Battery charger cable

L

Lnacstony76

Club Member
Hi all,

Hope you can help and I’m not being too dumb here, but I’ve just got my Fat Boy 2020 model and noticed the battery charging cable looks a bit different to others I’ve seen before:
IMG_7989.png

I have no idea what the blue bit is sticking out and whether there’s a certain charger I need for it? Never seen one of these as it looks like an Optimate one but I’m really not sure, any advice would be greatly appreciated

Cheers,

Tony
 
It’s harleys own one recon the previous owner still has the charger prob better off getting a new lead to match your charger on ebay
 
watchman said:
It’s harleys own one recon the previous owner still has the charger prob better off getting a new lead to match your charger on ebay
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, wasnt sure if something had gone wrong with the previous owners charger and it had left the blue bit in it so just needed to be pulled out, will get a new lead and change it over, cheers.
 
I believe that is for an Optimate charger. The Blue bit is a protective Cover, not standard, it should have a cover with it to protect Both terminals.

1684154874115.png
 
watchman said:
It’s harleys own one recon the previous owner still has the charger prob better off getting a new lead to match your charger on ebay
Click to expand...
Its an sae connector for optimate. If you have the old style charger, you can get an adaptor, so the original lead fits the sae one on your bike. The blue bit is just somethi g he has pussed in, to keep crud out of the female connector
 
Don't remove the Blue thing until
you disconnect the lead from the Battery. It might be live and if it touches your Frame/Engine it could cause a Fire! :panic:
Look on the Battery and you will probably see the Lead, one leg going to Positive and the other going to Negative. Remove them from the Terminals and bin the Lead.
Installation of the new Lead is simply putting each wire onto the appropriate Battery Terminal.
 
softail898 said:
Don't remove the Blue thing until
you disconnect the lead from the Battery. It might be live and if it touches your Frame/Engine it could cause a Fire! :panic:
Look on the Battery and you will probably see the Lead, one leg going to Positive and the other going to Negative. Remove them from the Terminals and bin the Lead.
Installation of the new Lead is simply putting each wire onto the appropriate Battery Terminal.
Click to expand...
I won’t do that then as I don’t want a fire! I’ll remove and replace with a brand new one, better to be safe than sorry! Cheers
 
Lnacstony76 said:
I won’t do that then as I don’t want a fire! I’ll remove and replace with a brand new one, better to be safe than sorry! Cheers
Click to expand...

If the lead is a factory fitted lead, it won’t be connected directly to the battery and will be part of the bike’s wiring harness. Don’t try to remove the existing lead unless you can clearly see that is connected directly to the battery terminals. Getting at the battery on the latest generation of softail models is a bit of a faff and requires the removal of one or two components that are behind the right hand side panel to gain access to the battery which is located in under the seat, but accessed from the right hand side. To be honest, it might be easier to contact wherever the bike was bought from and ask them what charger is supposed to be used with that lead. The standard factory fit lead on a 2020 softail is the Optimate compatible SAE lead.
 
It is still an SAE lead but with an extra terminal position that has no function, H-D have been fitting them for a few years now, as said the blue 'thing' looks like a crimp connector stuffed in there which should not be there! An Optimate or any charger with an SAE plug will just plug in as with a two pin lead.
It should also have for want of a better term a dust cap that should fit on when the Blue 'thing' is removed which is held on the lead by the square loop by the molded plug, if it's still there.

This Factory fitted charge cable is connected & protected via a fuse, should be a 7.5 amp as below!
If you want to disconnect the positive, live, remove the fuse!

Screenshot 2023-05-15 214035.jpg

Found a H-D description for the plugs

Screenshot 2023-05-15 215251.jpgScreenshot 2023-05-15 215318.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hey mate did you get sorted yet if not just found a harleys own charger/maintainer in me boxes you can have it foc just pay post or collect
 
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watchman said:
Hey mate did you get sorted yet if not just found a harleys own charger/maintainer in me boxes you can have it foc just pay post or collect
Click to expand...

Hiya no i havent had chance to get anything sorted out yet, that would be great if you are sure? will have to post though if thats ok?
 
You don't have to disconnect the battery. Open the fuse box, turn the bike on and remove the main (40A?) fuse. ;)
 
Gutterat said:
You don't have to disconnect the battery. Open the fuse box, turn the bike on and remove the main (40A?) fuse. ;)
Click to expand...
What if its an after-market lead like mine that's connected directly to the battery with an inline fuse?
 
Urrell said:
What if its an after-market lead like mine that's connected directly to the battery with an inline fuse?
Click to expand...

Easy enough to find out if it’s aftermarket. Take the seat off and look directly down into the battery compartment, both battery terminals can be seen and the OP will be able to see if there are any aftermarket leads and accessories wires connected directly to the battery.

I’d be fairly confident in saying the lead in the picture is the factory fitted lead which is part of the bike’s wiring harness, simply because there’s no reason to fit an additional lead on a relatively new softail.

If it was my bike, I’d be inclined to pull the fuses and give that blue connector a tug with a pair of pliers. I reckon it’ll just pull out and leave the SAE connection intact and ready to use with a compatible charger.
 
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