Did my Tracer 900 come with a SAE connector?

[cropduster]

Hello, fellow riders.

I got a brand new 2019 Tracer 900 last November, and I immediately installed a ton of stuff that makes life easier, like you all know, and among those items was a SAE connector under the passenger seat, for use with a battery tender.

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but when I was installing the side luggage supports, I found what looks exactly like a SAE connector on the left rear side (see picture). I followed the wiring, and it has an inline 15A fuse and then gets lost with all the other wires getting to the battery.

 

The brand name on the rubber cover for that connector (Optimate) makes me believe this is, yes, a SAE connector wired straight to the battery, but I didn't risk connecting anything to it without being sure.

 

Did anyone else have this in their bikes?

 

Happy riding!

[mingo]

The dealer or the previous owner must have installed it. It didn't come from the factory that way. 

[cropduster]

I'm the first owner, bought it new from the dealer. I'll shoot them a message in any case. Thanks for your reply.

[mikerbiker]

My dealer did it too when purchased new in Sep 2018 as courtesy for battery tender connection.

[rustyshackles]

16 minutes ago, mikerbiker said:

My dealer did it too when purchased new in Sep 2018 as courtesy for battery tender connection.

Same here 

[betoney]

Very nice of the dealer to install for you, every bike should have one.   I have never heard of them doing that.

[Wintersdark]

3 hours ago, cropduster said:

I'm the first owner, bought it new from the dealer. I'll shoot them a message in any case. Thanks for your reply.

 

1 hour ago, betoney said:

Very nice of the dealer to install for you, every bike should have one.   I have never heard of them doing that.

Local dealers always install these on new bikes and most even on used bikes if they're not already there, it's pretty normal.  Optimate makes fairly solid connectors too, well waterproofed and reliable.  Generally speaking, they're wired directly to the battery through their 15A inline fuse.  

This may be a Canadian thing, though, where winters tend to be cold and battery tenders are absolutely mandatory. 

[cropduster]

Thanks all for the responses. Looks like now I have 2 SAE connectors then :)

[Soullancer]

Mine came with one aswell, brand new, europe

[BBB]

I know that has a rubber cover, but it seems like a poor place to have a live connector. It’s pretty close to the area that is always wet or dirty on mine.

I installed an SAE connector on mine, but it sits under the passenger seat, near the frame rail, so it’s easy to get to for charging.

[cropduster]

4 hours ago, BBB said:

I know that has a rubber cover, but it seems like a poor place to have a live connector. It’s pretty close to the area that is always wet or dirty on mine.

I installed an SAE connector on mine, but it sits under the passenger seat, near the frame rail, so it’s easy to get to for charging.

Yeah, I didn't think that was the best place, but I'm pretty confident I'll have to submerge the bike in order for water to seep through that rubber cover. It's pretty fitted and high quality.

The SAE connector I installed myself is also under the seat.

[nigel5]

Mine is fitted in the same place but on the right, same sort of location on my S10 for 4 years with no problem, some dealers do fit them on new bikes now which is a good idea.

Handy for plugging in tyre pump as they will blow the fuse in most standard electrical sockets on bikes

[cropduster]

Just to close the loop on this one: the dealer got back to me and confirmed that they do that to all new bikes, so they don't run out of juice in the showroom.

[Tango]

The dealer had one already installed in the same place on mine when I picked it up the end of July.

[DavidS]

On 7/21/2020 at 3:13 PM, cropduster said:

Just to close the loop on this one: the dealer got back to me and confirmed that they do that to all new bikes, so they don't run out of juice in the showroom.

That's weird, usually the bikes on the showroom floor haven't been prepped for riding, which is why it takes so long for them to get the bike ready after you buy it. Back in the day, I was the guy who prepped the bikes for test drives at a dealership in Alabama. We never put fluids in the new bikes on the floor until the bike was purchased, or we had a test ride with a pretty committed buyer. (I also put the bikes together when they arrived at the dealership)