[ChopperCharles]

It should be simple to remove the battery cables and install a harness for heated gear. It's not though! Getting the battery out is a bit involved. Both side covers, the battery cover, several holding straps and the bolt above the rear master cylinder reservoir all have to come off. then the battery can slide out enough to get a wrench on the positive terminal. That's easy enough. It's the negative terminal... the moment the bolt comes out, the nut in the terminal falls out of the battery and down into the depths of the relays and crap under the left side cover. And gets stuck behind a relay. And that little nut is stainless steel and non-magnetic.

Because of the angle of the bike, it's physically impossible to reinstall the battery without dropping the nut like 17 times and inventing at least four new curse words. I put electrical tape on the side of the terminal to keep the nut from falling back out. That worked... but there is a raised plastic area under the terminal in the stock battery, which keeps the nut from sitting flat. It sits angled, and it makes starting the negative battery terminal bolt neigh on impossible. I had to take it all back out and roll up some electrical tape into a tiny little tube, and shove it under there to keep the nut level. Took me 2 hours to install a cable for heated gear, instead of the 20 minutes I expected.

Ah well. The joys of DIY

Charles.

 

[fastersons]

It’s super frustrating. All the electronics are compacted into a tiny compartment! I changed my battery to a lithium one and was angry during the entire process lol

 

[flatrack]

I recently removed my battery. Removed both side covers, seat, battery side bracket, plastic cover, rubber straps...Had to lift ECU to unscrew negative terminal, then unplugged and removed ECU. I accessed the battery terminals from the top using a Phillips screwdriver, then slid the battery out the side. Probably 15 mins total. Do your battery terminal bolts not have Phillips heads?

 

[gallam03]

Haha...true story!!! I've got some electronic stuff coming in and I decided to wait to do them until I have them all just because it's such a pain.

 

[Rokrover]

Yep, just been there, done that with some excitement thrown in!

Since my SCR950 might be languishing for a while while I play with the new TW200 I thought it’d be a good idea to hook up a battery tender. Never messed with the battery before since it’s a maintenance-free sealed unit and hidden out of sight. Now I discovered first hand easy battery terminal access is definitely not a feature of the SCR950.

So off with the side panels, toolbox, trim, ECU cover and even then I couldn’t just slide the battery out. Naturally I removed the ground lead first and left it hanging while I worked on the plus side. Big mistake - the ground wire flexed back to contact its terminal just as my wrench on the positive nut touched the frame. ZAP - I was briefly blinded in a spark shower!

I finally got the pigtails permanently attached for the battery tender then checked the 40A main fuse after having shorting the battery in my noobosity. It was still intact so no harm done, other than to my pride. Mr. Murphy read his law to me again as reminder - “If something can go wrong, it will.”

 

[Krixtoph]

Yikes! Thanks for the forewarnings about the battery being a pain to get at. I've got a battery tender on the way from the dealership I bought my bike from (they threw it in as a deal sweetener but it was backordered ). Anyone have any more hindsight advice on getting at the battery?

 

[ChopperCharles]

Yeah. Do your electrical connection once. Don't attach a battery tender pigtail, and then go back and attach a pigtail for heated gear, and then go back again and attach another power lead to run an air horn. And then go in again to wire a cig lighter or USB power adapter. Instead, run a fused (30A) power lead to an accessory fuse box ($9 from Advance Auto), and then wire your individual pigtails to the new fuse box. There is plenty of room under the seat to mount this. It makes the addition of a new accessory SO much simpler, and keeps the battery wiring tidy and neat.

Charles.

 

[Krixtoph]

Yeah. Do your electrical connection once. Don't attach a battery tender pigtail, and then go back and attach a pigtail for heated gear, and then go back again and attach another power lead to run an air horn. And then go in again to wire a cig lighter or USB power adapter. Instead, run a fused (30A) power lead to an accessory fuse box ($9 from Advance Auto), and then wire your individual pigtails to the new fuse box. There is plenty of room under the seat to mount this. It makes the addition of a new accessory SO much simpler, and keeps the battery wiring tidy and neat.

Charles.

Superb advice! That makes so much sense but I never would have thought of it lol. Glad I asked. Thanks Charles!

 

[Mellowrider]

My dealer hooked my charger cable up for free when I bought the charger.

 

[OpenRoad]

Maybe if you're chummy with the local dealer, they'll help you install the accessory fuse box so you don't have to go through the harrowing process.

 

[Narm_Greyrunner]

Wow. I hooked up a power outlet for the handlebars today and what an exercise in frustration. Everything with the battery is impossible to access. I'm so glad I wasn't trying to take it out.

So much different from the V Star where you can get to the battery in a minute.

Did it really have to be this complicated?

 

[eddie]

Could be worse. I hated working on early Suzuki Intruder batteries.
They were located in front of the rear wheel, up under the bike and held in place by a trap door.
The cables weren't long enough to allow one to attach them to the battery while it sat on the lift/ground.
Then one had to support the weight of the battery while putting the trap door bolts back in.

It may have also been that bike that had the ignition box bolted to the underside of the seat.

 

[PNWSCR]

Yeah the battery’s kinda hard to work with. Idk why they decided to do it like that? Who knows ....

But just wanted to throw this out there the original owner of my SCR shorted out the bike accidentally touching one of the battery posts to the frame sliding it in/out and it fried the rectifier (I believe? Or the Regulator) I cant remember exactly but I know a new one from Yamaha fixed the problem.
So just a little warning when messing around down there.

 

[srinath]

Could be worse. I hated working on early Suzuki Intruder batteries.
They were located in front of the rear wheel, up under the bike and held in place by a trap door.
The cables weren't long enough to allow one to attach them to the battery while it sat on the lift/ground.
Then one had to support the weight of the battery while putting the trap door bolts back in.

It may have also been that bike that had the ignition box bolted to the underside of the seat.

Yea Intruders are a huge PITA. I also don't like ignition in any weird location really. That right in front on the triple clamp should be standard. I have had ignitions wear and let the key slide out. That position should pretty much be standardized, as should things like battery, headlight bulb etc etc access. Like one of those Porsche (Cayman I think) has the battery under the passenger seat. It has a jump terminal under the hood, but getting the battery out means you have to pull 1/2 the interior apart. Of course putting the battery under the seat is nothing new for germans, VW beetle had it under the rear bench as well.

 

[striking_balls]

Superb advice! That makes so much sense but I never would have thought of it lol. Glad I asked. Thanks Charles!

And thank you for doing that!!!