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georgej
10-31-2008, 06:27 PM
I took the battery out of my '78R100RS, what a chore this is.I've done it before on my /7 also. I can't believe this was engineered this way.I'm getting a smaller one so I won't have to go through this again.Great bikes,Airheads,but man you would think a simple thing like this would be made easier.Sorry but I had to vent.
George
GlobalRider
10-31-2008, 06:44 PM
You would think a simple thing like this would be made easier.

Well at least we only have to replace the battery every 9th year. ;)
20774
10-31-2008, 06:46 PM
BTDT...I can't seem to make the switch to the other types. I'm a large size, wet cell kind of guy... :dunno With the right kind of battery, it should only be every 4-6 years. I can put up with that...
boxermaf
10-31-2008, 08:44 PM
And consider how many other motorcycles which do not give you these options of bigger/smaller/lawn tractor batteries !

What a hassle to have these choices ! ;)
nealart
10-31-2008, 08:53 PM
Did you loosen the upper anti-vibration mounts and "hinge" back the battery box?
rinty
11-01-2008, 11:02 AM
Just get yourself an Odyssey, or equivalent absorbed glass mat battery. Drops right in, and way better starting performance.

Putting one in my RS was one of the best "mods" I ever did.
SCQTT
11-01-2008, 11:54 AM
German engineers

Solving problems that exist only in their minds while ignoring the problems that must only exist in the minds of their customers.


It is a beautiful thing.
R80andR100RT
11-01-2008, 07:25 PM
I worked in Germany for 13 years. Our joke about their engineering was "Why simple when it can be complicated?"
108625
11-01-2008, 09:20 PM
Just get yourself an Odyssey, or equivalent absorbed glass mat battery. Drops right in, and way better starting performance.

Putting one in my RS was one of the best "mods" I ever did.

I went for the AGM... All of the above, and no more vent (on the kickstand side, no less) of the bike to dribble acid out after a long ride on a hot day.
GlobalRider
11-02-2008, 08:31 AM
I worked in Germany for 13 years. Our joke about their engineering was "Why simple when it can be complicated?"

And despite all of that, it was a real feeding frenzy at the end of WWII, with the Americans and Russians each trying to grab as many German scientists and engineers as they could. :whistle
osbornk
11-02-2008, 09:42 AM
I had about 10-12 UJMs before I got my first BMW and their battery problems on several were worse than with my BMWs. Some needed a battery almost every year and some took a specialty battery that was very difficult to find.
PGlaves
11-02-2008, 10:47 AM
Since we don't like German engineering, we could get some of the real good products now available from China, Taiwan, India, Korea, and Vietnam.

Not to mention General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, and Harley Davidson.

Sheesh!!
Polarbear
11-02-2008, 02:49 PM
I would not dismiss any of our Far Easterners, as most all of them are doing a fairly good job rubbing our noses in IT...Yep, they were generally junk a few years back, but are catching the engineering bug so quickly, we are loosing this war:(. My daughter has become one of our latest "Aereospace Engineers" out of The Univ.of AZ.,Tucson and she is a VERY small minority in engineering in the USA population! It mostly all comes from foreigners nowadays and Far East ones!!!Randy"Polarbear"PS; She rides a BMW too....Hehehe F650 and loves it:). MOA Member, yes:).
pffog
11-02-2008, 03:24 PM
Most here can probably remember when made in Japan meant cheap junk, now they are one of the world leaders in Quality and value.
GlobalRider
11-02-2008, 03:34 PM
Most here can probably remember when made in Japan meant cheap junk, now they are one of the world leaders in Quality and value.

You can thank William Deming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming) for that. Can't blame him though. The US didn't want to listen and in a nice way, sort of gave him the boot.
lkchris
11-03-2008, 08:19 AM
Engineers at GM these days don't have much to do, as company has suspended all development work. A fresh bunch of engineers there might be the best idea in any event ... assuming GM can spare the funds from paying UAW's outrageous salaries for unskilled workers.
GlobalRider
11-03-2008, 05:25 PM
Assuming GM can spare the funds from paying UAW's outrageous salaries for unskilled workers.

Yup, unions shooting themselves in the foot. And they wonder why jobs are going elsewhere.
MotorradMike
11-03-2008, 06:44 PM
Great bikes,Airheads,but man you would think a simple thing like this would be made easier.Sorry but I had to vent.
George

It's OK to vent.
Just keep in mind that the job at hand has your attention and is where you want all the engineering to be at that time. Airheads are beautiful simple machines. Remember how easy it is to change spark plugs? Some cars require engine removal for that!

It's all about compromise. I think BMW gets most of it right, most of the time.

That's good enough for me.
dduelin
11-03-2008, 07:18 PM
You can thank William Deming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming) for that. Can't blame him though. The US didn't want to listen and in a nice way, sort of gave him the boot.Plus we bombed their industrial base to ashes in '44 and '45. It's nice when you can rebuild with new machine tools, steel mills, factories, and Allied financing and folks like Deming. We Americans had to keep what we had in the 1940's and hope the owners made capitol investments in new technologies. Some did and some didn't.
PMonk
11-03-2008, 08:01 PM
I think that German engineering is as good as any, The ride, handling and brakes on a BMW are top notch. I just wish they would go back to simple easy to maintain by the owner designs like my air head. But be honest, how many people would buy a 50 HP air cooled motorcycle with all the high tech Japanese competition.
GlobalRider
11-03-2008, 08:45 PM
But be honest, how many people would buy a 50 HP air cooled motorcycle with all the high tech Japanese competition.

60 HP! I would have bought a 2004 BMW R100 GS Paris Dakar if they were still made. Instead, I had to settle for a 2004 BMW R1150 GS Adventure. Some of us couldn't care less about some silly HP race.
PMonk
11-05-2008, 06:20 PM
I was thinking more along the lines of a /6.

But the answer to my hypothetical question is " I would!!!!!"
26667
11-05-2008, 07:36 PM
you can remove the air box and slip the big battery out that way or loosen the frame bolt where the grab handle is and let the back of the frame slip down slightly and pull the battery up thru the frame.

I fought w mine, too till I got some help from the forum. The battery always came right up and out thru the frame of my '82 so I ASS-umed it was the same.