How to access battery on 2001 ST1100

Hi all, I was moving my bikes around to figure out the best layout for getting all the bikes in and out of the stable, and when moving the ST i left the key on.

I didnt hook it up to the maintainer either so now I have a VERY dead battery and the maintainer is not enough to recharge it.

I need to access it to remove it to try and recharge it or replace it. I just discovered this this morning and did not have time to look thru the manual.

Is there a link with a video or a good description of how to best go about this? Figured I would try and learn how to do it before i read the manual....

From memory. Pull the left saddle bag as you were sitting on the bike. Pull the side panel on the left side of the bike which is below the seat. The battery will be visible at that point. There is a retention strap holding it in place and big screws/bolt for the battery connection on the terminals. You should be able to hook up a charger with it in place once the panel is off or remove the wires and strap to replace.

Not too hard of a process but it has been a few years for me.

Remove the right side bag. Remove the side cover. The battery can be seen just in front of the grab handle.
10 mm socket will allow you to remove the leads & the bracket that holds the battery in place. The bracket
has a pivot on the bottom. I hope this helps & good luck.

FieSTa45 said:

Remove the right side bag. Remove the side cover. The battery can be seen just in front of the grab handle.
10 mm socket will allow you to remove the leads & the bracket that holds the battery in place. The bracket
has a pivot on the bottom. I hope this helps & good luck.

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Is it the right side or left? I know the 1300 is on the right and was thinking the 1100 is the opposite side for some reason.

I just saw you mentioned in front of the grab handle. That would be the left side.

10mm socket for the leads or many of them also have a philips head to them as well. Grab either the socket or your biggest screw driver.

+1...............For future referance, working on anything top-side or side of bike including accessing the air filter, you start with removing the suitcases no matter what.

Left side on the 1100. And I would start with removing the seat as it has to come off to get the side panel off.

My bad It is the left side. Clutch side. Take the seat off as well.........

are the panels held on with bolts or just snap on type stuff? I thought I saw some Allen bolts ont he side panel..

superdiver said:

are the panels held on with bolts or just snap on type stuff? I thought I saw some Allen bolts ont he side panel..

Click to expand...

It has been a while but there are a couple screws. One is a really big one in the middle. There normally is a tab back by the key hole for the seat release where that panel joins the adjacent panel but that tab breaks off eventually so it may or may not be on your bike.

Phillips screw lower mid panel. Possibly a plastic screw/rivet at the top near the rear, wouldn't be suprised if it is missing. Once those are out start at the back carefully pulling out at the bottom and the first of the "snap in" points should pop out. Work your way forward from there. When you get to the front make sure the lift handle is clear and then raise the rear of the panel up toward where the seat should be while working the last tab oout at the front.

ok, sounds good, i will work on it tonight... trying to get my BIL to finish up his Honda 90 in my shop so I can put my shadow in and redo the forks... I will try to do the St in the garage...

OK, I got home, set the Dock up to put out at high tide tonight (wifes chores HAVE to be done first)... but then I tackled the ST, i removed the left saddle bag, only found one bolt on the side panel, the upper rear one was gone and instead there was a zip tie holding it in place and doing a good job of it, so I will use the same when butting it up. The tab came out pretty easy on the rear part of the panel and the grommets came out without complications but with some resistance which is a good thing.

I jumped the bike with my wifes car as it was right next to the bike. It started right up. I let both idle for a while as the charge indicator was reading over 13 volts. After about 5 minutes i disconnected the jumpers and barely revved the ST and set the throttle lock so that the charge going to the battery was just over 13 volts.

How long would you suspect I need to let it run? Do you even think that the battery is salvageable? I dont know if this is the first time it has been drained or how old the battery is. I know the obvious answer is just put a new one in.

I have jumped mine from dead, rode ten miles home and it was charged enough to restart immediately and the next morning. You might want to check into a different type of battery maintainer. Many will not charge if the battery is below 9. Some odd volts. I have a diehard brand from sears that will charge a battery from dead. I think the regular price is around $28 but you can get them on sale around $24. Not a bad price for a small charger and maintainer.

Not a good idea to jump a motorcycle from a car that is running. It can really mess the bike up! If you have to jump it again, just connect to the good vehicle battery, but Don't start the one you are jumping from.

schlep1967 said:

I have jumped mine from dead, rode ten miles home and it was charged enough to restart immediately and the next morning. You might want to check into a different type of battery maintainer. Many will not charge if the battery is below 9. Some odd volts. I have a diehard brand from sears that will charge a battery from dead. I think the regular price is around $28 but you can get them on sale around $24. Not a bad price for a small charger and maintainer.

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Good to know. We dont have a sears here, but the one that came with the bike is a "battery tender junior" just like the brand they sell at the Honda place here in town.

I let the bike run till it was pretty warm, then i took it for about a 15 mile drive and filled with gas. when i returned and plugged in the maintainer it constantly shows a red light like its not charged. maybe a new tender is in order...

GreenZR said:

Not a good idea to jump a motorcycle from a car that is running. It can really mess the bike up! If you have to jump it again, just connect to the good vehicle battery, but Don't start the one you are jumping from.

Click to expand...

I considered doing it that way, but wasnt sure if it would work...good to know. thats what I will do next time,,,thanks!




the side panel was a little harder to put on then it was to take off, but not bad.




OK, here is another question.... I have an old iPhone type charger on the bike, i have an iPhone5. Can I just cut the old cord and solder a new lightening iPhone5 connector onto the old cord? in my mind I cant, it seems like the wire would be braided and the wires would be specific for the terminal connectors... am i picturing that correct?

superdiver said:

OK, here is another question.... I have an old iPhone type charger on the bike, i have an iPhone5. Can I just cut the old cord and solder a new lightening iPhone5 connector onto the old cord? in my mind I cant, it seems like the wire would be braided and the wires would be specific for the terminal connectors... am i picturing that correct?

Click to expand...

I would just take out the old iphone charger and wire up a 12v power supply that you can plug a USB connector into. (I have a marine grade socket installed that I get cheap inserts for usb converters to) Since most electronics (including the iphone) use a USB cord you can connect whatever you want to it. No need to change out the cord if you change phones or decide to run a dedicated GPS. (I got all the parts I needed though Amazon for under $15.)

oh...forgot to finish the original question and story

So I had to run some earands in town so took the wife to breakfast to discuss some business and project ideas (gotta get the ideas past the boss before I jump), i picked up the needed dock stuff and headed home. I put the dock out and came back in and remembered to go check the charging bike...

Low and behold the charger light was green indicating full charge! So I will just continue to evaluate the charging system and try to remember to turn the key off...lol thanks for everyones help!

Battery has been fine ever since... thats been like 2 years...LOL

If the battery was "deep" discharged , it may have been damaged. You might be able to charge it and it may seem OK for awhile, but then it may not be able to start the bike. If that happens, I would recommend replacing it with an AGM type battery. They work great ( really spins the starter ) aren't much more than a standard battery and also are completely sealed.