I recently bought a taller battery, similar in size to the Westco 12V30AMP. Stock screws for the battery hold down are too short so I was getting ready to order the longer screws from beemer boneyard. But there is an additional problem of the coolant reservoir hold down. The stock battery hold down has a rubber bushing that fits over the coolant reservoir. With the taller battery the bushing does not reach down to the reservoir so the reservoir will be bouncing around unless I secure it with tie downs or maybe look for an extension to the bushing. Before I order the screws and get creative with the reservoir I though I would ask to see if anyone has already found a good solution for this. 


thanks,

Before you go down that road check have you space for the tray that goes under the seat....it houses electronics. My instinct is that the space is not there, unless there have been changes in battery heights?

I bought the battery before checking but luckily it does fit beneath the seat and electronics.

Most K bike battery trays are dual, meaning they are stepped and you can use either the 12V20P or the 12V30 (Westco part numbers) battery sizes. They're both just about the same height but the 'smaller' dimension battery fits the electronics and hold-down apparatus better since it sits a red pubic hair lower in the battery tray. I've just checked, have both part numbers on the shelf, and sure enough the narrower 12V20P, but ample enough battery, is about 8mm lower than the 12V30. There's your clearance.

I found that the Motobatt MTBX30U was a smidgen too tall for my outfit, so I made a stepped battery strap to keep the same SS screws and retain the fit for the coolant bottle.

 I've got another Motobatt for the solo, but I haven't fitted it yet; (too busy camping) I expect I'll have to make a new strap or a spacer for the rubber coolant bottle holder. 

Paul.

For longer screws I used threaded rod and then cut a second hold down rubber in half and glued it to the original.

Slightly off topic.

I replaced my battery with a battery from a ride on lawnmower.

I took my original battery into a battery store that also sells yard equipment and the guy said take a look at these. 

The replacement cost of my original was about $250 and the lawnmower replacement $60.

It is almost the same dimensions, admittedly it is an art to wriggle it between the frame but once in there, no problem.

This was two years ago and it is still cranking fine.

I should also qualify that I live in a hot climate, almost never ride in the dark and the bike is in storage 5 months including winter, I don't know how it would hold up with lights, heated grips etc in cold weather.

And I have fitted LED running lights, I do not ride with the headlight on so the draw on the battery is minimal.

Bigsax wrote:Slightly off topic.

I replaced my battery with a battery from a ride on lawnmower.

I took my original battery into a battery store that also sells yard equipment and the guy said take a look at these. 

The replacement cost of my original was about $250 and the lawnmower replacement $60.

It is almost the same dimensions, admittedly it is an art to wriggle it between the frame but once in there, no problem.

This was two years ago and it is still cranking fine.

I should also qualify that I live in a hot climate, almost never ride in the dark and the bike is in storage 5 months including winter, I don't know how it would hold up with lights, heated grips etc in cold weather.

And I have fitted LED running lights, I do not ride with the headlight on so the draw on the battery is minimal.

I also did that when my battery packed up in the rural west of Ireland on a Friday. I also took it into the ride on lawnmower place and put it on the counter with a meek 'would you have something like this'. He reached under the counter and put up a dimensionally identical battery. At the time €50.....Never a problem with it, ran lights etc no problem. I would do the same again.

Its worth knowing this if you get caught somewhere rural miles from a BMW dealer or any motorcycle dealer.

I can't seem to keep batteries for more than four years before they go belly up.
Just this week changed to a battery that was supposedly an equal of the one that failed.
Not quite so! The new battery length was shorter which wasn't an issue but it was about 1 to 2 cms taller.It does fit under the fuel computer but didn't fit snugly over the radiator expansion bottle nipple.
So I bent the battery bracket ever so slightly, the RHS where it fits over the rubber nipple and this would have worked out except the bracket screws were a little short. I then looked at the battery bracket on my to be restored 85 RS and it was different enough to allow the battery bracket screws to work on the 87 RS.
Long story short, bend the RHS of the bracket ever so slightly to capture the top of the nipple on the radiator expansion bottle. If necessary buy or fabricate longer screws for the battery hold down bracket.
Shep

I ended up buying the longer screws from Beemerboneyard. Just $5 for the pair.After using the screws to clamp the bracket down the distance from the top of the reservoir to the bushing is less than I thought it would be. I will probably either bend the bracket or glue in a spacer rubber of some sort.

thanks for the suggestions.