Connection for Battery tender

I have a 2009 R1200R
I want to connect a battery tender to my bike.
Where is the 'positive' , on the motorcycle body for the connection.

Thanks,
M Khan

The positive post on battery under saddle.


Most folks add the short tender lead to the battery and leave the tail where you can reach it. It has a two prong sae connector which the name brand Battery Tender also has on the output lead. If your tender does not have this connection, you can either swap it to one or add the BMW powerlet style plug and plug tender into your accessory socket on the saddle edge and frame area.

Leads to battery

You can use the same plug in for your small air compressor or for jump starting heaven forbid!!!

wrenchbender said:

You can use the same plug in for your small air compressor or for jump starting heaven forbid!!!

Click to expand...

I have two, one w/out a fuse for jumping on bikes I cannot get to the battery easily. . The tender fuse is only a 15amp I believe.
At least it's easy to get to the battery on the R12 than the R1150.

Battery tender

I think I did not put the question clearly: I am looking for a "positive" hookup on the motorcycles chassis. For example the BMW R1200C has a button near the left intake manifold to attach the positive terminal of the battery tender..

Is there a a similar "button" where I can attach the positive terminal of the battery tender , so that I do not have to remove the tank to get to the battery.

Thanks
M Khan

mindsoma said:

I think I did not put the question clearly: I am looking for a "positive" hookup on the motorcycles chassis. For example the BMW R1200C has a button near the left intake manifold to attach the positive terminal of the battery tender..

Is there a a similar "button" where I can attach the positive terminal of the battery tender , so that I do not have to remove the tank to get to the battery.

Thanks
M Khan

Click to expand...

I believe that "button" was tied to the starter solenoid where a direct hot lead from the battery connected. I don't know if the R1200R had/has such a connection. I do suspect that the starter wiring is similar, so, if the lead to the upper post on the starter solenoid is hot all the time as on earlier bikes, then you could connect here.

Yeah, no positive post like the Oilheads option coming through starter cover, tied to starter solenoid terminal.

Did not transfer over as a choice on the 12R's. Would have saved me some trouble at times on a particular R12R I am familiar with

You have to remove saddle or install the lead mentioned on a 12R.

I am assuming you have alligator clips to deal with?

You do not have to remove tank to access battery either

A couple of comments: your R1200R has an AGM battery which doesn't match up well with the battery tender jr. Make sure you pick a product that trickle charges at 13.8V. CTEK has a charger that's a good match.

Asking about the location of the positive terminal suggests it might be a good idea to get some help with the installation, just a thought.

henzilla said:

Most folks add the short tender lead to the battery and leave the tail where you can reach it. It has a two prong sae connector which the name brand Battery Tender also has on the output lead. If your tender does not have this connection, you can either swap it to one or add the BMW powerlet style plug and plug tender into your accessory socket on the saddle edge and frame area.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure this is right.

Isn't the standard BMW accessory socket going to tie into the Canbus system? I was under the impression that you cannot charge the battery through a BMW accessory outlet unless you use a special ($$$) BMW only battery charger that can navigate the Canbus. To charge the battery with a "regular" charger (such as those made by Battery Tender) the connection should go directly to the battery.

I think a better solution is to either connect the charging circuit directly to the battery terminals (as you mentioned) or to install a fuseblock (such as the Centech AP-2...http://www.centechwire.com/Auxiliary-Fuse-Panel-AP-2.htm) which has both "constant power" (connects directly to the battery) and "switched power" (connects to the battery through a relay)...for charging the battery you'd want to use a "constant power" circuit that connects directly to the battery. You could then add a "female" Powerlet outlet to one of the "constant power" circuits on the fuseblock and permanently mount this to the bike. Then you'd have a fast way to introduce any accessory needing direct connection to the battery, including an inexpensive Battery Tender.

FWIW, Powerlet makes a cable with a "male" powerlet connection on one end and an SAE connector on the other. Connect the SAE plug on the Battery Tender to the SAE connector on this Powerlet cable and you have a very quick and positive way to make a connection to the battery or fuseblock.

Post #2 sae plug allows you to plug any powerlet adapter into it. We use them all the time with either powerlet or cigarette lighter style sockets.
I have fuseblocks on a few bikes, but for charging it's the sae pigtail direct to battery.

Have both the 05 era bmw block charger and another older bmw charger...both have worked on CANBUS equipped bikes. My 05 RT was the only one that was finicky about using the front fairing outlet...had to do the key on handshake.

I have an 09 R1200R and I put the pig tail right on the battery and route it out the left side with a couple zip ties. The pig tail is fused so it is safe.

WARNING - If you are not experienced at wiring, get some help before tinkering with the battery posts.
There is a lot of current there, so you ALWAYS take the negative (black) lead off before touching the positive (red). You don't want to be doing any arc-welding by accident.

As for the Tender JR, I can't answer that, I have a Plus which seems to work fine, but seldom need it as I get to ride all year.

Dear M. Kahn,

You're close enough to me that a nice ride to the NJ shore would get you to my garage, where we can hook up your charging cord. It is possible to run the positive down to the starter positive terminal as Paul Glaves suggested - there just isn't a factory supplied connection there. It would probably be simpler to wire it directly to the battery unless you have lots of other accessory leads going there already.

If you do have lots of other accessory leads at the battery - then a FuzeBlock (built in relay for switched circuits, and ALL the circuits can be switched or unswitched) would be in order. A Google will turn up lots of suppliers. That would allow you to eliminate all the in-line fuse lumps, and centralize your electrical connections. Power for the coil on the relay can be obtained from the diagnostics plug which is right in the same area.

Let me know if you're interested via a PM, and we can setup a time. If you wanted to do it next week on Weds (Nov 11th) you could always come over in the afternoon, and then plan on attending the NJ Shore BMW Riders meeting afterwards.

Us R1200R owners gotta stick together.

BTW - to the person who suggested using this lead for jump-starting, the 15A fuse in the circuit will instantly blow since the starter can consume 100A or more when cranking the engine over. Look at the size of the wire going from the battery down to the starter, you'll get some idea of the load requirements of a jump-start cable.