Changing the Battery.

[BobJ]

If this has been covered before I apologise - I did do a search - honest!
Well, after just 17 months, the battery has finally given up the ghost on my 12GS. And that despite being continuously plugged into an Optimate when I'm not out on it
Anyway, I went to see those nice people at NOG and they fleeced me for £70.50 for a replacement. When I made a comment about the batteries being rubbish (having read comments on here), I was met with a wry and knowing smile smile. Barry did however concede that what he was supplying me was the fourth generation of battery for the GS since it was launched. Hopefully they've got it right now
Anyway - to the point.
My bike has the BMW anti-theft alarm system DWA6 fitted. Having read the supplied manual from cover to cover, I can find no mention whatsoever of how I avoid the alarm going banzai as soon as I disconnect the current battery to replace it. I know it will as I managed to piss the neighbours off when I fitted aux. lights and had to disconnect the battery then.

 

[Pukmeister]

My bike has the BMW factory alarm too, and I fitted a Hawker Odyssey no problems. My alarm was not set to automatically arm itself, so I had no trouble at all in simply disconnecting the old battery and reconnecting the new one.

Why did yours go off when fitting the auxiliary lights??

 

[BobJ]

Ahhh! Now my alarm is set so that after a couple of seconds of switching the ignition off, it self arms rather than using the 'dibber' (technical term). You reckon that if I switch it to manual so to speak - I should be okay?
I'll give it a whirl tomorrow once the battery's cooked.
I wired the aux. lights direct to the battery so when I removed the terminal screws to wire them up all hell broke loose.

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

Noticed in my local Halfords today that the only spares they stocked (in an admittedly fairly small range) for the R1200GS was a Yuasa battery. £51, I think. Given that my nearest dealer is bloody miles away, if the battery bites the dust I think I'll pop down to Halfords. No idea what specification the Yuasa battery is, mind.

My bike's 20 months old and battery seems to be holding up ok. Usually bung it on a trickle charger for a day if it has been left unridden for a couple of weeks. (It has a non-BMW alarm on it.) It did flatten too much to start once a while ago, but had a software update and not had a problem since.

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Batteries

There does seem to be a connection between the fitting of alarms and the life of the battery. Do you get a reduction in your insurance premium for an alarm? Here in France to me they seem a waste of money as noone takes any notice of them.

 

[Pukmeister]

BobJ, I couldn't say 100% but in my case with only manual alarm arming, it was fine to disconnect the battery. The alarm handbook states how to set manual/auto arming so it shouldn't be hard to change.

 

[Happyhenry]

I have my alarm set for manual arming and recently disconnected the battery to wire the Optimate and heated jacket wiring direct to the battery, as neither will work through the accessory socket (why do they do that?) and had no problems at all - though I was expecting some.

 

[gavin@iow]

Noticed in my local Halfords today that the only spares they stocked (in an admittedly fairly small range) for the R1200GS was a Yuasa battery. £51, I think. Given that my nearest dealer is bloody miles away, if the battery bites the dust I think I'll pop down to Halfords. No idea what specification the Yuasa battery is, mind.

My bike's 20 months old and battery seems to be holding up ok. Usually bung it on a trickle charger for a day if it has been left unridden for a couple of weeks. (It has a non-BMW alarm on it.) It did flatten too much to start once a while ago, but had a software update and not had a problem since.

YTX14-BS is the battery for the 1200, it is a 12 amp/hr.

 

[BobJ]

Job now done. Set the alarm to manual and had no problems.
Just got back from a sedate meander along the rural lanes of Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire - just to make sure that the new battery is fully charged you understand.
Best bike I've had for leaving a grin on my face even if the o.e. battery is shite!

 

[BBB61]

If this has been covered before I apologise - I did do a search - honest!
Well, after just 17 months, the battery has finally given up the ghost on my 12GS. And that despite being continuously plugged into an Optimate when I'm not out on it
Anyway, I went to see those nice people at NOG and they fleeced me for £70.50 for a replacement. .

