My 899 came with an Optimate lead pre fitted presumably by the dealer. It is the latest version with the large plug with the red rubber cap. My older optimate has a small plug fitted but I have the larger plug that will fit the new Optimate lead but I am unsure what is the positive and what is the negative on the plug which has a square shape on one side and a rounded shape on the other. I could remove the fairing and see what is connected to the battery but thought I would ask here first. Anyone know ?
If the optimate is a late one hook it up switch it on and the optimate will tell you if you have the wrong polarity, it shouldn't harm either the optimate or the battery as it's an intelligent system. Consult the handbook for the meanings of the different lights.
Was going to ask the same question. My connection came off and the wiring from my optimate 3 gave no clues(both plain black wires). Went to my local J and S(used to be Hein Gericke) to see if they had a spare connector and they had the following charger on offer for £29.99 which uses the same connection. The good thing about this is it actually displays the voltage and shuts off when it senses the battery is charged and starts again when it drops. HEIN GERICKE PERFORMANCE MOTORCYCLE CHARGER BATTERY OPTIMISER TRICKLE CHARGE J&S | eBay
Sussed it. On the plug with the red cap on the bike the 'Rounded' part of the plug is the positive, the 'Square' part the negative. On the actual charger cable the wire with the white stripe is the positive. New plug fitted now and all working. Saves buying a new Optimate for the sake of a new shape £1 plug.
The new shape plugs are much better though. The old white plugs always mess up and eventually the pins push back and fall out. I've changed all my bikes to the new type, and modified my old charger to the new type.
