2010 Fe 450 battery cover do I really need it?

LadyBerg · Mar 15, 2011

I got my NEW 450 home to the frozen NORTHland of MN last night and decided to wire up a battery tender lead as I do for all my bikes. It's a real pain removing the fuse box/relay/other elect bits to pull the cover off and get at the battery terminals. Man is it tight in there!

I was thinking about zip tying off all the electrical bits to the plastic subframe, adding velcro to secure the ignition module to the fender plate etc. and do away with the fussy cover. Anyone try that? I also have the perfect sized waterproof map pouch that I could lay on top of this mess and protect it from the seat. Any ideas?

Thanks!

cypher · Mar 15, 2011

On mine - optimate 4 charger - i've just attached the bottom lead in he picture to the battery and then it coils up and sits nicely between all the other electrical bits.

charging is just a case of pulling off the seat and pluging in.

might be simpler than moving everything around if you can get a lead to fit your charger

LadyBerg · Mar 15, 2011

Cypher, I did wire up a lead to the battery terminal just like you show.

But I still think it's pretty jammed in there and so I removed the plastic battery cover plate. My question is...to run without the cover.

fejoe450 · Mar 15, 2011

I have never worked on a bike where things fit so tight, but with some time, I was able to get a battery tender lead (with ring terminals and fuse included) on the battery. I spliced a piece of wire, ran that along the frame up to the front of the bike, and reconnected the battery tender"charging head" back on. I can now run my GPS and my ICO from this lead, at days end I unplug the GPS and plug the battery charger in, lifes good, I've been using this set-up since last fall, no problems. Make sure that you keep polarity correct since you are splicing in two different spots. Hope I didnt get to far off the topic about running without the cover, but once this is done, there is no need to get back in there.

LadyBerg · Mar 15, 2011

I have never worked on a bike where things fit so tight, but with some time, I was able to get a battery tender lead (with ring terminals and fuse included) on the battery.

I do the same thing but was able to squeeze my lead in between the subframe rail so I'm all set. But I tied up the elect junk, added velcro to hold the ignition down, slapped a plastic sleeve on top of everything and put the seat back on. Shouldn't be any issues. Just wish I could put a tool kit under the seat...like my old BMW R100S. But hey I'm dreamin here aren't I? :roll:

the_viking · Mar 15, 2011

I was frustrated at this area also, but I'd fear too much vibration into those parts if you tied them to the sub-frame. No scientific evidence, just a gut feeling.

Now that I've done it once, I think pain has been dealt with and it'll be fine next time. Same with the gas tank and adjusting the freakin' throttle cables...

LadyBerg · Mar 15, 2011

Viking, actually I tied things together and not too the subframe, it was pretty easy. I just can't see the benefit of the plastic plate thing.

berger · Mar 15, 2011

I never bothered with the lead on the 09. I just remove the seat and clip straight on the the battery. It's just not worth packing in the additional wiring.

Davo · Mar 15, 2011

I used a weatherpak connector on the end of some 4mm wire. I use it both for Battery Tender when at home and charging my Iphone when in the bush.

DeeG · Mar 16, 2011

I wired mine up similar to Davo, but I connected the + lead to the power relay and the - to chassis ground. That way when I change the battery I don't have to disconnect and reconnect these leads again. But I agree, it is very tight in there.

If I were doing it again I would follow fejoe450's advice and use one wire for my GPS and my battery tender. Then I would only have one extra pair of wires to cram in there instead of two. I wired my wife's ATV that way and it works slick.

Search

Search

2010 Fe 450 battery cover do I really need it?

LadyBerg

cypher

LadyBerg

fejoe450

LadyBerg

the_viking

LadyBerg

berger

Davo

DeeG

Similar threads

Register CTA

Recent Discussions