Gel Battery Installation Help

[BradfordBenn]

Hello All-

Well my battery is acting wonky, so I purchased a new Odyssey gel cell. So tonight I started to install it and I found a problem. It does not seem to have any lugs. I checked the box, and it comes with bolts but they bolt in flush to the top. No biggie I thought.

Here is the challenge, the ground wire (-) on the RT has the stud/bolt as part of the crimp on. So there is no way to bolt it down. Do I just cut off the bolt stud and drill a hole in the crimp; then bolt it down to the new battery.

Seems to be a little drastic to me. I went to the local auto parts store and they did not seem to have an adapter.

Here is a picture of the basic problem:
http://www.bradfordbenn.com/images/RT/BothBatteries.jpg

Is there something I am missing :dunno

[MCohen]

Here's an adapter that A&S Cycles sells for the Odyssey battery: http://www.ascycles.com/detail.aspx?ID=1356

Michael Cohen

[dbrick]

Or you can go to your junk barrel or hardware store for a 1/2" x 4" galv angle bracket, enlarge one hole, drill another, and cut it with a hacksaw to an appropriate length. Then put it in a vise, and hit it a few times with a hammer to bend it a bit less than a right angle. Bolt it right up.

Been on there since 1999, now on Odyssey #2.

[Easy]

What was Odyssey's explanation for not sending you the adaptor?

Easy

[sportridertex]

My Odyssey is all orange, why not yours?

[mcollect]

I just did the mod. I took a short piece of copper pipe, flattened it in a vise, bent it, and drilled the holes. Ten minutes.

[lkchris]

Is there something I am missing

Buying a battery made for your motorcycle.

[rgvilla]

I just installed an Odyssey AGM in my R1100R, they sent me the adaptor and bolts that you bolt into the top of the battery so you can attach your positive and negative cables. I'm surprised they didn't send you the same package. Came in a little plastic sandwhich bag type container, sure you didn't miss it in your shipping box? If not call them they should send it to you.

[mcollect]

It depends who you buy the battery from, the Ebay folks are around $40.00 cheaper then dealers and don't send the adapters. Only a few places send adapters along without asking for them and some don't even have them.

[pcsof8]

shuda gota yuasa, they have the best hook up I've seen.

[norton]

You really don't need adaptors for the battery. Mount it sideways facing to the left with the + on top. Use the bolts you have or received and capture the correct wire in the correct lug. The battery doesn't care if it's mounted sideways and it works fine that way. It does make it easier to jump start another vehicle this way.

[davidsharpe]

I had the same problem with the battery when I installed my last Christmas. I took out my trusty pliers and modified the existing battery terminal until it fit on the new battery. It's still working.

[Burnszilla]

My Odyssey is all orange, why not yours?
Motoryclists complained about the ugly all orange battery so, they started making a black based battery.

[Burnszilla]

bmw posts: http://www.odysseybatteries.com/accessories/bmwposts.htm

[BradfordBenn]

I did a little modification at the office on some copper buss we had for the amplifiers. Figure if it can handle 200V 4000W it should handle the motorcycle no problem, and then decided to order the ones from A&S.

I called 'Stich and they did not know about the adaptors. They were not in the box. I am real careful about that.

And it is the battery called out as the BMW Battery in their catalog. There is no local dealer that has the battery, or a similiar one that would fit.

I have a Yuasa in the VFR but wanted to go gel for the RT since it is such a pain to do battery checks on it.