RE: Battery Replacement

["James H. Nazarian, Ph.D." <microdoc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Alan:

I've noticed you've received a couple or three responses to your query on RT
battery removal.  Successive responses offered the cautionary "Oh, yeah. Did
I (or the other guy) forget to mention you must do this before that or you
could break the alignment tabs off a $600+ body panel..."

The first thing you should do before anything else is PURCHASE A SHOP
MANUAL. Whether you buy it from BMW or Clymer or Haynes doesn't matter as
much as having any of these books with their comprehensive written
procedures to follow. No need for anyone to remind anyone that none of the
manuals are perfect, and they might contain a minor error somewhere, and
this one is better than that one, and yadda, yadda, yadda. I own every book
I've seen for every bike and car I own. I prefer some over others for
different tasks, but they are all useful books, and any one of them will
properly guide you through all kinds of tasks a lot better than you will be
with no reference materials at all. Even if you ask a question here and get
a flawless answer, you don't have pictures to look at until you open your
shop manual. Buy a book before you remove the first of the 20 some-odd
screws from the RT that allow the battery to be removed. You'll be glad you
did.

PS: Stay with the aluminum side panel screws BMW originally supplied with
the RT. A stainless steel screw can cross thread with the threaded brass
inserts and strip them or even rip them out of the panel. I'd rather strip
an aluminum screw than the brass insert that is part of the panel. Don't
need that headache...

Jim
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