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Battery Charging

17K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  bob01273 
#1 ·
Hi,

Another question from the newbie!

My 2001 F650GS refused to start today after standing for a couple of weeks unused. It sounded like the battery was low. The lights came on OK but it just didn't have enough juice to turn over the engine enough to get it going.

I do not have a battery charger so I need to buy one. Can any of you guys recomend what to buy, one that will charge a flat battery and also maintain it during the winter? Is it worth buying a genuine BMW charger as recomended in the manual (goodness knows how much that will cost!) or is it better to go with an aftermarket model such as Opti-Mate?

There is a socket just below the near side tank panel, can this be used to charge the battery? No doubt it will be a special connector so do non-BMW chargers supply an adaptor?

Hope you guys can help

Many thanks from Bob

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#2 · (Edited)
Got an opt-imate on mine, works fine last 3 yrs. Socket below seat may be power take off or communications? see where connections go. Not standard fitting from my recolection. Mine had Opt-mate connected hanging behind dummy tank panel, connected to battery near by.
eBay sometimes has opt-imate's for sale. But sounds like you need one now? All good accessory places like motorworks, Motor bins etc have them, or google for nearest stockist.
BMW's offering will work just as well, you just pay a lot more! Not so sure about the latest models/Canbus wiring?
 
#3 · (Edited)
Lidl and Aldi often sell nice little automatic chargers for £14 ish. Got one, works a treat.

Gave my optimate with the VFR when I sold it because I'd fitted a permanent connector for it, great piece of kit.

No reason why that connector won't work, a bike charger only puts out a low current, less than it would be fused at as an auxiliary connector. Check out the wiring, it might be switched with the ignition and useless.

Only thing I don't like is the plug you'd use to charge it would end up with a "hot" tip, but that's me being picky.
 
#5 ·
Get an Optimate. It comes with a connection lead that you leave permanantly connected to the battery on the bike, so it's just a matter of connecting the charger up when required.
An Optimate charger will recover a fully discharged battery, but only if the battery is not too far gone.
One other thing - don't try starting the bike with a part charged battery, just hoping that it will catch and start - it'll totally fuber the starter sprag clutch, which is not a cheap fix.

SteveT

:cool:
 
#6 ·
Very many thanks for the advice and suggestions. I think I will probably go the optimate route. I did not know about the part-charged battery problem either, thanks Steve.

Having the battery tucked away is such a fiddle, years ago when they were more accessable I would probably have jump started it from the car!

Bob
 
#7 · (Edited)
Bought the Lidl charger on last monday and works like a charm. I needed to change the aligator clips to a suitable HELLA connector to use the socket in my G650GS (2011). This way of recharging is documented and recommended in the user manual.

The charger can be set to motorcycle battery mode (0.8Ah), is automatic and goes into trickle charge mode once the battery is full. 19.90 euros.

 
#8 ·
If you decide to get an Optimate, which I recommend whole heartedly, they have lots of accessories available, including a connector to fit the BMW socket in your picture.

Much tidier that the trailing wire from the battery :cool:



 
#10 ·
Hi all

Many thanks for all the help. Today I went along to WEMOTO, just along the road from where I live, and bought an Optimate 4 for £49.36. They did not have a Hella plug so I will have to have a look around for one of those. I took a picture along but they had nothing like it. I will try elsewhere next week.

Regards from Bob
 
#12 ·
Many thanks for the help on this and the other thread. Maplins in Brighton were out of stock but apparently they had them at Worthing. (£3.99). However I tried a local car accessories place, Cliffords, School Road, Hove and got one from there. (£1.75). I fitted it up to the OptiMate 4 and gave it a few hours and sure enough the engine fired up first time.

Thanks again

Bob
 
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