What happens if I charge the motorcycle battery with the terminals connected the wrong way?
Most motorcycle battery chargers over £25 have the ability to sense if the motorcycle battery terminals have been connected the wrong way round, & if they detect this has happened, they won’t pass the incorrect charge into the battery. But, cheaper & older motorcycle battery chargers that don’t have this function, won’t switch off if you connect the terminals the wrong way to the battery. Normally, this will ‘cook’ the internals of the charger (making it useless, this is normally accompanied by the smell of knackered electrics!) or it can damage the battery & ‘short out’ the connections inside the battery (which again, can make the battery useless). It is always advisable to disconnect the battery from the motorbike or scooter before charging, because if the battery is connected to the bike when the charger is connected the wrong way round, this can blow fuses (if your lucky!) or other electrical parts (like the CDI & reg/rec) on the bike.
