F650 BMW Motorcycle Battery Update
Brief F650 History Lesson
The BMW F650 motorcycle was jointly made by Aprilia and BMW. The original 652cc version made from 1993 to 2007 was a single cylinder Rotax engine. In 2008 the F650 switched from being a single cylinder to a twin engine bike but now produced 798cc. As to the evolution of the F650 BMW family of bikes that was welcomed news! However, they confused the bejeebers out of everyone by keeping the F650GS name rather than changing to the F800GS or something entirely different. At the same time they still produce the single cylinder motorcycle, but adjusted the naming slightly to G650GS to account for the difference. So the F650 name carries from 1993 to present, but is actually two entirely different bikes!
The 1st F650 Battery Issue
Why does this matter? Well, for starters they changed the battery in 2008 for the twin engine F650 bikes. If a customer started searching for or called a battery shop and simply said they need a battery for a 2009 F650 BMW, an unaware soul would naturally begin looking at the 650cc bikes. And since most of the battery cross reference books list the 650cc bike as “F650, G650GS 1993-2015” one could easily see how a wrong battery could be purchased.
The 1993-2007 F650 can use the MB12U sealed AGM (Yuasa YB12AL-A equivalent) battery.
The 2008-2016 F650GS require the ETX14 (Yuasa YTX14 equivalent) battery.
The 2008-2016 G650GS still uses the YB12AL-A (MB12U) battery.
Now within the F650 family of bikes you will find the Strada street version, Funduro and Dakar dual sport, and F650CS Scarver. The batteries all remain the same for the given years. So what you need to pay attention to is the changeover year between 2007 and 2008.
The 2nd F650 Battery Issue Discovered
The 800cc 2008 and newer bikes have an interesting feature that makes some cross-referenced batteries incompatible. Deep down in the battery tray there are some plastic tabs that stick out just enough to prevent certain brands from fitting down into the tray. Motobatt is one of these brands! The MB12U MotoBatt battery has no fitment issues in the 650cc versions, but the MBTX12U reportedly does not fit in the newer 800cc models. The battery is about 1/16th of an inch longer than the OE ETX14 battery. Some customers have called in and shared that they cannot get the MotoBatt to fit.
To prevent any frustration or modification of the battery tray we strongly recommend buying the East Penn Magna Power ETX14 battery or the Braille B14115 sealed AGM battery.
