So, late this morning, I went to replace the battery on the motorcycle. Got a 3rd party OEM battery at a good discount.
Things were progressing well. Took of the stuff on the side, slid the old battery out, had to connect the + terminal first(design issue) and slid in the new battery.
No issues connecting the + terminal. There was some goo at the bottom of the connector base that raised and held the bolt at the right height and place.
Then came the fun of connecting the - terminal.
The bolt was just long enough to catch the nut. Testing and quality control passed from manufacturer passed with flying colors!
But add the 1.5mm - cable connector to the height and I was out of luck! The bolt would not catch the nut. It was not long enough Nor was there the same goo the same goo as on the + terminal.
Solution? got paper from my neighbor that he uses for the end of his joints - that stiff and thick piece of paper that is about 2cm x 4cm. Cut it into thin slices, stacked 'em up, slid them under the nut to raise the height by 1.5mm, spent over an hour cajoling the bolt to sit right on the paper, and voila!
I think engineers should spend at least 6 months in the field, servicing what they design.
I wonder how AI would help in this sort of thing?
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Suggest to buy a longer bolt?
Couldnāt you have just levered the nut upwards with a small screwdriver or the like? Once the bolt has caught the thread it doesnāt need to be held up any more.
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Of course a longer bolt would be the ideal solution. But today is sunday and no shops are open. Did not feel like leaving it for next week - the stubborn streak to finish what I started :).
There was not enough clearance on the lead terminal to jiggle the bolt in reverse from under ā¦ Also, because of ādesignā and cable lengths, a) had to connect + terminal cable first and b) connect the - terminal, once the battery was in place.
In this motorcycle, the battery casing is fairly low within the frame centre, which made access and using normal tools rather painful. For example, i would only do max 1/4 turn using a normal wrench. Somehow, my socket wrench set have gone āmissingā ā¦ 
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The story of my lifeā¦OH takes tools to do his cars, then I canāt find anything for mine, because heās left them with his job. Ugh.
wouldnāt alu paper + duct tape do the trick?
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A few years back I stumbled across a multi size socket. It has a series of spring-loaded steel pins that retract to match the shape and size of the bolt or nut head. It is can fit both metric and imperial fasteners and doesnāt need to be straight or flush.
I am surprised how often I reach for it.
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OMG Iād never see it again!
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Thanks, but Iād have to hide mine, because heād lose his and then āborrowā mine.
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ROTFL. Thanks for all the replies! 
Itās an electrical (high amperage) connection. Alu would only cause sparks and ā¦ oh, lord knows what else, not to mention feedback, perhaps impacting the on-board computer?! At best, it was flame retardant paper - worst would be a paper burning smell, which would flame itself out ā¦
Simply as a side note for humor and unplanned entry into the other section of bucket-list-of-life, it was paper from Wernerās Head Shop 
Yeah, I had those multi-adjustable āspannerā heads. they work great when there is clearing. I loved thhem and will probably buy some again. However, for tight spots like working on a motorcycle, mazda miatas, etc, where clearance is at a premium, the right fit is the key.
Nowadays, i love those two-way adjustable spanner sets. They are amazing ā¦ but the catch is still the clearance ā¦ the issue is that to reverse it, one has to take it off and adjust and then re-fit. I wish the reverse adjustment button was at the other end ā¦ :).
someone on this forum to (with me?) design, patent and market? 
me thinks this would be a firecracker ā¦ SnapOn would pick it up in a heartbeat!
Bought a battery for my Buell 1125R in Switzerland, at the shop where I bought the bike (no names, think it went down anyhow). Before installing I checked and the + and - were exactly reverse!
They said āit says so in the papersā¦ā
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Today I was invited to a very nice FideuĆ”. Took a taxi to the restaurant because of the very good wine they serve. Told the driver to pick me up after 3 or 4 hours, Iāll call him.
OK, was 4 hours, I called him and was transferred to the taxi central. They told me that I was out of province (true, like 800 meters) and therefore they could not pick me up!
Spain is different.
Lucky the owner is a friend of mine and drove me home.
