Is a battery charger pigtail a standard item on a new Concours?

[dzywicki9209]

I bought a 2022 Concours at the end fo September. I ordered a battery tender pigtail charge cable to put on since we are approaching winter in Norther VA. I took the battery out today and was going to install the cable I bought and then I realized there was already a cable shoved into the battery area. It had an optimate/kawasaki sticker on it. Very nice cable, even has a weather proof cover on it. The only weird part is that the negative terminal was not connected to the battery. I got the negative lead connected and put it all back together and routed the cable through a small opening at the bottom of the fairing. Good to go now.
Is that a standard item on a Concours or something the dealer would have put in?

Charge cable
Installed

 

[texas.devops]

Interestingly enough, I've never pulled my battery out to look to see if my '21 has it too. Now you've given me a mission for the week DZ. LOL

I'll open up my battery box and see what's inside. Maybe I have one too but just never saw it before. I've got a tender that I rcv'd as a present, but it's still in the packaging because I ride at least a couple times per week unless it's hurricane raining.

 

[S Smith]

One did not come with my 2011 and I do not see it on the 2022 parts diagrams.

 

[lather]

I have seen that some of the dealerships have installed charger pigtails on the floor stock, I assume it is to keep the batteries from going dead since many of the bikes sit for months.

 

[chrismpero]

I have seen that some of the dealerships have installed charger pigtails on the floor stock, I assume it is to keep the batteries from going dead since many of the bikes sit for months.

^This^

 

[4bikes]

My 2011 came with the pigtail adapter installed. It was then super easy for them to sell me the charger.

 

[texas.devops]

Ok, just checked and it does not appear that these are factory. Like others suggested it’s highly probable that they’re dealership items for keeping showroom stock charged.

Mine came out of the crate, and had a fresh battery charged overnight while my paperwork went through.

I didn’t want to pull all the wiring out and have to reset everything just to pull the battery sled all the way out.

 

[dzywicki9209]

Interesting. Thanks for that picture. Whoever put the cabling in mine did not do a very good job. I should have taken a picture. The top part of the plastic tray was all kinds of stressed. I finally figured out whoever put the battery in, had the + terminal connected pointing the wrong way. And the negative cable was definitely not routed the same way as in your picture. I turned the + terminal the right way and at least the plastic top part would snap to the bottom all the way. Looks like a weekend project.
The first picture I linked to (battery terminal) shows the + connection as it was when I pulled the battery out.

 

[4bikes]

This isn't the first time I heard of a dealer putting the battery in backwards. Looking at the photo reminds me of the old days. My EarthX battery is so much smaller and 80% lighter, I needed to use the foam fillers they provided to fill the space. It came with center mounted terminals which made the installation simple. The dimensions for the larger cold and peak cranking amp battery compared to the original battery is 5.9" L x 3.4" W x 4.5" H. I'm in my eighth year with this battery. I would keep Lithium batteries in mind when these wear out after 3-4 years.

 

[Murph]

Would be a great and cheap feature for the OEMs to do, hard wired right into the harness

 

[connie_rider]

Interesting. Thanks for that picture. Whoever put the cabling in mine did not do a very good job. I should have taken a picture. The top part of the plastic tray was all kinds of stressed. I finally figured out whoever put the battery in, had the + terminal connected pointing the wrong way. And the negative cable was definitely not routed the same way as in your picture. I turned the + terminal the right way and at least the plastic top part would snap to the bottom all the way. Looks like a weekend project.
The first picture I linked to (battery terminal) shows the + connection as it was when I pulled the battery out.

Look at Texas photo. On his you can see the plastic tray/cover that fits over the top of the battery.
Your battery seems to be missing that plastic cover.
Suspect that being backwards, the cover wouldn't fit. ((??))

Ride safe, Ted

PS: Not sure when you got the bike, but that error should be pointed out to the dealer.
Possible fire hazzard.

 

[fartymarty]

I know some tout the weight savings of the smaller lithium batteries, I personally think that in the big picture of an almost 700lb bike that it's sort of
a minuscule amount saved. Weigh yourself, then empty your bladder and weigh yourself again. Wow what a weight loss.

