jump starting.

[prometheus578]

Was just reading the post Oil Filler Gorilla... The part where they mentioned welding. Luckily, at the end, some people mentioned to disconnect the battery and the electronics prior to arc welding, lest they fry their system. As my mind wandered.... came to the subject of Jump Starting. DO NOT jumpstart your bike offa your car. Our systems/battery is what 18-20 amps? Can't recall. But a car's battery can supply 650/700 amps. Something like that. Now, I know that it's not supposed to, as per general electric theory, but some components, when seeing all that extra amperage, say, 'Let's eat!", and fry their innards. Not that I'm an electrical wizard... nor is my advice or mental state always sound... I'm just the guy that jumped his riding lawnmower with his truck and fried the alternator. To jump your bike, turn the ignition off, and then hook up the cables. Let it sit for 15/20 minutes as the juice flows from the big battery into your small one. Disconnect the cables, and THEN try to start it. Of course, jumping from bike to bike is no problem at all.

[sidecarKev]

I use a car battery in place of a bike battery. Its in my sidecar. Its okay to jump a bike from a car battery as long as the car isn't running. Car batteries are usually cheaper, last longer, start your bike better in cold weather, act as sidecar ballast, and useful when camping to inflate air matress.

[prometheus578]

Thank you, Kevin. I stand corrected. Though, being superstitious, I still don't plan to tempt the Electrical Gods anymore than I usually do. There are some areas Men should fear to tresspass. Electrical is one of them. Like when I was half way to Denver, they cursed me with the ol' "Turn on the turn signal/watch your engine die". This happened several times. I had to offer up my spare regulator and rewire the main fuse in order to appease them. Don't say that you haven't been warned.

[iron_llama]

I've jumpstarted my Suzuki 450 several times with a tow truck- I had a bad habit of leaving the keys in/lights on. Bike ran just fine, no signs of a blown-out electrical system.

Just my $0.02

[Hepcat]

I just jumped my bike this weekend from a running car. Shouldn't the regulator keep things in check? I connected + to + and - from the car to frame on the bike. I dunno...maybe I'm just lucky.

[xssiveone]

I have jumpstarted my bike many times off my car, then I bought a new battery so no longer have that problem.

The ONLY problem that might crop up is if your car charging system puts out more amperage then the bike can handle. If the car isn't running, then there will be no current spikes to worry about. Don't start the car, and don't worry about the bike's electrical system as it will only draw what it needs.

[prometheus578]

I'm sorry guys... I really didn't believe it either, but I had two instructors and several mechanics from other shops tell me different. Are they right? I don't know. Does this happen everytime... I don't know that either. Do I care to experiment on my bike to find out? No. Of course, the next Kawasaki that comes in with a bad battery... I'll be pulling my truck up to the bay door and popping the hood... Urban legend, maybe. Would be nice if Clymer, Haynes or Chilton's would print jump starting proceedures in the front of their manuals, like they do in the automotive ones.

[mitch]

Lawn mower battery

I have a ride on lawn mower battery in my venture royal for 1 yr now. 325 cranking amps works great! 28.00 compared to 115.00 for the correct battery that last half as long.................MITCH

[beechfront]

is it an exact fit?

can you tell us what brand/model it is?


i pay $65 for my batteries at interstate. ridiculous in my opinion, when a six year car battery costs $75.

[mitch]

battery

Beech i mounted it in my trunk lol. Used a good set of booster cables from the trunk to the connecters and bypassed the battery indicator light on the computer. i built a nice battery box and mounted it in that so it is secure and any leaks will be caught in it. Small job really but the benifit is great..........MITCH

[strom]

OK... AFAIK....
cars have big batteries in order to crank that big motor. It takes lotsa power to turn em over, and lotsa power fast. That's the max amp output.
Bikes usually need less (OK, guzzi is a known exception).
So: You can use jump cables, you can (and it's better if you do) keep the car running. Cars regulator should keep the spikes out, the current needed is from the battery.
The bike will only draw as much power as it needs - not a lot. But if there's a problem starting, which usually is, it's still gonna crank for a while.
Welding is another story... there's helluvalot of stuff running thru ground connections and can fry something. Usually you're lucky and you don't. Sometimes you do.

