Supercub battery cover

[bryanchurch06]

Whoever designed the battery cover on this bike was a masochist, I wonder what harm would be caused by either modifying it by cutting around the battery connection to expose the screws more or leaving it off entirely, as I see it the main purpose is to hold the battery in place, I think I could make a strap to accomplish the same thing, anyone who's modifying this yet?

 

[m in sc]

lol. it is a terrible design. suggestion, fit a thumb screw to the front main cover... because, you cant get to the tool kit w out the battery working. and if the key gets left on... well, you see where this is going. angie did that once. what a motherfker.

i got the cover inside sorted, only use 1 of the screws, right side top. however, you also will need to mount the fuse box if you decide to remove it. you def could trim it down.

 

[bryanchurch06]

lol. it is a terrible design. suggestion, fit a thumb screw to the front main cover... because, you cant get to the tool kit w out the battery working. and if the key gets left on... well, you see where this is going. angie did that once. what a motherfker.

i got the cover inside sorted, only use 1 of the screws, right side top. however, you also will need to mount the fuse box if you decide to remove it. you def could trim it down.

I will take some pics, it's a little different on the 22 model, good suggestion on the thumb screw. Replacement cover is 7 bucks so not that bad if I don't like mod, my fuse box is under the cover, as you can see in the diagram I am going to remove the 2 hoods above terminal connection

 

[bryanchurch06]

I also do not have the 2 connectors on the cover as shown in this diagram, dealer may have left them coiled up?

 

[bryanchurch06]

I will take some pics, it's a little different on the 22 model, good suggestion on the thumb screw. Replacement cover is 7 bucks so not that bad if I don't like mod, my fuse box is under the cover, as you can see in the diagram I am going to remove the 2 hoods above terminal connection

I meant couplers instead of connectors

 

[Coldrider]

Battery cover on 125 Trail isn't any better than Supercub apparently. As the Trail will be sitting all winter long I disconnected the negative terminal of the battery and that battery cover
is way overkill. Never did get the cover completely off but did manage to access the negative terminal. Will hook up a trickle charger next.

 

[bryanchurch06]

Battery cover on 125 Trail isn't any better than Supercub apparently. As the Trail will be sitting all winter long I disconnected the negative terminal of the battery and that battery cover
is way overkill. Never did get the cover completely off but did manage to access the negative terminal. Will hook up a trickle charger next.

Yep I'm starting to think the bike can live without it, just gotta figure out a strap to support battery

 

[Kev250R]

My 990 KTM has it's battery under the engine. Hard to access, requires removing the stock three-piece Skid Plate. Was actually one of the reasons why I upgraded to a solid, one-piece skid plate on that bike.

I know it's not a bike but Porsche Boxster's are another vehicle with an awful battery access design. In that car the battery lives under the hood, under a plastic cover which is easy to access...as long as the battery has enough left in it to release the electronic latch which opens the hood. After sitting for about a month with the dome lights on (for at least part of the first day or so of it's slumber I'm guessing) the battery was dead (~4VDC). There's no external way to charge or jump the battery in that car, however the Engineers did include a pull-out tab in the Fuse Box under the dash for just such a scenario. Unlock the Driver's door with the key, pretzel yourself under the dash, remove (then loose) the fuse box cover, extend the special tab, connect the positive lead from a Jump Box to the tab, connect the negative lead to the door hinge, then you can activate the electronic latch which opens the hood and allows access to your dead battery. Replaced the battery and now when it sits for more then a couple of weeks I keep it plug it into a Battery Tender. Oh, and I never use the Dome Lights!

PT Cruisers are another 'what were they thinking' design. The last time I did a battery in one of those I think I had to take-out the airbox and/or one of the headlights. Crazy.

 

[MisterB]

The plastic on all these bikes is sub-optimal, but it's here to stay.
My wife rides the Super Cub and we recently went out to ride after a couple weeks off and the battery wouldn't turn the starter. Fortunately the Super Cub is pretty easy to pop start: I put it in 2nd and slightly depressed the shifter to get it in neutral, pushed it down the driveway and let go of the shifter.
Put an SAE socket on for the battery tender to keep it from discharging hugely.
The whole battery experience is certainly a buzz-kill. Every step of the way there's no room, screws to fall into oblivion, and you finally pull out something that probably wouldn't start my riding mower.
But IMHO the fun we have on these damn things far outweighs my annoyance with plastic. Really wish I'd figured out how fun little bikes are when I was younger. Now I'm old and broken down and can't go nearly as crazy as I'd like.

