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R69S battery

maddrobh
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2020 5:33 am

R69S battery

Post by maddrobh »

The Blitz 6V 16Ah model 01411 battery on my R69S is unserviceable (went dead to 2V, and will not hold more than 4.4V sfter charging; I think one of the 3 cells is u/s).
I want to replace it with a gel or AGM maintenance-free battery but am unsure of the Ah required. It seems that the batteries on these bikes evolved from 8 Ah to 16 Ah. Can I use an 8 or 12 Ah? I cannot find a suitable 16 Ah battery in UK; availability not as good as US.

xackley
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Re: R69S battery

Post by xackley »

you only need battery power while stopped and want to keep the headlight bright.
Any 6 volt battery will do that. So physical size and color might be the only question.
I would recommend adding a fuse right at the battery on the + side.
Mine is weak this year so I almost bought this
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N6 ... ARL1&psc=1

Don

Edit: there is a guy in the UK that sells complete LED sets which would use even less electricity.
1958 R69, 1972 R75/5, 1980 XS650, 1982 GL1100, 2003 guzzi ev, 2017 guzzi V7!!!
All on the road, going no where in particular in the Finger Lakes of New York

situationrad
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Re: R69S battery

Post by situationrad »

xackley wrote:
Thu Oct 14, 2021 5:53 pm
Edit: there is a guy in the UK that sells complete LED sets which would use even less electricity.
Who would that be?

xackley
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Re: R69S battery

Post by xackley »

did a search for led kit on this forum.
Their site is kinda confusing, so you might have to contact them.
Someone on this forum ordered from them.

http://www.dynamoregulatorconversions.c ... -bulbs.php

Edit. in usa
https://vintagebeemerparts.com/vintage- ... ns-r26-27/
1958 R69, 1972 R75/5, 1980 XS650, 1982 GL1100, 2003 guzzi ev, 2017 guzzi V7!!!
All on the road, going no where in particular in the Finger Lakes of New York

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jwonder
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Re: R69S battery

Post by jwonder »

Look at the topic I started here https://vintagebmw.org/forum/viewtopic ... Led+lights

It lists the bulbs you need.
James Wonder
Vice President, Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners
2022 BMW Friend Of the Marque
Long Island, New York

maddrobh
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2020 5:33 am

Re: R69S battery

Post by maddrobh »

Many thanks for the replies. I shall fit an inline fuse and look at the LED bulb options.
After looking in a little more detail, I learnt that the battery 'power' has evolved from 8 to 16 Ah over the years. A replacement Blitz 01411 from Europe was going to cost me close to £100. I found a 13 Ah Westco AGM battery that I am pretty happy with: size ok, 600g less weight than the Blitz, colour ok, maintenance-free, £40 including delivery from Wales to Aberdeen in 2 days. Terminals not the best but I'll live with them.
20211017_125517_resized.jpg

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schrader7032
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Re: R69S battery

Post by schrader7032 »

I did something similar with a battery from Bench Mark Works. it's basically a UPS battery with those spade terminals. I had to use some wood to shim the battery to sit better in the tray so the rubber strap would hold it. I went to an electronics store to pick up some quick disconnect wiring like used for some trailers. On the battery end, I crimped connectors for the terminals. On the bike end, I crimped ring terminals so it would still mate with the bike's wiring...I included some rubber where the wires penetrate the box to help with weather protection. In the middle I put a "project" box to to connect the wires on a small terminal board. On the outside, I have the quick disconnect to the battery. Not totally pretty but has been working fine.
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Kurt in S.A.
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.

808Airhead
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Re: R69S battery

Post by 808Airhead »

The Earls fork bikes have a larger, rectangular shaped battery ,not the small,square plunger bike type. Tim Stafford,"VS4" on ebay ....sells thge correct size rectangular battery shell,and this allows you to buy a large,gel battery and fit it inside the shell. you have to search,but ebay and Amazon0 have nice quality AGM batteries in 6volt that fit right in the period correct shell. My bikes look like they have a vintage battery but with modern gel battery inside. They work great and have been in there for years now.
Thomas M.
R69S - R60/2 - R67/2 - R51/3 - R69

sherman980
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Re: R69S battery

Post by sherman980 »

Thomas,
Minor historical "correction". The early earls fork bikes did take the small battery and tray (same battery and pad as the Plunger bikes). Not sure from memory what year BMW went to the larger battery but guessing it was late '50s. Anyone?

Thanks.
Chuck S.
Thanks.
Chuck S

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schrader7032
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Re: R69S battery

Post by schrader7032 »

Roland says in his book that "after 1955", which I would presume meaning after the plunger models, the battery got bigger. For the plungers he writes that the battery was 6-3/8 x 3-1/8 x 3-1/2 (high, wide, deep). For the beginning of the Earles fork bikes, the battery essentially got wider to 4-3/4 inches.

If you look up an R60 built in 1956, the online fiche shows two batteries and two trays, but no dates are given as in "up to". The smaller was 6V 8Ah while the bigger was 6V 12Ah. Vech shows a 6V 10Ah for the 1951-1958 bikes which appears to have the small size. He further shows a 6V 10Ah gel battery for 1955-1969 twins. So it seems to be all over the map.
Kurt in S.A.
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.

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