Panel off
I always wondered what I would do I if I my battery went dead while I was out riding. I mean, the thought of coming back to my moto and it not starting up, isn’t pleasant.
Thankfully, my battery hasn’t died, yet. So what’s the point of this post? Well, it didn’t die on me. It actually died when Sarah took the BMW for a ride.
Fortunately, she was able to call me in the afternoon in Santa Cruz and I made it on time to San Jose BMW to get a battery. After getting to Berkeley (she was in a weeklong class at Cal), I proceeded to change the battery for the first time…on a slope…on the street…without the proper tools and without a manual. I figured it would be really simple…but then Sarah reminded me that it’s BMW. To BMW’s defense, it was relatively easy to figure out, but damn were there a lot of screws to take out!
After about an hour and a half (I was using this multi-sized allen wrench tool that was not conducive to easy removal of the screws, but coincidently, very adept at causing me to gouge my knuckles on hard parts), the job was done. Sarah was super helpful and without her, it would’ve taken me twice the time. I know she could’ve done it herself, though. (Thanks for letting me pretend like I know something about motorcycles, honey.)
Although it wasn’t the most ideal situation for me to be changing the battery for the first time without a manual (still don’t have one), it was a great learning experience.
I’m still wondering what I’m going to do when my battery conks out on ME.
