If it looks like this when you are doing your winter preservation, you have waited too long 🙂
It was with stiff fingers I screwed out all the screws… 16 or so I believe, and removed the panels to access the battery. Of course, it would have made sense to do this back in September when I permanently parked the bike for winter but, with mum’s funeral and all, I just couldn’t muster the energy. Nevertheless, I had hopes that the battery wasn’t badly damaged but could be recharged.
As much as I like the low weight distribution and the agility that the fuel tank under the saddle gives, I hate the thought of having to do this removal procedure to access the battery for a jump start somewhere in the rain while travelling. Better keep the battery well-maintained then 😉 I was thankful for the practice session I had put in the weekend before, when connecting the cable for the heated waistcoat to the battery of my 2007 GS in Spain, it did cut own the working time considerably. That was done on the street one sunny afternoon, if you really want to know.
Now, the battery is happily bubbling away, awaiting June when I’m next going to take the bike out. I bought myself one of these posh intelligent chargers, I hope it preserves the battery well.