Battery install rant

[seanners]

Allow me a little rant here, just replaced two batteries on both my bikes, and would like to rant at battery manufacturers, why, for all that is Holy can’t we have that infuriating little nut be big enough to avoid the friggen crazy balancing act needed to thread the leads into the posts? Cripes trying to A.) Keep it in the posts, B.) line the thing up, C.) Get your additional leads for tender pigtail etc. all in line before you loose it entirely! I wound up cutting up that red plastic positive post cover and using it like a shim under that satanic tiny nut! Such an exercise in patience that could have been a 5 min. Job, glad I had adult refreshments afterwards!
Rant complete, thank you

 

[cjames431]

Yeah, it’s frustrating. I have used a flat head screwdriver to hold the nut up against the top of then post before. Or to reposition the nut because it’s not laying down like it’s supposed to.

 

[Larry Fine]

I wedge in a 1/2" long piece of insulation stripped from #6 wire.

 

[ST1100TX]

Do some vintage camera repair with tiny little micro-screws and those battery nuts will seem as big as a house.

I do feel your pain, though. I've had to balance a little nut on my fingertip while blindly trying to thread it on to a little post. Royal PITA.

 

[SMSW]

I took some of that packing foam that we all throw out after receiving a package, cut a tiny piece that fit under the nut. The foam pushed the nut up and it was easy-peasy to screw into the nut.

 

[St-Gerard]

I use a zip tie folded over to hold them in, installed before I put the battery in the bike.

 

[Bozo]

I use a rolled up foam earplug under the nut. It expands to hold the nut in place and can be left there forever. Give it a try.

 

[ST Gui]

I use a zip tie folded over to hold them in, installed before I put the battery in the bike.

That's exactly what I do. Cheap effective and I don't even think about it when removing the bolt for whatever reason.

 

[Mr ed]

I use a flat tip screwdriver to hold the nut in place.

 

[dduelin]

Just find a way to shim the nut in place and these are all good ideas. In addition the answer for some may be to install a fuse block or power distribution device in order to cut down on the assorted pos/neg wire connections that accumulate.

 

[St-Gerard]

Just find a way to shim the nut in place and these are all good ideas. In addition the answer for some may be to install a fuse block or power distribution device in order to cut down on the assorted pos/neg wire connections that accumulate.

Safer as well.

 

[Al st1100]

It's really not that hard. Try putting a battery in a Ford Escape or Transit, an auxiliary battery in a Jeep or a Benz.

 

[Oldbikefixr]

Yeah, it’s frustrating. I have used a flat head screwdriver to hold the nut up against the top of then post before. Or to reposition the nut because it’s not laying down like it’s supposed to.

I keep all my old battery hardware. Usually have a bolt long enough to pick up the nut with a little pressure on the screwdriver. Apparently the engineers at these companies never work on their own products.
Back when Honda was hitting the western markets, Mr Honda would give his an engineering team a review of their finished product. Select one 'You, change the clutch' or 'You, remove the carburetor'....and so forth. Any troubles encountered, tweak the design appropriately. My only problem with early 1960's Honda was finding metric tools. In my parts of the South, there were few available. Those that were were expensive relative to 'standard' sizes. I went through many factory tool kits as the tools weren't all that durable, being created for infrequent use.

 

[ReSTored]

I use a zip tie folded over to hold them in, installed before I put the battery in the bike.

I use a small zip tie that I leave in place to both lift up the nut and hold it in place while the bolt is being tightened.

 

[St-Gerard]

Has anyone had to make a new holding tray?

 

[cjames431]

Has anyone had to make a new new holding tray?

There was a fellow on here who modified his for a lithium battery.

 

[oude geit]

I just bought a longer bolt.

 

[jdmccright]

I thankfully only have to wrestle with them every 5 years or so...just long enough to forget how I did it, thus restart the aggravation all over again.

 

[Larry Fine]

I just bought a longer bolt.

Isn't that from a Cat Stevens song? "Longer bolts are coming to get us . . . "

 

[motornut]

I have used a long litany of words mumbled together in a long sentence consistent with words mom never taught me. A magnetic scribe worked for me since I will be retrieving the nut at least once anyway. The language is the first tool though since I have to take it apart first and know what is coming. Starts as soon as I start checking the price for the OEM replacement for the ST