How do you jump start an RT?

[BobbyDuhon]

At the BMWMOA rally in Vermont I foolishly turned the key one notch too many and left the parking light on all night on Friday. To my dismay and chagrin the battery was down enough to prevent starting on Saturday morning (I was staying at the Woodstock Inn so the "charging station" at the Rally was not an option).

 

We tried SAE connectors between our truck battery and the powerlet outlet, direct connction to the battery terminals, etc. but to no avail. Of course, my Battery Tender was laying on the counter in the shop at home.

 

I even tried searching this and other sites, but could find no advice to help me get the beast started. Can anyone out there help me in case this happens again?

[Boffin]

Connecting a charging source to the powerlet for 10-15 minutes will usually get enough life into the battery to start the bike. Failing that on some '04s there is a connector under the seat just behind the tank with a black plastic cover over it. This is connected to the battery +ve terminal for jump starts. If your bike does not have one, they can be retrofitted. Or, you can, very carefully and at your own risk, use a screwdriver to connect a jump to the +ve battery terminal from under the seat.

 

Andy

[Davis]

Nothing special about jump starting except getting to the positive battery terminal. You can install a socket under the seat if you anticipate needing it often. Other options are to connect to the hot terminal on the starter or a screwdriver against the battery terminal. If you had good connections between the truck and the bike battery terminals and were unable to get it to start, there was likely something else going on. It's possible you drained the battery to the point it wouldn't recover, but I would still expect you could have jump started it, just not hold a charge afterward. You did have the sidestand up and the clutch in when you tried to start it, didn't you? When things go awry sometimes we forget things that are normally second nature to us.

[bmwmick]

Bobby,

I wanted to add one of these connections to my R1100RT and have now done so. Here are the part numbers for anyone who wants to add one to their bike. Total parts cost is about $19.00

 

61 21 7 671 334 (Angle Piece)

61 13 7 672 395 (Protect. Cap)

61 13 7 671 354 (Connector)

 

There is also a new Ground Connector on the rear of the left head on the newer bikes but the older bikes do not have this raised casting with the tapped hole. I figure a good ground connection is not as difficult to find as the positive connection.

 

Mick

 

All this was posted here but it got deleted. Go to the bmwmoa site for the details and pictures.

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4384&highlight=jump

[madmanbob]

A good alternative to this problem is to fit an LED rear light bulb and an LED front parking light bulb. I have done this on both of our 1100Ss and the power drain is tiny compared to the standard bulbs.

The only problem on some bikes might be that the ABS would think it had a bulb failure, but I am sure that there is a wise person on this forum who could get around that one.

[wolcott]

<Hijack> Last winter I got one of those jump start terminal connector kits for my '98 RT with a gel battery. It fit fine and I thought I was all set for awhile (especially since I noticed that the battery was stamped 2004). Shortly after I installed it, I started getting ABS light faults, and learned through this group that it was a sign of a failing battery. Went to the highly recommended Odyssey PC 680 and I could not retrofit the jump start connector kit to the Odyssey. I have my Odyssey mounted upright with one copper adapter terminal bracket from A &S Cycle on the negative terminal. 1)Anybody have any luck retrofitting the jump start connector kit to the postive battery terminal on the Odyssey?

[flars]

You have to get enough oomph into the battery to start up the Motronic (i.e. the fuel pump starts up), or else you won't ever get it to start.

If you DO have at least that much power, you can pull the starter cover and attach the positive jumper cable directly to the starter solenoid (the big red wire from the battery). Turn the ignition on, and then just touch the negative to a good ground and it will kick over.

[bmwmick]

You have to get enough oomph into the battery to start up the Motronic (i.e. the fuel pump starts up), or else you won't ever get it to start.

If you DO have at least that much power, you can pull the starter cover and attach the positive jumper cable directly to the starter solenoid (the big red wire from the battery). Turn the ignition on, and then just touch the negative to a good ground and it will kick over.

 

FL,

That only works on the GS and RS models.

 

Mick