New battery

[Katie]

Step one in the de-lardification of my RS, a lithium battery. Have replaced the OEM AGM at 4.83kg with a Provacell P14 lithium at 1kg (from Twotyres.co.uk ). Have used the brand before, in a Moto Guzzi Mandello so know it works well and the weight difference is bonkers.

However, I'm putting the RS in at second place in the most fiddly-arse bike for changing the battery!
Seats off (never forgetting to unplug the heating leads), two fairing bolts, two bolts holding the key transmitter down on top of the battery, unhook the non-battery related cables from the cable guide, bend fairings out of the way, remove battery!!! Rinse and repeat to install the new one.

Even better, the battery was in a right mucky state



On closer look, having gone through all the steps above just to the access the battery, the bloomin' thing is exposed to the elements and yes, that is mud inside the bike! On the plus side, if you ever really want to clean your rear shock, you can get to it straight through the battery box...

 

[AndyW]

Thanks for the post.
My bike came from the factory with the Motorrad lithium battery but I've added battery removal to my to do list to see what's going on with dirt collecting in/round the battery tray.

 

[Gee-]

Pop it back, after placing it inside a fat zip lock bag, the type you put a fat chicken into, keeps the crud off it, no need to close the bag.

 

[Katie]

Step 2 in de-lardification:

Removed the pannier rails. I only use the top box rack and the rails are no use for fixing tail pack straps through as they have some sharp edges inside the clips. Also, They're tricky to clean as the mud wedges in all the gaps!

Should have been fairly simple - 6 bolts each side, including the rack holders, just needed to replace the rack bolts with shorter one. I dropped the rear light and plate assembly (2 bolts) so I could tuck the pannier wires inside the bike (they unplugged at the rails).



Bad news was, one of the rear assembly bolts sheared off as I was tightening it so then spent an hour taking most of the rear end off to get to the remaining piece of bolt so I could screw it out. Tried drilling it out but all my drill bits appear to be made of chewing gum wrapper... Would recommend replacing both bolts before reattaching the assembly

Anyway, that's another 1.7kg gone until I can afford to sort the header replacements and save the big 4kg

 

[ChazzyB]

Step one in the de-lardification of my RS, a lithium battery. Have replaced the OEM AGM at 4.83kg with a Provacell P14 lithium at 1kg (from Twotyres.co.uk ). Have used the brand before, in a Moto Guzzi Mandello so know it works well and the weight difference is bonkers.

However, I'm putting the RS in at second place in the most fiddly-arse bike for changing the battery!
Seats off (never forgetting to unplug the heating leads), two fairing bolts, two bolts holding the key transmitter down on top of the battery, unhook the non-battery related cables from the cable guide, bend fairings out of the way, remove battery!!! Rinse and repeat to install the new one.

Even better, the battery was in a right mucky state

View attachment 509642

On closer look, having gone through all the steps above just to the access the battery, the bloomin' thing is exposed to the elements and yes, that is mud inside the bike! On the plus side, if you ever really want to clean your rear shock, you can get to it straight through the battery box...

View attachment 509643

The K50 GS (1200 and 1250) have their ECU mounted where it can collect all the shit off the road. What is it with modern bikes? Form over function, I think.

 

[RS-eyJohn]

Step one in the de-lardification of my RS, a lithium battery. Have replaced the OEM AGM at 4.83kg with a Provacell P14 lithium at 1kg (from Twotyres.co.uk ). Have used the brand before, in a Moto Guzzi Mandello so know it works well and the weight difference is bonkers.

However, I'm putting the RS in at second place in the most fiddly-arse bike for changing the battery!
Seats off (never forgetting to unplug the heating leads), two fairing bolts, two bolts holding the key transmitter down on top of the battery, unhook the non-battery related cables from the cable guide, bend fairings out of the way, remove battery!!! Rinse and repeat to install the new one.

Even better, the battery was in a right mucky state

View attachment 509642

On closer look, having gone through all the steps above just to the access the battery, the bloomin' thing is exposed to the elements and yes, that is mud inside the bike! On the plus side, if you ever really want to clean your rear shock, you can get to it straight through the battery box...

View attachment 509643

Like the thinking...if the 1250RS was 20kg lighter it would be even more a belter. I fitted a Motobatt Hybrid battery MHTX16 (£141 from Motorcycle Products Ltd to my step) which is a hefty Lithium with a small lead-acid unit inside, all run by a 'brain' that takes care of charging.
Saved 3.2 kg and starting is better than its ever been!

I look forward to seeing what else you can drop...

 

[littleade]

Like the thinking...if the 1250RS was 20kg lighter it would be even more a belter. I fitted a Motobatt Hybrid battery MHTX16 (£141 from Motorcycle Products Ltd to my step) which is a hefty Lithium with a small lead-acid unit inside, all run by a 'brain' that takes care of charging.
Saved 3.2 kg and starting is better than its ever been!

I look forward to seeing what else you can drop...

Thread 'R1300RS SE Triple Black' https://www.ukgser.com/community/threads/r1300rs-se-triple-black.547256/

 

[Katie]

Yep, dropped the whole 245kg! The lithium battery kept throwing up suspension faults and, according to the dealership and BW UK, you can only use a lithium if it's specified from the factory. That's gonna come as a surprise to any future owners but also one of the reasons I now ride a Suzuki...

 

[Larry Langford]

I was told by a BMW dealer mechanic, that if you change from either type of battery, you need to tell the computer (go online with and write to) which type of battery is actually in the bike. He said the charging rates are different for AGM and lithium ...
Lithium seems to be going away now, they have a new sodium type of battery that there shipping in EV vehicles about now. The sodium batteries don't mind the cold and are not flammable and have similar performance to lithium. we will see.

 

[Katie]

I reckon electrical and electronic engineers must shudder when they talk to their BMW dealers

 

[JJH]

BMW were messing around with different battery technology about 33 years ago. Didn’t go down well for them. JJH