I was riding solo. Taking an exit ramp to go home the other day, my bike just went dark, dash, engine everything just shut off. Luckily I saved it by pulling in the clutch, and avoided cars around me. Stopped on ramp, checked battery connection. It looked solid. I asked a car to jump start the bike and it fired right up. I went home and slept in peace.
I had a track day today. The night before my track day I checked the bike to ensure it's ready. Everything was good. I get to the track, bike won't start. Battery completely dead. I inspected battery terminals closer, I found out that even the cable with bolt from bike to battery is connected, but the lower bolt nut cracked the battery terminal. Making a twitchy link which causes bike to shut down intermittently. If this happened to me while on the track I can tell you I would not be writing this now.
Do yourself a favor and check battery terminals (not just loose bolts). They crack right in the middle. I'll upload a pic later. Luckily, BMW puts multiple holes around the terminal. I was able to reroute the cable to connect it to the battery. And finished my track days without issues. Figured I would share to spare a life even though the planet is over populated.
See + terminal in pic for failed side.
- side is about to fail. I removed the - bolt, root cause of issue is the expansion of holding bracket. I tightened the bracket again with pliers, ensured not to over tighten the bolt. I put some cartoon on the side to remove any play/wiggle room.
I was riding solo. Taking an exit ramp to go home the other day, my bike just went dark, dash, engine everything just shut off. Luckily I saved it by pulling in the clutch, and avoided cars around me. Stopped on ramp, checked battery connection. It looked solid. I asked a car to jump start the bike and it fired right up. I went home and slept in peace.
I had a track day today. The night before my track day I checked the bike to ensure it's ready. Everything was good. I get to the track, bike won't start. Battery completely dead. I inspected battery terminals closer, I found out that even the cable with bolt from bike to battery is connected, but the lower bolt nut cracked the battery terminal. Making a twitchy link which causes bike to shut down intermittently. If this happened to me while on the track I can tell you I would not be writing this now.
Do yourself a favor and check battery terminals (not just loose bolts). They crack right in the middle. I'll upload a pic later. Luckily, BMW puts multiple holes around the terminal. I was able to reroute the cable to connect it to the battery. And finished my track days without issues. Figured I would share to spare a life even though the planet is over populated.
The material on the box terminals of the oem battery is IMO chicken $hit. Batteries plus replacement battery's box posts are made of brass and it's less expensive than oem yuasa.
Reconnecting the battery at a different opening is a temporary bandaid and eventually since the post is already compromised/cracked, you will have a replay of what happened before. Go ahead and replace your battery now. I also cut and inserted two separate pieces of 2 inch square foam the length of the battery - from post to post - to hopefully eliminate possible vibration/movement. The rider's seat should sandwich the battery securely but, in case it does allow some forward/aft movement, the foam would hopefully minimize it.
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The material on the box terminals of the oem battery is IMO chicken $hit. Batteries plus replacement battery's box posts are made of brass and it's less expensive than oem yuasa.
Reconnecting the battery at a different opening is a temporary bandaid and eventually since the post is already compromised/cracked, you will have a replay of what happened before. Go ahead and replace your battery now. I also cut and inserted two separate pieces of 2 inch square foam the length of the battery - from post to post - to hopefully eliminate possible vibration/movement. The rider's seat should sandwich the battery securely but, in case it does allow some forward/aft movement, the foam would hopefully minimize it.
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I had no errors nothing. Bike just shut off lol scared the $hit out of me.
I noticed play/wiggle room you're talking about. Wondered if that's what cause the terminals to crack. Securing it is a good idea. I'll take it to the dealership and have them replace it. Then I'll put some foam to secure it in place.
Any issues starting the bike in cold temp? How is the fitment compared to OEM? I keep reading different opinions on fittment. Also, I thought about replacement with EarthX battery or Shorai, I found many negative reviews. I figured sticking with OEM is best.
This is a serious issue. Can you imagine the outcome when being leaned over in triple digits or close to red line and bike shutting of? I got lucky, again lol
I did not come cross any posts about fragile battery terminals. Maybe @sro can make a sticky about what core critical things to watch out for on RR.
These batteries are smaller and lighter than oem. Just stick foam strips around the battery to make it sit firmly in the tray.
EarthX is a nice brand. I have had no issues with mine hot or cold. One thing you want in a lithium battery is a balancer built in, which EarthX and Battery Tender both have. Shorai requires an external balancer.
@z00 do you have quick release pins or something for the seat screws or do you just happen to carry a T25 screwdriver with you when you ride? Those seat screws are a PITA to remove.
The bike comes with some tools. I just keep them in the tail. Used T25.
Yes, seat pins suck, mine were stripped, had to replace them at 6k miles. There was a post about using quick release pins, but no final solution was found as far as I know.
Anyone found quick release pins? I would buy in a heartbeat.
I don't have a dog in this hunt as I haven't had any problems yet.
My Hp4 was @ SJ BMW for 6+ months because Pro-Sh_t could not deliver a product. (never do business with them unless you are on the same continent) I was advised on return of my bike to check the battery terminals because it looked like the seat was rubbing/wearing on them. The bike had about 2500 miles at the time. Seems to be a known issue whether you like the messenger or not. :wink2:
If you go with a Lithium battery be sure it has low voltage protection. If the bike for some reason drains the battery past the low voltage point and you don't catch it you have a useless paperweight.
