A newbie needs a little help

[ncbeemer]

Hello all,

I have been lurking around this board since Aug. 07 when I purchased my 04 boxer after a 20 year hiatus from motorcycles. I am officially in my mid-life crisis and enjoying it greatly. I have learned a good deal about my bike from reading the posts here.

I few weeks ago I was going to go out for a ride and discovered that the battery had gone flat. Before realizing that I could recharge the battery through the power socket or the positive battery post on the side of the bike, I removed the tank to remove the battery. The battery was a BMW Exide battery that was a little over 3 years old. I took it to a local battery dealer who checked it out and said it still had some life in it. Since it was 3 years old, I had let it go flat by neglecting it for 3 weeks and since it is such a pain in the arse to change, I went ahead and bought a new Odyssey battery. I also picked up a Battery Tender Jr.

What is the best way to hook the Battery Tender to the battery? Should I hard wire the permanent mount ring terminals that came with the tender to the battery? Should I use the alligator clamps on the battery post on the side of the bike? If so, where is a good place for the ground clamp? Or should I get some type of adapter for the power socket to charge through?

Also, after getting the new battery installed and putting the bike back together, I cranked it up only to find that I had a fuel leak at one of the disconnects. This is not a surprise after having read multiple posts here about the frequency of these failing. So now I am in the market for some replacement disconnects. Are the chrome plated brass disconnects from Beemer Boneyard the replacement of choice? I have seen them referenced multiples times on this board. If so, do I need to get the kit including clamps and extra O-rings for $79.95 or just the disconnects for $40.95? Is this something that I can tackle myself? I am no mechanic by any stretch but can usually handle repairs if I have decent directions. My nearest BMW dealer is over an hour away and their labor rates are pretty expensive. I would like to do it myself if possible, but don't want to mess around with something like this unless I'm pretty sure I can get it right.

Thanks in advance.

[Boxer]

Vann is in Asheville. He will ride over and help you.

The battery can be charged through the accessory outlet. There is an SAE adapter that connects to the Battery Tender Junior on one end and into the BMW accessory outlet on the other end. Get that adapter and all will work fine. The problem with the Odyssey AGM battery, is it needs a bigger charge capacity than the tiny .75 amps that the Tender Junior offers. It will work but not as effectively as a nice big charge with a charger putting out something close to 10 amps. The Battery Tender Junior is very effective at keeping the OEM lead acid battery up to speed as long as it stays hooked up when the bike is not ridden.

Your fuel QDs' tiny rubber o-rings may have just been exposed to air too long. Get some new ones and the connectors may go back together better. Put a small amount of Vaseline or Silicone grease on them before shoving together. But first make sure its the connectors leaking instead of the clamps. The clamps go first!

[MikeCam]

A small deviation from Boxer's post.

The Odyssey battery requires an initial charge from a 4-6 amp charger to get it fully into the 13.6-14.4 volt range (90-95% full charge). It has to do with the chemistry of semi-solid electrolyte and the dispersion of the charged electrons throughout the AGM suspension (deep charging). Your battery probably came out of the box at or around 13.6 volts. Once it is charged to that level by the big charger, the BT Jr will do a fine job of maintaining it. If you use it religiously, the charge should never fall below the starter power draw threshold and will likely remain in the optimum range.

I would use the permanent battery terminal adapters (fused 10 amps)) and route the pigtail to a convenient location out from under the tank.

[wncbmw]

Sounds like you have gotten better advice than I could have given! My attitude on things like the fuel clamps, is that it is always better to spend a little extra extra while things are apart and not have to worry about doing it again later. And yes, like a lot of things, a little lube makes things easier!

Mike's point about the power outlet is something I didn't know. I use the power outlet but have been keeping it on charge all the time this winter.

He will ride over and help you.

Pray it doesn't come to this! Talk about the blind leading the blind!

Hopefully, you get things back together, then you can ride up here and we can ride!

[challey]

ncbeemer wrote:
. . . I cranked it up only to find that I had a fuel leak at one of the disconnects. . . So now I am in the market for some replacement disconnects. Are the chrome plated brass disconnects from Beemer Boneyard the replacement of choice? I have seen them referenced multiples times on this board. If so, do I need to get the kit including clamps and extra O-rings for $79.95 or just the disconnects for $40.95? Is this something that I can tackle myself? . . . My nearest BMW dealer is over an hour away . . . I would like to do it myself if possible, but don't want to mess around with something like this unless I'm pretty sure I can get it right.

You can absolutely do the job yourself. I used the chrome-plated brass QD's from http://www.omega.com/ and have been very pleased. Other guys have used the ones from Beemer Boneyard and been happy. I think this is really a case of 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. You will need 4 fuel-injection type clamps and the extra o-rings will probably come in handy, so that's an argument for ordering the kit from Beemer Boneyard. If you want the Omega's though, the part numbers are (you will need 2 of each):
FT-LCD170-05 Brass Coupling Bodies
FT-LCD220-05 Brass Coupling Insert
You can get the clamps from most auto part stores - they are 12.5 - 15mm, which equates to about 1/2-9/16 inches. Just need to make sure that they are screw-type FI clamps. The cost from Omega, including shipping was about $70. Add the cost of the clamps and you're pretty close to the Beemer Boneyard kit.

