R1200RS + R1250RS Forum
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So ahead of setting off on the bike tomorow morning for a long weekend break I went to check it over this evening and horror of horrors, the battery was as dead as a doornail. Admittedly I haven't used the bike in a couple of weeks but was very surprised; never happened before even over winter. I took it right off the bike to try charging but it wouldn't accept any at all (was sitting at about 8V after 2 hrs) ; I phoned BMW Assistance for help; they sent someone out who just confirmed the battery is completely knackered; all they could offer me was to take the whole bike away to get fixed God knows where tomorrow - absolutely not an option! Normally I'd just order a new battery online, but I desperately need to source one first thing tomorrow morning. Worst case scenario would be a 3-hour round trip by car to the nearest Motorrad dealership which I really don't have time for. KC100->CB100N->CB250RS--------->DL650AL2->R1200RS |
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YTX14BS or YTX14H BS are the Yuasa fitments - prefixes may vary with other makes |
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Have a good trip.
“A good man always knows his limitations.”
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Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:17 pm (Last edited: Mon Aug 26, 2019 9:27 pm)
Zitat von wessie im Beitrag #2 Thanks a lot for the advice Wessie I ended up travelling to the above in fact; a bit easier and more reliable given the urgency than having to negotiate the traffic to the BMW dealership in central Manchester, Could find anywhere in my home town, including Halfords, that stocked this battery. Ended up hitting the road 3-4 hours late and highly stressed! But after all the shenanigans the RS and weather performed flawlessly all weekend and UI had a fantastic trip. I'm going to try and recover the cost of the (3rd-party) battery from BMW Assist but won't hold my breath as I expect they'll just say I should have had the bike trailered to a dealer... I'm certain the old battery was a duff one; it was only 2 years old, my bike doesn't have an on-board alarm and the battery never suffered any significant loss of charge, even over winter when little used. The bike's instrument panel tells me it s consistently producing >14V as well. KC100->CB100N->CB250RS--------->DL650AL2->R1200RS |
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Tue Aug 27, 2019 6:28 pm (Last edited: Tue Aug 27, 2019 6:29 pm)
Zitat von Freddyfruitbat im Beitrag #4Well that went as well as expected... except that the justification for telling me to take a hike was that batteries are specifically excluded from the BMW warranty (and sure enough, it's there in writing). Is it just me, or am I unreasonable to expect the battery on a dealer-maintained BMW to last more than 25 months from new? KC100->CB100N->CB250RS--------->DL650AL2->R1200RS |
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Zitat von Freddyfruitbat im Beitrag #5Zitat von Freddyfruitbat im Beitrag #4Well that went as well as expected... except that the justification for telling me to take a hike was that batteries are specifically excluded from the BMW warranty (and sure enough, it's there in writing). they might be excluded from the warranty but that is a contract you have with BMW. You also have a separate contact with the dealer under Consumer Rights Act 2015. Your battery would have cover under CR 2015 but only in as far as what is a reasonable life expectancy of a battery. If you look at the batteries on offer from the link I provided at Tayna, all bar one are guaranteed for a year, including those from top brands. The only 2 year one is Tayna's own premium brand. Therefore, as an armchair lawyer, I do not think you would get a successful claim against the dealer (rather than BMW who have no liability in law) as you had twice what most makers guarantee. What I do not understand is that AGM batteries for cars are often guaranteed for 3 to 5 years. Why does this not apply to bikes? Does life expectancy shrink in proportion to size? |
Zitat von Freddyfruitbat im Beitrag #5Zitat von Freddyfruitbat im Beitrag #4Well that went as well as expected... except that the justification for telling me to take a hike was that batteries are specifically excluded from the BMW warranty (and sure enough, it's there in writing). Interesting that BMW does not warranty a battery in the UK. Shortly before our bikes were 2 years old I asked the dealer to do a load test on our batteries. Both failed the test and we got new batteries under warranty. I believe these now have the two year parts warranty. I don't know if the original battery has a 3 or 2 year warranty.