Shorai batteries don't have low voltage protection. I have 3 of their batteries that are completely junk. Their warranty is worthless to protect against this design flaw. Shorai is fully aware of this flaw but chooses not to fix it because they want a competitive price in the market. Even if you do have a design flaw Shorai's warranty does not cover full replacement cost. They don't stand behind their product at all. Of course why would they. It's a cheap Chinese made product.
With a modern bike with computer systems sometimes the computer wakes up from sleep to check various things. You would be surprised how fast a bike with lots of onboard computers can drain a battery just sitting there. You can even drain one by leaving the ignition on. Once you do your battery has to be replaced and is not covered under the warranty.
I have been burned several times by Shorai. I use EarthX batteries with low voltage protection now. Don't throw away your money on a Shorai like I did.
I have been burned several times by Shorai. I use EarthX batteries with low voltage protection now. Don't throw away your money on a Shorai like I did.
I didn't realize EarthX has low voltage protection. I can tell you Battery Tender version does not have it. This doesn't bother me since I can use a trickle charger on it.
My next mods were full system and track seat. Now you tell me I need to get a battery. :wink2:
Yes, I called battery tender and their battery does not have low voltage protection. I have their battery tender charger which works with their batteries. This battery is $70 cheaper than earthX. Wonder how important is low voltage protection. I always plug my battery tender if I work on the bike with ignition on for more than few min.
EarthX has about the same reviews rating (on amazon and elsewhere). I wonder what KTM and Ducati use in their bikes. Anyone knows?
Not disputing your issues, but I have had a Shorai in my S1000R for close to 2 years(i bought the bike used with it in), in that time it has gone flat (due to lack of use and a small parasitic draw from the PDM60 with a 'live' channel) 3 or 4 times. Each time I have put it on the Shorai charger and she has come back to life no problems.
It really depends on how flat the battery goes and how long it stays that way. Just because you can't crank the bike does not mean the charge is low enough to destroy the battery.
When the charge goes down too far however the battery is destroyed. That's why your phone shuts off automatically when the battery gets low. Low voltage protection to keep the cell from being damaged.
This is one of the drawbacks of lithium batteries in general. The rest of the industry that uses lithum technology has enabled the low voltage protection in order to prevent damage to the cells.
Why Shorai puts out a "premium" product with a price tag to match without this type of protection that even a cheap $20 cordless phone has is beyond comprehension. I get the idea that there's not a lot of real engineering going on over at Shorai. Just measuring of battery compartments and comparison of voltage and amperage requirements of the bikes they need to fit batteries in. You can slap a fancy case onto any kind of Chinese made battery packs and apparently idiots like myself will buy into your marketing.
I'm personally not worried about Battery Tender not having low voltage protection. I guess it is a nice feature to have should you happen to leave your ignition on. Lithium batteries hold charge longer than lead acid. Beside, you can use your standard battery tender should you have to store your bike.
I would go with a new battery and seat. They are much cheaper. Beside, you're the one who said our lives depended on it. What if your get a replacement OEM and same thing happens?
One other thing. OEM batteries all suck. A vehicle manufacturer will go to a battery producer and negotiate the best price. You virtually never get a high quality product that way. The battery maker will cut corners everywhere they can to squeeze by a profit and keep the product barely near the quality threshold that the manufacturer will put up with before it makes sense to look for a new vendor.
Consider yourself lucky really. New MV Agusta's are shipped with a new battery that's so bad that they often fail within a month of the bike being delivered to the customer.
Look on the MV forums for owners belly aching about how their "italian exotica" (which is easily outrun by any RR in rain mode) won't start and how they expect so much better with how much they paid. Should have bought an RR. Cheaper faster and better built.
The original battery in my 2014 is fine. It's a street bike so I don't mind carrying the lead weight. I have to say the MV battery is safer. It prevents the bike from starting all together and prevents the issue from happening in the first place.
lol, but I would be dead or very hurt if I did not save it on the street. Or even worse if it happened on the track. I'm gonna contact BMW dealership to see what they have to say about this. @sro I believe you, I called BT before I saw your reply. Looks like Battery Tender is the way to go. I agree low voltage protection is nice to have, but won't affect me as much.
On the flip side of that it was a good learning experience. I won't buy another lithium battery without low voltage protection. Only took me 3 times to finally figure that out.
I spoke to service manager at my dealership. He said there is only one case in the shop with terminals failing. It's covered under warranty but needs to be filed under battery malfunction not just cracked terminal. He said the spacer on top of the battery that most likely causes it to move and crack terminals. He does not know why the battery is allowed to move around and why BMW did not secure it in place.
He said lithium is fine only on RR. Most other BMW bikes (r nine, GS, XR, etc...) have issues with lithium and suggested not using such battery on those bigger bikes. He reused to recommend a specific lithium battery brand because it's not approved by BMW. But it won't void warranty if I bought one. I'm going to get my dashboard replaced, I asked him to keep a spare battery for me in case I did not get a lithium one.
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