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Battery failure question on Wetheads

beemermyke

beemermyke

New member
Any of you Wethead owners have to replace the stock battery at a relatively early age? My 18,500 mile / ridden 2.5 years 2016 R1200GSA wouldn't crank this morning (it would power up, and the starter would engage for only a split second). Seems kind of soon for it to go out, but I think the stock BMW battery on my old R1150RS suffered a similar early fate years ago. I'm hoping it's just the battery; I have a bike trip to the NC/TN mountains in less than two weeks!

Early last year I had a similar starting issue on this bike and while the tech at the dealer did detect an above limits parasitic draw, he was never able to actually find the culprit. He did a software update on it (only because he noticed it was due one), and that fixed the problem. I'd much rather it be a dead battery than another electrical gremlin issue.
 
beemermyke said:
Any of you Wethead owners have to replace the stock battery at a relatively early age? My 18,500 mile / ridden 2.5 years 2016 R1200GSA wouldn't crank this morning (it would power up, and the starter would engage for only a split second). Seems kind of soon for it to go out, but I think the stock BMW battery on my old R1150RS suffered a similar early fate years ago. I'm hoping it's just the battery; I have a bike trip to the NC/TN mountains in less than two weeks!

My dealer replaced the battery on my 14RT after less than two years because of a group of faulty batteries that were manufactured in my bikes time frame even though I never had any issues with the battery. On the other hand the stock BMW battery in my 04RT lasted for ten years.
Click to expand...
 
The battery was replaced on both of our 2016 R1200RSs when they were less than 2 years old.
Both sounded like they were cranking fine but they failed a load test.
The replacement was covered by warranty.
 
Talked to my dealer in Jacksonville, FL and I am about six months past the warranty on the battery. They had the factory battery in stock, but also offered Yuasa and Motobatt (AGM battery) as well. Anyone have experience with those? I'm an Odyssey fan and have bought a few of those for BMWs, but I couldn't find a record of it for my particular application. I don't have much faith in stock, and I'm willing to look at other options.
 
beemermyke said:
Talked to my dealer in Jacksonville, FL and I am about six months past the warranty on the battery. They had the factory battery in stock, but also offered Yuasa and Motobatt (AGM battery) as well. Anyone have experience with those? I'm an Odyssey fan and have bought a few of those for BMWs, but I couldn't find a record of it for my particular application. I don't have much faith in stock, and I'm willing to look at other options.
Click to expand...
I've been a Yuasa user for years, never had an issue. The average life was five to seven years.
 
I replaced the battery in my 2015 in about 1 year (under warranty). My dealer and I had a few words whether/not it was a warranty issue. I prevailed. My travails are covered in another thread on this website. Replacement battery (BMW-branded) has lasted for about 3 years now. (Knock on lots of wood). When this one needs replacement, I'll look (again) for an AGM that will fit.
 
I replaced the original battery on my 2014 R1200GS at 3 years and 28,000 miles. It failed a load test somewhat earlier. I replaced it prior to a trip even tho it was still performing satisfactorily in local riding.

I considered going to YUASA but was warned that some have experienced a fitment problem with other than the "BMW" battery. The fit is very snug. Perhaps I'll be more adventurous at the next change.

If you are changing one for the first time, be aware that there is a pin beneath the battery that prevents easy slide-out. Lift the battery a bit, then pull.
 
The OEM battery in our 2008 K1200GT lasted 8 years. I replaced it because it was old, not that it was having any problems.

The OEM battery in our 2016 R1200RS is now 3 years and 3 months old and cranks the bike right now.

I keep a charger on each of our bikes and so far it has paid off. I am using SEARS DieHards that are WIFI capable.
 
Replacement Battery

I just replaced my battery on my 2016 R1200RS. This bike has sat a lot. I purchased it with 1600 Miles. 4 mos ago. I looked around a lot as I too like the Odyssey.
Finally settled for an AGM from Scorpion YTX14. This is a bit larger than stock in height if your GS is like most BMW of this vintage I have seen it has a styrofoam base under the battery that allows a larger height battery.
Generic battery number is:YTX-14BS. Good news is they are cheap. Think I paid less than 50 bucks delivered.
Gator
 
My 2016 went through 3 batteries (including the original) in 20 months of owning the bike. All covered under warranty. The dealer couldn’t find anything wrong with the charging system.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Two weeks ago the battery died on my 2016 R1200GS with 25K miles after two years and five months. Installed a new BMW battery.
 
2016 GSA with 107,000 miles / 34 months still has the OEM battery, cranks every time. Never had it on a tender. Ran it flat once (user error) but got a jump and ran it down the highway & back 120 miles to charge it.
 
I don’t know if bmw has problems with the batteries they’re delivering in the Wetheads, mine is only a year old but it’s fine. I did learn on my Oilheads, each running Odyssey AGM batteries, that one of the keys to long battery life is keeping it fully charged.

Although the Oilhead’s alternator won’t fully charge a PC680 it can be modified to do so. The Wethead’s alternator is correct for AGM batteries. The same is true for a battery maintainer, it must have the right charging voltages, if not you’ll do more harm than good.

I searched and can’t find any voltage specs on the Diehard WiFi nor do I see an AGM mode (and it’s not in the approved list for Odyssey) so I wouldn’t use it without measuring its charging and holding voltages first.
 
I now have a 2016 1200RT & my battery will drag if I let it sit for a week or so. My last bike I put in a lithium battery & will probably do so again. Not sure why the 1200 batteries don't seem to last long? Could be a higher compression = harder cranking = higher strain on a battery?
 
bobsguns said:
I now have a 2016 1200RT & my battery will drag if I let it sit for a week or so. My last bike I put in a lithium battery & will probably do so again. Not sure why the 1200 batteries don't seem to last long? Could be a higher compression = harder cranking = higher strain on a battery?
Click to expand...

I have had this unit (https://tecmate.com/products/optimate6a/) for a few years. When my 2008 RT was not being ridden or on a long trip, it was connected by a SAE pigtail to this unit. For the past 3.5 years and 31,000 miles my 2015 RT has had the battery maintained under the same conditions. A friend who is a chemical engineer has told me that the key number for a battery is the Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), and that what I'm doing makes no difference, however. YMMV, as we say.
 
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