BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

While I was waiting for my 600 mile service to be complete on my '15 R12RT I went long on the official charger that should be used to prevent damage to the onboard electronics. I used a trickle on my '07 for 5 or 6 years with no problems but I drank some BMW Cool Aid that morning and brought into it anyway. There were no directions with the bike or the charger. I would imagine the bike would have to be on while the charger was initially connected but will the accessory plug stay connected to the battery after the system shuts down?

In the Rider's Manual, (page 142), it looks like you just plug the BMW Battery Charger into the Aux. Socket & away you go,
no need to switch the ignition on/off to open up the electrical system.

"Use suitable BMW chargers. The suitable charger is available from your authorised BMW Motorrad dealer.

Charge via the charging socket, with the battery connected to the motorcycle's on-board electrical system.

The motorcycle's on-board electronics know when the battery is fully charged. The on-board socket is switched off when this happens."

WHAT???


Am I supposed to connect a £15k+ bike that's less than year old to a battery conditioner???


The only time I've ever used one of these contraptions was on my Stelvio, when I was overseas for weeks at a time.  All it did was fry the battery.


Since then, I've relied on actually using my bikes for their intended purpose to keep them fit and healthy...


:not: :not: :not: :not:

Instead of going through the gyrations that you have to do to use the on board socket I have an attachment directly on my battery. I just plug in when I park the bike in the garage. Its simple to do and keeps the battery charged and exercised.


There are several threads on this topic on other boards. Try the BMWMOA forum or the BMW Luxury Touring forum. Lots of opinions, who is right, I dont know, I just know what works for me.


Bud 

If you have the latest BMW charger you just plug it in and forget.  No need to switch the ignition on.  The charger will tell you when it finds the bike and it switches off when the battery is fully charged.  It then continues to monitor the condition.  On some of the older bikes it was necessary to turn on the ignition to open the canbus but that problem was solved a few years ago.

Budman wrote:There are several threads on this topic on other boards.

http://www.1200rt.com/index.php/topic,1169.0.html

Just waited 12 days for FC-Moto Germany to deliver my Optimate 4 which:


1. firstly not impressed with their communication, they ignore emails
2. The spec information alludes to there being a plug in to BMW auxiliary which I have found out is an extra and did not come with it
3. The advert I read about Optimate 4 states it comes with it


I had always been impressed with their service, but not anymore