I just had the battery replaced on my 1200 after 18 months, but it was done under warranty. Bob, have you owned the bike since new?

 

[BobJ]

I just had the battery replaced on my 1200 after 18 months, but it was done under warranty. Bob, have you owned the bike since new?

Yes. I went to start it on Saturday afternoon and was both suprised and annoyed to get the all too familiar click-clicking of a flat battery when I thumbed the starter. I jumped it from the car and hot footed it over to NOG. I was told that in order to claim under the warranty they'd have to test the battery which is fair do's. The problem was that I'd have to book the bike in in order for them to do that. I guess in fairness, it was about 2.00pm on a Saturday afternoon and I don't know many service departments that are open then. And the other aspect to this is I couldn't be arsed with all the fannying about - I want to know that when I want to go for a blat, I wheel it out of the garage and go rather than key in, click click, bollocks, kit off, jump leads out etc. etc. Hence the reason I forked out for a new one then and there.
Barry did say that if I dropped the old battery in, they'd test it and if it was found to be a duffer, they'd refund what I'd just stumped up for the new one. Which is nice I'll be back there next weekend looking for a refund

 

[BBB61]

Ah, that explains it Bob. Seems they are being fair to you.

While my battery was being replaced, one of the techies who does the BMW assist turned up with a new toy. Its a battery tester made by Bosch (I believe) which not only gives a readout of the battery condition but also produces a print out of the battery condition. He was saying that BMW are starting to ask their dealers for proof when they have battery issues under warranty and they are starting to ask for batterys to be tested to check they are knackered. If the dealer has submitted a warranty claim for a battery which when tested turns out to be ok, the dealer will have to fork out the cost.

 

[Horsedribble]

Having been wishfully perusing the Wunderlich catalogue the other day I remembered seeing an all singing and dancing replacement for the GS's "Smaller than other BMW" batteries.

Here's some of the exciting features,,, and I quote: "Amazing starting power", "Extremely long life, can last 8-10 years" (& my ars points up! How do they know that?), "Vibration PROOF", "Spill PROOF", "Weather PROOF", " Bullet & Ballistic Gravel PROOF".,,,,, Oh OK so I made the last one up, but what barking numpty designed it to be in line of sight of the rear wheel eh?

Anyway, joking aside, it does sound like a damn good battery, BUT when I looked it up it costs a whole and whopping £130 !!! You can almost buy 1 1/2 Tumble Dryers in Comet's for that money!!!! But then I spose it does come with four zip-ties, a pre-bent metal strip and a mysterious little black rectangle?

See Page 101, Part No: 8200000.,,,, And if it's your lucky day you could buy a Lifting Handle while you're on that page too!

 

[Brian ROSEN]

I have my alarm set for manual arming and recently disconnected the battery to wire the Optimate and heated jacket wiring direct to the battery, as neither will work through the accessory socket (why do they do that?) and had no problems at all - though I was expecting some.

If the connecting and switching on procedures are followed corectly there is no reason why the OUTPUT from the socket will not work. However the INPUT throuigh the socket will only work using a BMW charger - but why worry when it is so easy to connect a charger directly to the terminals?

 

[BobJ]

Barry did say that if I dropped the old battery in, they'd test it and if it was found to be a duffer, they'd refund what I'd just stumped up for the new one. Which is nice I'll be back there next weekend looking for a refund

Took in the old battery last Saturday and true to their word, NOG charged it up and tested it and found it to be a duffer. Refunded my money on the new one. Yes - the battery should last longer than 17 months but it's reassuring to know that there's no quibbling when things go wrong in the first two years
Bollox! I better start thinking of changing my bike again soon then

 

[Pukmeister]

Having been wishfully perusing the Wunderlich catalogue the other day I remembered seeing an all singing and dancing replacement for the GS's "Smaller than other BMW" batteries.

If you are referring to the Hawker odyssey battery sold by Wunderlich, try getting a quote from Motorworks instead. Same product a lot cheaper. I think I paid about £75 for mine inc. Vat & postage.

