsh winter period?
and the plug itself, can it just sit loose under the seat?
I wired in a stebel air horn a while back and ran some cabling from the battery direct to a relay for the horn, could I tap into that for a charger or would the wiring be too light( I think it is designed for 20 A max. at least that was the fuse on the relay. from memory I used some heavy solid copper wiring( house lighting) so it would/should handle 15A no worries
any thoughts ???

 

[ChaosCrayons]

Update: Got out to where the bike is and decided I might have to wait. No street lights or anything and its 35 degrees. Decided to try bump starting it as I had my wife there with me. She wouldn't get on the bike but I had her push as hard as she could. We got it started and I got it home and into underground parking. I cant leave the bike running in underground parking so I had to turn it of, and wouldn't you know not enough power to start it again. At least I have light and warmth now and can get the tank off. There are no power outlets in the parking garage so I was thinking about just removing the battery entirely and bringing it into my apartment or just replacing it outright. Again, I suck at mechanical work but I am pretty sure from Shamus McFeeley's tank removal for dummies post I think I can manage. think I should charge the battery or replace it?

 

[texcollect]

This is what is usually fitted to allow a bike to be easily connected to a tender. It is called an SAE plug

What I did is fit a powerlet socket inside the front fairing for a GPS/Radar Detector and I use that to plug in my tender.

 

[fenderfreek]

If you get the battery on a charger in a reasonable amount of time, it will be fine - depends on how long it's been dead. A day or two can be revived no problem, couple weeks gets more iffy. Attempt to recharge it and see what you can get out of it first, then replace.

New ones aren't too expensive, and you can buy them at any old auto parts store usually. You may want to go in there with part numbers in hand, because in the past, I've had to use the catalog to cross-reference my own parts because the guys in there almost never sold motorcycle batteries.

For charging/recharging/maintaining, you want one of these:
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0123-Junior-Charger/dp/B000CITK8S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321351283&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender-021-0123-Junior-Charger/dp/B000CITK8S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321351283&sr=8-1[/ame]

The battery tender plug is this little thing that attaches directly to your battery terminals and stays on the bike for easy charging:

I have mine run out the front and zip-tied to the throttle side cable harness, you can put it anywhere secure and accessible.

 

[greg]

you might want to check that there's not another problem with your charging system (stator, or the rectifier), unless the battery has gone bad.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I'd get the battery LOAD TESTED at any automotive store/Walmart, its a free service.

If its serviceable or not, they'll give you a definite answer and you can go from there...

Also, the emptier the gas tank is of fuel, the easier its is to remove (as its lighter-about 6 lbs /gallon) and easier to maneuver.

 

[DownrangeFuture]

Be careful removing the rear bolt on the tank, it's not unheard of to drop the tank like that and break the fuel pump. The tank is desigened to hinge open, all you have to do is remove the two inner fairing panels. It's 3 extra bolts and you don't run the risk of dropping the tank and breaking something. As an extra bonus, if the bike is on the side stand, the tank will sit upright without being tied down.

Not that it's "wrong" to do it that way; just be careful with it. Dented fuel tanks "should" be replaced, and fuel pumps aren't cheap either.

 

[ChevyFazer]

Whenever doing something to my battery i just remove the front 2 bolts and prop the tank up so i dont have to completely remove it. I always make sure its completely secured so it dont want to rock to one side or fall though.

Sent from my Pocket Rocket with Tapatalk

 

[Motogiro]

thanks for the heads up on jump starting with a car- I didn't know about that and I'm sure I would have fried stuff if I ever needed to jump it.
fingers crossed
Hey Cliff, you are the man for all things electrical, what sort of plug do you guys use when you talk about wiring in for "tenders". I must admit that I am only familiar with Battery chargers for rejuvenating a battery from flat. Can you use the same wiring and plug for a charger and/or a tender.
and correct me if I am wrong in my thinking, but is a tender just to maintain a batteries condition over a harsh winter period?
and the plug itself, can it just sit loose under the seat?
I wired in a stebel air horn a while back and ran some cabling from the battery direct to a relay for the horn, could I tap into that for a charger or would the wiring be too light( I think it is designed for 20 A max. at least that was the fuse on the relay. from memory I used some heavy solid copper wiring( house lighting) so it would/should handle 15A no worries
any thoughts ???

See post #7 by Fenderfreek and thanks for the confidence in me!

 

[Tailgate]

Regarding access, I remove only the two front allen bolts, keep the tank lifted/hinged backward with two bungee cords. This while bike is on centerstand. You can remove one or both of the side faring panels to make it easier to swing the tank (less than 1/4 full recommended) back.

 

[ChaosCrayons]

Thanks a ton guys, I got the tank up and the batter disconnected. Since I am about to winterize the bike anyway I am going to just pull it out and bring it inside to attach to a tender. Should I leave it on the tender all winter if it is not attached to the bike? if not how long?

 

[Motogiro]

Thanks a ton guys, I got the tank up and the batter disconnected. Since I am about to winterize the bike anyway I am going to just pull it out and bring it inside to attach to a tender. Should I leave it on the tender all winter if it is not attached to the bike? if not how long?

If it's a regular tender it should top it off and monitor the condition of the battery on it's own so yes you could leave it on or let it top off and turn it on once a week for a day.
Since you're taking the battery out, why not charge it and have it load tested. There's no sense keeping a spent battery tended all winter.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

If it's a regular tender it should top it off and monitor the condition of the battery on it's own so yes you could leave it on or let it top off and turn it on once a week for a day.
Since you're taking the battery out, why not charge it and have it load tested. There's no sense keeping a spent battery tended all winter.

+1 on the above. The charger may bring it up to 14 volts and give you a green light but if the internals failed, it won't give you the amperage to work properly and drop voltage very quickly when a load is put on it(cranking the bike). As a side note, when my battery began to fail, approx 3.5 years old, voltage would drop as low as 8 volts but still cranked. The digital dash going blank while cranking alerted me of a problem...

Load test it first.

BTW, if a battery voltage is below a certain level, some chargers will not recognize its hooked up to a battery and NOT turn on. If you jump the battery (even off the bike-again without a car running) should bring up the voltage enough for the charger to recognize it and turn on.

Most chargers come with the battery hook ups, I'd hold off on purchasing the leads until you have a charger.

 

[Motogiro]

Also as I usually mention this but haven't in this thread. Wear safety glasses when you're working with this stuff. It's not often but you do hear of mishaps with batteries and although batteries are more sealed technology giving less exposure to gases, batteries can explode when the conditions exist. Please wear protective eye wear. Don't charge your battery with a high amperage battery charger. They can expand gasses quickly.

Battery Safety

Two local residents hurt in battery explosion - DailyPress.net | News, Sports, Jobs, Escanaba Information | The Daily Press

KatieKat 2004 Cruise Chapter Two

 

[Pseudo-Fed]

AFTER LIFTING THE TANK, WHEN YOU ARE READY TO LOWER IT!!....Be sure you simultaneously pull down on the two fuel vent hoses that protrude from the lower right side of the bike near the center stand. These hoses move up within their guides when the tank is lifted. If you don't pull down on them gently as you lower the tank you could pinch them and have a problem.....