Lee
2016 R1200RS Iowa, USA |
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Fri Sep 20, 2019 5:45 pm (Last edited: Fri Sep 20, 2019 5:46 pm)
Zitat von Ray B im Beitrag #3 So my new battery is performing fine, but when I plugged in my smart charger the other day I must admit I was alarmed at how far its capacity had apparently dropped after a fairly short period of non-use, and I think I need to do the above check. I assume that all i need to do is disconnect the battery and reconnect it passing the +ve terminal through my multimeter to measure the current? I realise there will always be some current draw (even without an alarm), but how much current would be considered 'normal' amd how much would be 'stupidly high and we have a problem'? Personally I really have no idea whatsoever. KC100->CB100N->CB250RS--------->DL650AL2->R1200RS |
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A few years ago I had a Honda CRV which would flatten its battery in 2 1/2 weeks - I found that out on return to Heathrow after a business trip.
Bridgestone 175 Hurricane Scrambler - Royal Enfield 250 Crusader - Norton Atlas 750 (two, first one stolen) - 25 years - F800ST - F800GT - R1200RS - R1250RT
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I have the bmw charger and that is always connected via the accessory socket and it can seem strange to see 20% 40% 80% charge on the smart screen. |
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The original BMW battery on both my 2009 F650GS and 2007 R1200R failed. The GS failed after only 6 months and the R bike battery failed after two years. Both batteries were manufactured in Germany by Exide. And both batteries were replaced by BMW's 2-year battery warranty. Oddly, Exide only warrants their motorcycle batteries for 6 months. So I give BMW a lot of credit for extending that warranty to 24 months. At least that was the case in the U.S. a few years ago.
Current motorcycle collection: 2002 Yamaha FZ1; 2005 Triumph Bonneville T-100; 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500; 2009 BMW F650GS; 2016 BMW R1200RS; 2018 Zero S 16.6 kWh
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Yes but does anyone know how much current draw is normal on a standard RS, ie and at what point I should be worrying that it's too high and that there's some sort of problem?
KC100->CB100N->CB250RS--------->DL650AL2->R1200RS
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Zitat von Freddyfruitbat im Beitrag #12 If you don't have an alarm, I thought the current drawn (i.e. being used by the bike when it's switched off) should be zero? I could be wrong, and often am (as my wife will confirm). Cheers Paul B. |
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Sat Sep 21, 2019 4:01 pm (Last edited: Sat Sep 21, 2019 4:05 pm)
Zitat von Freddyfruitbat im Beitrag #12 When I had my R1200R, I placed a induction amp meter around the power cable leading to the starter motor and it showed 100 amps while the starter was grinding away. The RS has an alternator with a nominal rating of 500 watts. Personally, I would be surprised if the bike's electrical system draws much more than 100 watts while running under normal conditions. Perhaps your best bet would be that the next time you take your bike in for servicing, ask your dealer to check out your electrical system, if you are still concerned about it. Something else you could try: You could toggle the voltage display on your screen and check your voltage while the engine is running. If everything is normal, you should see 14.2 to 14.4 volts. If you are worried about current draw while the ignition is off, you could check that with a multi-meter, or just swing by your dealer and they should know what power is drained from the battery while the bike is shut down and can check that for you very quickly. I can't recall anyone mentioning the actual power-off draw of the R1200 models. Current motorcycle collection: 2002 Yamaha FZ1; 2005 Triumph Bonneville T-100; 2011 Royal Enfield Bullet 500; 2009 BMW F650GS; 2016 BMW R1200RS; 2018 Zero S 16.6 kWh |
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As I said above, if your current draw when the ignition is off is anywhere approaching 50mA then your battery will be flat in 10 days. So one would hope that the "normal" current draw would be somewhat (much?) less than that. Has anyone had problems starting with the bike left for. say, two weeks?
Bridgestone 175 Hurricane Scrambler - Royal Enfield 250 Crusader - Norton Atlas 750 (two, first one stolen) - 25 years - F800ST - F800GT - R1200RS - R1250RT
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