I think I have a short.

[PhotoAl]

Just went and had a look at my 2020 Tracer GT.  Has the OEM battery and it is on it's side but at a glance looks like it is upright.  The negative lead is off of the end towards the front of the bike.  Mental note made to be careful when replacing battery.  

[Mr.Jeem]

44 minutes ago, PhotoAl said:

Just went and had a look at my 2020 Tracer GT.  Has the OEM battery and it is on it's side but at a glance looks like it is upright.  The negative lead is off of the end towards the front of the bike.  Mental note made to be careful when replacing battery.  

Don't know as I bought my 2019 used. Battery was upright and positive pole was in front, negative was in back. The replacement battery I bought was set up opposite and the red cover was on the negative pole. I should have paid more attention to what I was doing.

[Mr.Jeem]

1 hour ago, Wintersdark said:

So, this is something that people need to watch with the batteries in these bikes.  They can be placed in the bike in two orientations ("upright" and "sideways") and they are this way specifically to get the polarity of the terminals in the correct position.  

Even though my replacement battery reversed poles, it's still upright. It fits. I didn't see any reason to place it on it's side.

[texscottyd]

57 minutes ago, PhotoAl said:

Has the OEM battery and it is on it's side but at a glance looks like it is upright.  The negative lead is off of the end towards the front of the bike.

Would you mind double-checking to reconfirm that terminal positioning?   I just looked at my FJ (which calls for the same battery as the Tracer GT), and on mine the positive (+) terminal is definitely towards the front of the bike.  

That’s the fuel tank on the left, towards the front of the bike:  

[Mr.Jeem]

4 minutes ago, texscottyd said:

Would you mind double-checking to reconfirm that terminal positioning?   I just looked at my FJ (which calls for the same battery as the Tracer GT), and on mine the positive (+) terminal is definitely towards the front of the bike.  

That’s the fuel tank on the left, towards the front of the bike:  

Your picture is how my original battery was. The replacement is opposite that. And the +- designations are not white on black, they are black on black. Still I shouldn't have missed it. I bought my replacement battery at O'Reilly's, just like I did for my previous bikes without any issues.

[PhotoAl]

Here is a pic of my 2020 GT with the OEM battery.  I've added some connections but the position and connections are original.  I probably should have rotated the pic but the op of the pic is the front of the bike.

 

[duckie]

FYI........just throwing this out there.... 

The battery doesnt care which cable is connected first. 

The reason for negative first when removing and last when installing is for safety. 

With the negative  removed, there is no chance of shorting the positive to the frame of the motorcycle when removing or installing the positive cable. 

[Mr.Jeem]

17 hours ago, texscottyd said:

Would you mind double-checking to reconfirm that terminal positioning?   I just looked at my FJ (which calls for the same battery as the Tracer GT), and on mine the positive (+) terminal is definitely towards the front of the bike.  

That’s the fuel tank on the left, towards the front of the bike:  

I tried posting a picture but the file size is too big. I'll figure it out eventually.

[texscottyd]

1 hour ago, Mr.Jeem said:

I tried posting a picture but the file size is too big. I'll figure it out eventually.

No worries…  it all makes sense now.  I was just puzzled by one of the other comments above about ‘the negative lead is off the end towards the front of the bike’ as that seemed backwards from what I’ve seen.   The picture cleared it up, and the positive terminal is towards the front from the factory.  

[roadrash83]

@texscottyd How is that Parts Unlimited batter holding up? I'm thinking of replacing my stock 2019 battery and at almost $179.00  a Yuasa is looking kind of pricey?

[texscottyd]

6 hours ago, roadrash83 said:

@texscottyd How is that Parts Unlimited batter holding up? I'm thinking of replacing my stock 2019 battery and at almost $179.00  a Yuasa is looking kind of pricey?

It’s been fine for the 3 years or so it’s been in the bike.  I usually keep it on a Battery Tender when it’s parked, but occasionally I’ll get lazy and not connect it… even so, it fires right up after sitting for three or four weeks. 

I don’t use electric gear or heated grips, and no extra lights or other accessories to put additional demands on the charging system.  It’s always in the garage when parked, so it’s a fairly friendly environment for a battery. 

[Wintersdark]

I've got a Parts Unlimited battery in mine right now. 

Here's the stock battery(same battery in both pics), and what I mean by "on its side" - stock and aftermarket are the same here, terminal position can be either positive forward or negative forward based on how you put the battery in the bike.  

 

[texscottyd]

3 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

terminal position can be either positive forward or negative forward based on how you put the battery in the bike.  

Hence the confusion and reported instances of installing the battery backwards…. If you aren’t paying attention, natural instinct would be to install it as you show in the second photo (which I would consider conventional ‘upright’ orientation).    Unfortunately, that doesn’t end well…. 😉

[Wintersdark]

And the orientation of the label is *not* consistent between battery manufacturers, so if you put the label in the same place you reverse the polarity.  Gotta watch your +'s and -'s.  

But I've seen people complain their new battery has it's polarity backwards, which isn't the case in this form factor - it's whichever way you want it to be, but it's not really obvious.