The good, the bad...

[Reno]

"So I got my bike yesterday on a rare 50+ sunny November day.  Went out on a familiar 200 mile loop to scuff the tires and break her in.  Everything is great.  Then I stop to fill the tank, jump back on and "low battery" and then no battery.

I tried to jump start and it would run for a few seconds but it just wasn't charging. ?

Called the dealer and had them pick me up.  We'll see what they have to say later today."


Well I got a new battery with tender lead out of them.  Hopefully that will be my last service for a while.

At least I got a ride in to verify that this is the right bike for me.  I love it!

[Daytona_Mike]

Best practise and advise is to check and clean (really well) the ground connections

[maxtog]

Yep... probably nothing wrong with the battery at all and is just a loose connection.  We have seen it a zillion times across a zillion threads on the Forums.  It is a rite of passage with Concours owners to experience it.

[VirginiaJim]

More than likely sitting in the showroom it just went bad.   But on this bike you really need to keep an eye on the connections.  Even if you can't see any corrosion, it's there and it's enough to affect the charging.  I clean mine at every oil change.  They also have a tendency to work loose, especially  on the stock battery.

[Awaz]

I had my negative batt terminal wire come lose couple times. Once right after my incredible valve check.

[O.C.]

All of the above are words of wisdom, based on experience

Terminals.......keep em clean, keep em tight     

[Rhino]

Dealers quite often have marginally skilled people assembling the bike out of the crate in a hurry. Battery connections is just one of the possible casualties from this practice.

[PlaynInPeoria]

I have had terminals come loose multiple times, probably from 2 things

1) Me being scared to overtighten them and not tightening them sufficiently

2) I have at least 3 things on the positive battery terminal. The actual OEM connection, heated gear and a line to my horn relay.

[kzz1king]

I have been thinking of peeling back the insulation and soldering some pigtails to hook the battery tender to. My positive comes loose and that is what I attribute it to.
Wayne

I have had terminals come loose multiple times, probably from 2 things

1) Me being scared to overtighten them and not tightening them sufficiently

2) I have at least 3 things on the positive battery terminal. The actual OEM connection, heated gear and a line to my horn relay.

[VirginiaJim]

Are you positive about that?

[Reno]

Thank you for the feedback.  I'll keep my eye on it.

[maxtog]

Are you positive about that?

Hardy, har, har....

[gPink]

Hardy, har, har....

....Always with the negative waves, Moriarty.

[O.C.]

Shocking     

[maxtog]

Shocking     

Amazing

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=81.0

[Conrad]

Back in the day dealers would install the battery backwards (mine was). Not hooked up backwards of course but mounted backwards. I wonder if they're still doing that?

[VirginiaJim]

It wouldn't surprise me..

[O.C.]

It wouldn't surprise me for some dealers to mount them upside down      

[martin_14]

It wouldn't surprise me for some dealers to mount them upside down      

[lather]

My 09s battery was mounted "backwards". It still is. A friend of mine bought a Shorai battery for his BMW RT and decided not to keep it and offered it to me. I looked up the part number on the Shorai site to see if it would fit any of my bikes and was amazed to see it fit the Concours 14. So I took my friends offer of the free battery. But when I installed it I discovered the  terminals were on the wrong side. So I installed it backward!