new to harleys.
need a little help getting to my battery on this '09 RKC.
finally had some time yesterday to get under the seat for the 1st time.
followed the instructions in the manual but didn't find it very helpful, frankly.
so ...
there's a part on top of the battery cover piece (don't know what it is -- looks like a flat battery from a laptop computer), which i was able to remove and set aside hanging over the frame.
that left me with the plastic cover that is right on top of the battery itself, covering the terminals. this is held in by 2 screws toward the rear of the piece. removed them.
but i could not, for the life of me, figure out how to get that plastic cover off without forcing it, which i decided not to do.
lifting the cover from the back where the 2 screws were removed, it seems to be held by something underneath at the front of the cover.
that's as far as i could get.
is there a trick to this? how do i get that plastic cover off???
sure could use some advice.

thanks ...

 

The "laptop computer battery" looking thing is the ECM, new location on the 08 and later is under the seat instead of right side cover because of ABS. Yes it's crammed in there and it is a pain. The plastic piece should be attached to the battery bracket hold down so you might have a tab that you didn't "unclick"

 

thanks, dawg. i'll give it a try. but i examined that thing pretty good for a pretty long time and couldn't figure out what was holding it up.
why should it be this hard to check a battery?
well, it's probably really easy once you know what to do, i guess.
but ... jeeze!

cheers.

 

Pretty simple once you do it once...

Remove ECM (that laptop battery-looking thingie), either hang it over the side of the bike or disconnect.

Next remove the battery tray cover. There are 2 torx bolts holding it on, which are located at the rear of the tray cover... After you remove the screws, you can lift off the tray cover, but there's a metal tab that secures the front of the tray. You need to push the tray forward to clear the tab...Then the tray lifts off, and your battery is right there.

 

 

thanks bamorris.
this is really helpful.
i swear i tried to push the battery tray cover off for about 45 minutes (yes, i feel like an idiot). i'll give it another shot.
i noticed that the purge seloniod moves forward & back. does that make a difference? should it come off the tray? i couldn't seem to get that off either. i see in the photos that it is off the try in the second picture.
truth be told, i was loath to force anything, as it was the first time i was trying to get to the battery on the new bike & i was scared i'd screw something up.