R1200RT charging question

I recently bought a 2005 R1200RT and am new to the bike. On my 1996 R1100RT I could plug my BMW Brand charger in to the accessory port to keep the battery fresh. When I do this with the 1200 it does not take the charge. The port works for my GPS when the bike is turned on. Is there some better/different way to attach the charger? Do I have to do th pigtail thing direct to the battery?

Thanks,

Jerry

garlicbreath said:

I recently bought a 2005 R1200RT and am new to the bike. On my 1996 R1100RT I could plug my BMW Brand charger in to the accessory port to keep the battery fresh. When I do this with the 1200 it does not take the charge. The port works for my GPS when the bike is turned on. Is there some better/different way to attach the charger? Do I have to do th pigtail thing direct to the battery?

Thanks,

Jerry

Click to expand...

Of course you're misplaced in the Oilheads section as you have a Hexhead ...

To charge via the power port you need a special charger that will wake up the Canbus to connect to the battery. The system disconnects the power ports shortly after the ignition is turned off.

This is covered in the owners manual.

Early Hexhead accessory ports can usually be "turned on" by turning on the bike's ignition (but not starting the motor), then connecting the charger to the port, then connecting the charger to the 120v wall socket, then turning off the bike's ignition.

I got tired of that dance, and hard-wired an SAE connector (with an inline fuse) directly to battery. This connection is also useful to plug in the small air compressor for tire inflation; the compressors usually draw more current than the Can-Bus circuit will tolerate passing through the accessory port. I also have a one-circuit relay (triggered by a tap on the green wire to the bike's diagnostic plug) that feeds an onboard Heat-Troller for my electric gear.

Thanks for the input. I've done the hard wired port that came with the BMW charger. Sorry for posting on Oilhead. I just bought the Hexhead on Saturday, after having an Oilhead for years, and have not fully adapted to the change.