 

[bryanchurch06]

The plastic on all these bikes is sub-optimal, but it's here to stay.
My wife rides the Super Cub and we recently went out to ride after a couple weeks off and the battery wouldn't turn the starter. Fortunately the Super Cub is pretty easy to pop start: I put it in 2nd and slightly depressed the shifter to get it in neutral, pushed it down the driveway and let go of the shifter.
Put an SAE socket on for the battery tender to keep it from discharging hugely.
The whole battery experience is certainly a buzz-kill. Every step of the way there's no room, screws to fall into oblivion, and you finally pull out something that probably wouldn't start my riding mower.
But IMHO the fun we have on these damn things far outweighs my annoyance with plastic. Really wish I'd figured out how fun little bikes are when I was younger. Now I'm old and broken down and can't go nearly as crazy as I'd like.
View attachment 4252

Add to that if you have big hands and the screws holding the cover in place are stainless, so a magnetic screw driver does not work, so I've dropped the bottom screw on top of the engine twice already, which leads to removing side panels. Oh well it's a small price to pay for the fun as you say. Cheers to us I suppose.

 

[m in sc]

that looks exaclty like angies. however, it appears they installed her battery upside down? fkn dealership. that actually explains a few things looking at that diagram.

 

[bryanchurch06]

that looks exaclty like angies. however, it appears they installed her battery upside down? fkn dealership. that actually explains a few things looking at that diagram.

Since I do not have a service manual yet I've found you can go to any parts supplier website and find oem diagram for every part of the bike, it's really helped me out before if I'm working on a new bike

 

[m in sc]

If I have time tonight, im going to get out there and try to flip the battery around on the bike, take some pics so i can go tell the local dealership how much his service department sucks. and they do suck, bad. I never looked at the diagrams on the sc... i always thought that was odd.

 

[bryanchurch06]

I've finally got the cub back together, found my missing couplers and a extra battery screw the dealership must have dropped, decided not to mod battery cover at this time, also trying to find a better spot for my battery charger cable I am just leaving it under the set for now but I will probably just let it hang out from the seat incase of dead battery

 

[m in sc]

i ran Angies cable out the RH side, under the fairing, and its end is basically resting on the swingarm pivot. just a regular battery tender lead. again, you cant get under the seat if the battery is dead so i found it imperative to have it accessible externally.

also went to the dealership, told the general manager and he apparently went back and hurt some feelings over it.. as he should. However, the guy that did prep her bike no longer works there as of a few mos ago. the person thats supposed to check behind him is still there though.

I showed him the pics of what i found he was absolutely mortified.

 

[bryanchurch06]

i ran Angies cable out the RH side, under the fairing, and its end is basically resting on the swingarm pivot. just a regular battery tender lead. again, you cant get under the seat if the battery is dead so i found it imperative to have it accessible externally.

also went to the dealership, told the general manager and he apparently went back and hurt some feelings over it.. as he should. However, the guy that did prep her bike no longer works there as of a few mos ago. the person thats supposed to check behind him is still there though.

I showed him the pics of what i found he was absolutely mortified.

Do you have any pics of the battery upside down? Did they install the cover upside down as well?

 

[m in sc]

oh yeah. keep in mind, i never looked at the diagram, i should have known better.

as i found it:

fixed & correct.

you can see the - battery tender lead tot eh left of the negative terminal in the above pic.

if one of the factory terminals would have broken or gotten 'soft' bending the lead back, id have a new wiring harness on the way on their dime.

 

[bryanchurch06]

oh yeah. keep in mind, i never looked at the diagram, i should have known better.

as i found it:

fixed & correct.

you can see the - battery tender lead tot eh left of the negative terminal in the above pic.

if one of the factory terminals would have broken or gotten 'soft' bending the lead back, id have a new wiring harness on the way on their dime.

Makes you wonder how that mechanic got dressed and found his way to work.

 

[m in sc]

dude, right?