Review of OptiMate 4 DUAL PROGRAM BMW CAN-bus edition

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List Price: $89.90
Sale Price: $80.90
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Just purchased this for my 2008 BMW R1200RT (01/2012). The bike is fairly new to me and I wanted to be sure that the battery was maintained in good condition during the winter months that involve less riding and more time in the garage.

Bottom line is that the charger was shipped ready for use on my bike, using the CAN-bus program (I'm assuming that the seller, Kinney Cycles, St. Joseph, MI, did that kudos to them!) A quick read of the pretty straightforward instruction book (yeah, I do read 'em!) and I was able to connect the charger directly to my bike, using the on-board, front accessory socket. Uh-oh!! the Optimate4 showed a non-retentive battery at the end of its first charge-test cycle.

I removed the battery from the bike, changed programs to Standard in anticipation of needing to do some deeper work on what was apparently a depleted battery, and started the charger again. Result from the charge-test cycle was a perfect battery! Hmmm...

Changed the program back to CAN-bus, re-installed the battery in the bike and this time connected the charger via the rear bike socket. Perfect battery showing! Moving the charger plug to the front bike socket again showed a non-retentive battery.

Bottom line is that this isn't only a battery charger. It has also identified an electrical issue/fault on my bike that I didn't know about. Can you tell that I'm impressed with this unit?! It is well-made, simple to use, thorough and well worth the money. Good kit!! :)

UPDATE (March 9, 2012) TecMate asked me to return this charger (they arranged shipping and pick-up) so that they could upgrade it. Apparently, the issue wasn't with my bike, but in the charger's firmware. Their engineering staff took the time to review the situation and determined that.

I received the charger back yesterday, complete with firmware upgrade sticker (!) and it is now charging flawlessly through the BMW CAN-bus outlets. Just what I wanted, since it makes connecting and disconnecting the charger so simple and easy just plug it into the BMW outlet. Excellent customer service and attention to detail on TecMate's part. Gets top marks from me!! :)

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My battery to my BMW R1150RT was close to dead! In comes Optimate 4 to the rescue!!! What an awesome product!!!

Before using the Optimate 4, I had to push start my bike a few times and what a pain in the butt that was! I rode my bike around for an hour and still the battery would not hold the charge. I knew that I wanted to get it before winter but I ended up forking over the money (not much) late summer. What a life saver! I plugged it in via the CAN BUS on the bike and in a couple of hours, disaster averted! I highly recommend this product as it does all kinds of things beside just recharging your battery. Buy it! It's cheaper than buying a new battery!

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Great charger that does the job well. I use it to charge our BMW motorbike batteries. These new models need a charger that can handle CAN-bus electronics in the bike. It works well, is easy to understand and to read the display. Can absolutely recommend this product.

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It has a lot of flashing lights to show the status of what it is doing. The flashing lights are a bit much, kind of like having a carnival in my garage next to my bike. It seems to do a frequent de sulphation charge which concerns me a bit.

IF that it is what it is doing the charger may not be suitable if a LiFe battery is installed.

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I purchased this charger just as my BMW 200 series battery in my 2010 R1200RT was biting the dust. The charger would recharge the battery, but it would be good for only 1 start. So I replaced the battery with a new 800 series battery. Supposedly a better battery than the former; we will see. Although the battery had been charged from the dealer, when I got home I hooked it up to the charger anyway to see the diagnostics in action. Everything worked as indicated and after a couple of minutes the battery displayed fully charged. I really like the information this charger provides. I also like the on-off cycle instead of a steady trickle; I hope that will help extend battery life. Only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that the manual sucks. You have to read it over a couple of times to understand all the features. There's a YouTube of this charger that explains the functions much better, check it out. Also, make sure you are using Program 2 if hooking up to the CAN-BUS.