As far as doing the job, you may not need to remove the tank; I did not but others have had to. There is an plastic cover over the QD area that can be removed and that may give you enough access. After getting the cover off, you first need to pull the QD's apart - there will inevitably be some fuel in the lines, so you should have something to catch it. You will next need to get the old Oetiker clamps off - this can be a bit of a challenge. I was able to get an awl underneath and make enough space to then get the jaws of a pair dykes under the band. Then its on to getting the old QDs off the hose - another slight challenge. I was able to carefully pry the QD body with a medium size screwdriver and move it just a bit. This allowed me to then slip a small screwdriver between the barb on the QD and the hose. The combination of continuing to slip the screwdriver and twisting the QD finally got things apart. Be very careful with this. The fuel line is connected to a hard plastic line at its distal end. You don't want to put much force on the plastic pipe when getting everything apart - it's a costly part that you don't want to have to replace. Since you probably have Oetiker clamps here too, you may want to replace these as well (same size as the others). You also need to be aware of the orientation of the QDs and keep this the same for the replacements. If you do one line at a time, this won't be an issue since each line is opposite of the other. Finally, make sure you have the clamps in the right place (they need to be past the barb on the QD but not at the end of the hose) and don't overtighten the clamps. Snug is enough, they don't need to be super tight. Be especially judicious when tightening the clamps used on the plastic pipe if you do replace these - the barb does most of the work in keeping things together, so the clamp doesn't need to apply a whole lot of tension.

It's not nearly as hard as it may first appear - just work slowly and carefully. I'm sure that there's info with pictures in the archives here, so a little search might be in order.

Charlie

[towerworker]

A small deviation from Boxer's post.

.

I would use the permanent battery terminal adapters (fused 10 amps)) and route the pigtail to a convenient location out from under the tank.

+1

Sounds like you and I have nearly identical bikes. I too have the dark ferro blue 04. I used the fused pigtail that came with my Tender Jr and routed the plug just outside the frame on the left side of the bike. Works well and is a neat install.

Wayne

[ncbeemer]

Thanks all for the excellent advice. I am going to order the QD kit from Beemer Boneyard tomorrow. I am also going to wire the permanent mount ring terminals to the battery which means pulling the tank again. It will probably make the job changing the QDs easier anyway. Despite the excellent advice from those replying to this post and found elsewhere on this board, I would like to have some instructions on replacing the QDs. Does the kit from Beemer Boneyard come with instructions? My Clymer book also lacks instructions on this procedure.

Is there anything else I should consider doing while I have the tank off? I just recently had the 10K mile service done last fall at the BMW dealer so I am good on any maintenance type items. I am going to purchase a GPS soon but was planning on using the power socket to power it.

Another thing that I have been putting off is getting some cosmetic damage on the tank repaired. The previous owner dropped the bike and his wife made him sell it. I was going to hold off doing anything until I dropped it, but that hasn't happened yet. Thought now might be a good time to get it fixed if I am going to. So what do you think? Get it fixed or keep the character marks?

Here are some pictures of the bike including the damaged tank....

removed (bad link)

[bikermeow]

Hiya, there is any easier mod (and in my view way cooler) mod to go to install an easy charge for the bike. Fix a positive point to the starter, there is about 4 parts you need to get from BMW, but the job will be well worth it; the positive point will be mounted at the starter cover, and all you need is to open a hole on it for the point. Let me know if you need help and I will search for the thread on it. The positive point is stock on the later bikes.

Cheers

[towerworker]

I think all the 04's have the charging post on the starter cover. (at least all the one's I've seen do)

ncbeemer----give me a call some time and I will be happy to talk you thru the QD's. Best time to catch me is after 7pm or anytime during the weekend. 540-294-3325

btw---tried your link to your pictures---didn't work.

Wayne

[AndyRR]

The other things you could do with the tank off would be replace the fuel lines (easy) and the fuel filter (slight pita). The fuel lines on my '02 started to shrink and leak in the cold weather last winter. If you aren't much past the 10k mark don't worry about the filter unless you have to remove it to have the tank repaired.
I eliminated the QDs on my bike altogether. First I replaced them with hose barbs until the lines started leaking, then I just ran the replacement hose straight through. I'm not saying that was a good idea, it just seemed like a good idea at the time. If I want to install QDs later it will be easy to do.
Use the search feature on this site and you will find excellent instruction on almost any maintenance item on your bike.

[Boxer]

Re: Using the BT Jr. to keep an Odyssee battery up. All I can say is I used the BT Jr religiously on my first PC 680, and it died a premature death. After reading the "poop" sheet about charging on the 2nd one I don't trust the BT Jr. on it. I just use it on the F650 lead acid battery these days. I am relying on the robust PC 680 to hold its charge through down times, then when the tank is off I charge it with my 6 amp charger.

[ncbeemer]

Sorry about the link. Here are the pictures of the tank.

[towerworker]

Buy a tank bag. You'll forget about the little ding.

Plus the tank bag is worth it's weight in gold in usefulness.

[challey]

Wayne wrote:
Buy a tank bag. You'll forget about the little ding.

And if don't bother getting it repainted, you won't have to worry about getting few little cosmetic scratches on your tank from the bag either . . .

Charlie
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has limits." -- Albert Einstein

[ncbeemer]

Hello all,

I installed the new disconnects from beemer boneyard today. Wasn't too bad. Hardest part was removing the Oetiker clamps and the old disconnects. After prying and pulling on them with a flat head and some pliers for 45 minutes or so I had them off. Piece of cake putting the new disconnects on. Took it for a quick spin and everything seems to be working nicely. I also wired the permanent mount ring terminals from the Battery Tender Jr. to the battery and tied the plug off to the frame on the left side of the bike just below the tank. Easy access to keep that battery charged from now on.

Good timing on getting it back together. Going to be 60 degrees in my part of the Carolinas tomorrow. Time to hit the road.

Thanks again for all the help.