Battery tender

[Norfsyder73]

Good evening. As I stated a few weeks ago, this is my first BMW motorcycle. I went on Amazon to buy a phone charger and a battery tender adapter. The phone charger fits fine in both ports on the bike. The battery tender adapter has a completely different connection on the end. They seem similar but the tender connection is clearly shorter. I’ve looked on several websites for a tender adapter like the phone charger, but they all seem to be the same type of tip on the end. Where can I purchase the correct tender wire?

 

[BigJimSlim]

Does your bike have a pig tail connection off the battery? Many dealers will add that as they set up the bike. I use that for my tender on all three of my bikes and never had an issue.

If you get a Battery Tender Jr or whatever it’s called, it comes with a connector to mate with the pigtail.

 

[Norfsyder73]

No pig tail connection. I’m returning the connector to Amazon tomorrow. I’m probably gonna just add the connector to the battery posts. I just like the way the bottom port is set up for the original tender.

 

[Rufus]

Good evening. As I stated a few weeks ago, this is my first BMW motorcycle. I went on Amazon to buy a phone charger and a battery tender adapter. The phone charger fits fine in both ports on the bike. The battery tender adapter has a completely different connection on the end. They seem similar but the tender connection is clearly shorter. I’ve looked on several websites for a tender adapter like the phone charger, but they all seem to be the same type of tip on the end. Where can I purchase the correct tender wire?

There’s loads of detail on the forum. Hit the search button. Use the DIN socket already on the bike, that’s what it’s there for. The bike runs a CANBUS electrical system (you’ll have to Google that to read about it) but the gist is ordinary battery chargers won’t work unless you run a wire directly to the battery (the pigtail in the last post). I use an Optimate4 CanBus edition, others the BMW charger. Think you have other options in America too. There’s always ones for sale second hand if you don’t want new, forum members advertise them too. You should find a solution that works for you.

 

[Norfsyder73]

Yes, I agree. I prefer using the DIN sockets. I guess Amazon doesn’t have everything! LOL!! Winter is coming fast and even though my bike is garage kept I would like to keep it on a tether. Thanks

 

[Rufus]

I would recommend that you do use a tender. Especially if your bike has any sort of alarm or immobilizer on it. They cost pennies to run and really are plug in and forget. Don’t forget to keep your key fob away from the bike because they ‘talk’ to one another and that runs the battery down, including the small one in the fob. Buy a spare fob battery, a Duracell or a some other decent make so that you can swap it out at the first sign of any issues.

 

[BER18 100]

The optimate4 battery charger is the recommended tool for the R18. It’s a smart charger. Less than $100. I use mine intermittently

 

[Norfsyder73]

Thanks! Send me a link to where I can purchase one.

 

[BER18 100]

Norfsyder, I bought mine from the local BMW dealer. I think you might pay less on Amazon.
It’s called “Optimate4”

 

[Rufus]

Just make sure it’s the CAN-BUS one, (BMW compatible in other words). I bought mine a couple of years ago but it should look something like this. Study the picture, it’s got two programs, 1) as a normal charger 2) as a Canbus charger . About £75 ish…..

 

[Norfsyder73]

Thank you! I live in Delaware on the East coast. Our winters get pretty harsh even with the bike being garage kept.

 

[johndeeredr]

For those like me who already have a Battery tender , I found an easy way to hook up the tender adapter leads directly to the battery without the hassle of removing and installing the battery . Part of removing the battery is to disconnect the positive cable connection below the main 40 amp fuse . All I did was to connect the positive lead from the tender adapter right there and the negative lead to the battery . No need to remove battery. Works perfect .

 

[Star-Lord]

I guess if using alligator clips to charge the battery, you can clip on to the (+) Jump terminal and the (-) Ground terminal located under the RHS cylinder head.

 

[johndeeredr]

Should work just fine .