Anyway... I'm gonna take my eleven for a spin. No snow yet.

LP

[Jerry]

There is a lot of confusion on this topic, which comes up once in a while. here is some info.

There is nothing inherently wrong with jump starting your bike from a car. HOWEVER, consider these conditions.

Heat kills batteries. If your bike batter is fully discharged and you jump to a fully charged auto battery, the car battery current could heat your bike battery and cause a plate to buckle, resulting in a shorted battery. This is not good.

If the car is running, it will try to charge your bike battery at an overly-high current level, since the auto systems put out more amperage and car bateries are designed for more current. Jumper cables bypass the bike's regulator, so you are dependent on the car's charging system. Again, current = heat.

Voltage spikes don't appear to be an issue, as both bike and auto batteries run the same voltage. Best to make sure the bike ignition switch is OFF while you hook up the cables.

So IF the bike battery is in good condition (fluid levels also OK) and just discharged, and IF you don't leave the jumper cables hooked up very long to avoid possible battery overheating, and IF you leave the car turned off to remove charging system issues, it is fine to jump a bike from a car.

[John]

I have jummped my bike off with a car many times with no problems. A running car will produce 14.5 volts, so that may not be too good for the bike systems, but the 12.5 volts at rest poses no problem for the bike. It will only use the amperage it needs, no more. I carry a set of jumper cables with me most of the time.( That means I'll never need them) They are some that I made myself from 10 gauge wire, and some large alligator clips. They are 10 feet long. I remove the right side cover and attach the positive to the battery side of the starter solenoid, and the negative to one of the bolts that attaches the right side rear foot peg bracket to the frame. Most auto starters that are in good shape will draw less than 100 amps anyway. The cold cranking amps are how many amps that are available to start the car in very cold weather, when oil is thick, and parts are tight from contraction. I have used my cars alternator to charge up a weak mc battery. I just disconnect the negative cable from the bike battery and 'Git 'er done'. The auto alternator will only produce what is asked of it. The more load placed on it, the more amps it will produce. Make sure the accessories/lights are turned off, that way the load on the car's charging system will be at the minimum. I know that when charging a new bike battery, 1/2 amp over an 8 hour period is prefered, but in a pinch...

[Dennyz]

When it comes to electricity, I have always been amazed how much confusing information (mostly nonsense) is out there. I guess because electricity can't be seen, it is believed to be able to defy the laws of physic. Well, it can't.

Jump Starting:

If starting a bike with a car battery causes problem. It is because the problem already existed on the bike, but the bike battery could not provide enough current to reveal the defective component. Most likely, installing a new bike battery would have caused the same problem.

As for the car engine running, it is never a good idea to jump start anything with a running engine. The additional load of cranking the dead vehicle can overload the starting vehicles charging system, or spike the heck out of it. In a perfect world this should not be a problem, BUT! The proper procedure is to let the charging vehicle run long enough to charge the dead battery, shut it off, then attempt a start while still connected.

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen people jump start with a running motor and then pull the cables off the other rig first. All it takes is an accidental touch of the two jumper cables (or the positive to the chassis) and the charging vehicles regulator bails. Always remove the positive lead from the charging vehicle first (running or not).

Welding:

Do they disconnect the cars electronics when the weld up exhausts systems? No! The welding arc is going to run from the weld to the ground cable. I have welded on a number of bikes (including my “F” chassis) and cars without zapping the electronics. I am not criticizing anybody for playing it safe. By all means, but understand that electricity it always going to take the path of least resistance. If the welder ground is not connected to some component inside the electronics, the arc is not going to mess with it.

Sorry, got a bit winded there. I have worked with and around electricity for over 40 years. It is a very predictable and amazing thing. There seems to be more fiction than fact when it comes to electricity and automotive discussions.