[The Old Coot]

YOU are asking for it and you'll get bit one day. That terminal seems to have close to a 100% failure rate. Look at it it's just a piss poor design and it was built to fail. Kind of like the rectifier on the C5.

Me bitter no not me. You could have made bracket with a hammer by beating the metal out on a rock.     

[Narada]

When an attack upon your well being is eminent, the pre-emptive strike should be considered self defence, and is mandatory.

This goes for battery cables too!  Don't wait, they are plotting your demise!

[Blairio]

Does the failed battery connector afflict C5's more than Bullets or G5 / Electras? I check the offending terminal on my Electra several times a year and all is good. It would make sense to pre-emptively replace it, but I am just wondering if there is something about e.g. the routing of the battery cables that makes one model more prone to this failure than another? Are the vibration modes in the different frames designs also different?

[Arizoni]

I'm beginning to think the G5 or Electra doesn't have the problem.

I'm not sure why it doesn't but my G5 has served me well for over 4 1/2 years and almost 19000 miles.

I have found that the battery on my G5, which is installed with the battery terminals outboard is different from the C5 which installs its battery with the terminals inboard, toward the frame.

[TomJohnston]

Blairio, a visual check is no good....you can't even check it with a meter. I could ride all day on the back roads with not even a stutter.
When I hit the slightly higher speeds of the Interstates it would cut out for just a second every 2 or three hundred feet. I thought of a hundred electrical and computer possibilities and until someone on this forum said "check the negative ground". Everything checked out fine but I pulled the battery anyway and watched the negative ground cable hit the floor. The battery straps held the broken connector in place until just the right combination of conditions made it break contact then bounce back into place. Don't just check it......REPLACE IT !!!!

[Rattlebattle]

YOU are asking for it and you'll get bit one day. That terminal seems to have close to a 100% failure rate.

Yes, I know you're right. I hope to fit a Motobatt soon and I'll do the job then.

[Blairio]

Blairio, a visual check is no good....you can't even check it with a meter. ......REPLACE IT !!!!

Tom, the empiricist in me wants to find a reason to replace something that has not failed. Otherwise I might as well replace the whole bleedin' bike - just in case.

My comment wasn't the product of an idle moment, I looked back on the various threads on battery terminal failure, and they seemed massively skewed towards the C5.

So I go back to my question: is this predominantly a C5 issue, and if it is (and the same battery terminals are employed in all Enfields) then fix the problem, and not the symptom.

Arizoni has hinted that it might due to the orientation of the battery on the C5. That's worth following up on.

[TomJohnston]

Isn't that like saying don't put gas in your tank until you totally run out?? If it's something you know is coming, if it applies to your bike , .....................

[Ducati Scotty]

This does seem to be a predominantly C5 issue.  This is a failure that will leave you totally stranded on the side of the road.  If you don't want to retrofit, you can just carry the parts and tools to get you home.

Scott

[tenacres650]

I have a C5, but when I rang and asked my dealer about a replacement terminal, he didn't ask the model just asked if it was the negative side? He said the have been a problem for years, they have told them for years but it falls on deaf ears! He keeps battery straps of other bikes they wreck just to retrofit fit them to customers RE.
When mine failed I unbolted the broken tab, then slid the broken tab under the part still attached to the battery and tightened it up. It held firm until I had it replaced.

[Blairio]

Maybe this is about the amount of risk we are comfortable with. I accept that at some point I will have a flat, but I don't carry a spare inner tube or tire irons (the Enfield ones are made out of cheese-metal anyway). Going by postings, on balance the Electra will not suffer the battery terminal failure, whereas it will definitely (if I do nothing) run out of gas.

I disconnected the side stand cut out switch, because that issue was model-agnostic. In other words it really didn't matter what model you have, according to the postings it will cause a headache no matter what model you ride.

[The Old Coot]

I disconnected the side stand cut out switch, because that issue was model-agnostic. In other words it really didn't matter what model you have, according to the postings it will cause a headache no matter what model you ride.

I don't think it even matter what BRAND of bike it is that stupid switch will cause problems, did on my KLR and unlike the RE you have to jumper the Kawasaki switch. I think it's a conspiracy, now where's I put my Tin Foil Hat?

[wildbill]

yep-still the same old terminals so that's a $10 improvement for the future

[TomJohnston]

My apologies to Blairio and some others for implying it's foolish to Not correct the terminal problem, and some other RE famous problems before they happen. My age requires some  dampening of my mouth.Tomj

[gremlin]

............... My age requires some  dampening of my mouth.Tomj

Oh god no......   if we all did that : this place would be dreadfully quiet !