I'd much rather that they had just made the lithium replacement battery the same size dimensionally as the stock battery and increased it's amp hour rating. Sure the Lithium battery has a lot more (+90) cold cranking amps than the stock (320 vs 230) but what are the chances of needing that on a motorcycle?....just how often do you plan on starting your bike when it's 10 degrees F?
I submit (with my admittedly limited knowledge) that the amp hour rating is more important (12.4 ah vs 14 ah) for us (well, most of us) than cold cranking amps just because CCA are most important in starting very cold thick oil engines. What we need are more amp hours, so that when we forget to turn off the ignition (and thus the headlights) when we stop to get a cup of coffee that there is at least a better chance that we will still have enough battery left to get the bike started when we return to it. The stock acid flooded Furakawa battery has 14 AH and the lithium has 12.4 and the AGM Yuasa has 12ah. It is this opinion of mine, that causes me to be so in favor of the Furakawa FTZ-14 BS stock battery.

I really wish somebody more knowledgeable than I would come along an convince me otherwise (with facts and knowledge) because the Furakawa batteries are getting more difficult to find and more expensive. Anybody know of a physically larger Lithium battery (at least 14 ah) that fits in our bikes?

 

[connie_rider]

Marty, not a Lithium, but more Amp hours/cranking amps can be achieved by installing a std. 16 series battery in your C-14.
Not sure if it does as much as you're asking for, but you get more of each, and it costs approx. $200 less than the Lithium.

Also found a Lithium at the time. See post #48 for battery comparison.

(In another discussion) We posted several 16 series batteries that will fit.
The one I installed was the Yuasa GYZ-16H. Later, others discovered the Motobatt 16 series.
Because it has 4 posts, the Motobatt seems to be a better choice.

16ah series battery. Will it fit a C-14

Was looking at Yuasa batteries and came across a 16ah series. I seem to recall that someone discovered them previously and used one? They are the same dimensionally, unsure of weight, but higher Ah and CCA. Battery post locations are correct. Are shown to fit our bikes. Are they a equal or...

forum.concours.org

Ride safe, Ted

PS: Just found this. We'll need to check the dimensions but its a possibility and look at the Ah/CCA!

Arghhh! Too tall.

Motobatt MBTX16U 12V 19Ah AGM Battery

Check out the deal on Motobatt MBTX16U 12V 19Ah AGM Battery at BatteryMart.com

www.batterymart.com

 

[fartymarty]

Marty, not a Lithium, but more Amp hours/cranking amps can be achieved by installing a std. 16 series battery in your C-14.
Not sure if it does as much as you're asking for, but you get more of each, and it costs approx. $200 less than the Lithium.

(In another discussion) We posted several 16 series batteries that will fit.
The one I installed was the Yuasa GYZ-16H. Later, others discovered the Motobatt 16 series.
It seems to be a better choice.

16ah series battery. Will it fit a C-14

Was looking at Yuasa batteries and came across a 16ah series. I seem to recall that someone discovered them previously and used one? They are the same dimensionally, unsure of weight, but higher Ah and CCA. Battery post locations are correct. Are shown to fit our bikes. Are they a equal or...

forum.concours.org

Ride safe, Ted

Thanks for the link, I forgot about that thread. It fits well in this discussion too.

Yes that Yuasa with 16AH looks pretty good. So did you dremel your cover?... or did you order the GEN I battery cover to get it to fit?

 

[connie_rider]

I just dremelled the cover.
I have no time now but I think you can find a Motobatt that may fit a bit betetr / has 4 posts / and possibly more CCA.

 

[4bikes]

What we need are more amp hours, so that when we forget to turn off the ignition (and thus the headlights) when we stop to get a cup of coffee that there is at least a better chance that we will still have enough battery left to get the bike started when we return to it.

Don't forget that Lithium batteries last much longer, don't corrode, and tolerate high heat. In addition, the EarthX has an onboard battery management system that does at least three things. It balances the cells during charging, prevents over-charging and most importantly if you leave the headlights on as you suggest, the battery will go into over discharge protection mode. It will have enough juice left to start after resetting the BMS. No matter how many amp hours your battery has, if left on long enough, it will go dead. Totally draining batteries damages them, and is likely catastrophic to a lithium which is why I believe the BMS is needed on them.

 

[dzywicki9209]

Look at Texas photo. On his you can see the plastic tray/cover that fits over the top of the battery.
Your battery seems to be missing that plastic cover.
Suspect that being backwards, the cover wouldn't fit. ((??))

Ride safe, Ted

PS: Not sure when you got the bike, but that error should be pointed out to the dealer.
Possible fire hazzard.

My battery has the plastic cover and it was inserted the right way. That picture was taken after I took it out to figure out why the plastic cover wouldn't go on correctly and that's when I figured out the +terminal was put on facing the wrong way.