If you fit one (or a similar AGM absorbed glass mat battery) you will need to use an optimate type charger that states it supports AGM cells. I had to buy a CTEK MultiXS 3600 charger as my old Optimate didn't give out enough amps to support an AGM cells charging rates. If you buy one of these with the battery, motorworks cut you a deal on the price plus the postage works out cheaper.

 

[AndyW]

The battery on my 07/2005 GS failed a few days back - the bike has been laid up for nearly 12 months now but has had regular charging direct from an Optimate and a mate has ridden the bike occasionally for me.
Noticed that the Optimate could only charge the battery to a 'Weak' state rather than fully charged - found there was not enough go in the battery to turn the engine over.

Phoned local BM Dealer, popped the battery up to them - replaced under Warranty with no quibble.
Would have liked to go for the more powerful Odysse battery (e.g. from Motorworks) but an inferior (?) OE item for free makes more sense!

Strange though.........I was told that the battery is the latest AGM type (absorbed glass mat) and the leaflet that came with it refers to it being AGM but what's with the warnings on the box? Contradictory?

 

[Daffy]

Ah, that explains it Bob. Seems they are being fair to you.

While my battery was being replaced, one of the techies who does the BMW assist turned up with a new toy. Its a battery tester made by Bosch (I believe) which not only gives a readout of the battery condition but also produces a print out of the battery condition. He was saying that BMW are starting to ask their dealers for proof when they have battery issues under warranty and they are starting to ask for batterys to be tested to check they are knackered. If the dealer has submitted a warranty claim for a battery which when tested turns out to be ok, the dealer will have to fork out the cost.

This is bad news for the dealers as BMV will be looking to reject the batteries if the tester does not say "faulty cell", all other failure modes include "replace battery" etc etc relate to the battery reaching the end of it's service life, it is therefore worn out and not faulty.

The fact that the warranty guarantees against manufacturing defects means that worn out is a valid reason to reject a claim - expect to see lots of difficult battery claims followed by a reluctance to submit batteries for warranty by the dealer network.

I have seen this first hand in the commercial & light vehicle world and would guess that Bosch and Midtronics (an american version of the same tool) have saved OEM's millions by reducing battery claims significantly (and probably made a few quid themselves as well).

 

[alimey4u2]

"Westco" from this bloke......

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/bwadebatts

12v14-B Westco Motorcycle Battery ( To fit R1200GS)

Replaces YTX14-BS

Voltage: 12v

Capacity: 14ah

Cold Cranking: 200CCA

Measurements: 152 x 87 x 146mm

 

[AndyW]

The battery on my 07/2005 GS failed a few days back - the bike has been laid up for nearly 12 months now but has had regular charging direct from an Optimate and a mate has ridden the bike occasionally for me.
Noticed that the Optimate could only charge the battery to a 'Weak' state rather than fully charged - found there was not enough go in the battery to turn the engine over.

Phoned local BM Dealer, popped the battery up to them - replaced under Warranty with no quibble.
Would have liked to go for the more powerful Odysse battery (e.g. from Motorworks) but an inferior (?) OE item for free makes more sense!

Strange though.........I was told that the battery is the latest AGM type (absorbed glass mat) and the leaflet that came with it refers to it being AGM but what's with the warnings on the box? Contradictory?

Thought I'd update the story.
The above mentioned battery provided under Warranty end of April 2007 failed barely 12 months later (!) but as it had been supplied FOC (i.e. under Warranty) BMW refused to replace it and I had to buy one at a cost of around £75!!
Fortunately as I bought that replacement battery it was covered by a 2 year Warranty.....I say fortunately as just 6 weeks shy of it being 2 years old its died!!! Replaced today under Warranty (which is just as well as BMW now charge £95 for the batteries!.....22% price hike in less than 2 years )

............of course no recompense for the inconvenience, 60 mile round trip to collect the replacement (again!) and now BMW HQ insist on the Dealer testing the 'old' battery before handing out a Warranty replacement....after an hour Bristol Motorrad still hadn't successfully managed to accomplish this but gave me the Warranty replacement anyway once I voiced my displeasure