jump starting

[BadAss4life]

this may sound dumb but i've never had to do it before...

from sitting for a few month's my battery is dead....what's the best way to jump it.....i've heard hook cabel's up to the car but dont turn the car on cause you'll blow the battery up....i've heard use a charger but dont use boost cause it will blow up the battery.

anybody wanna fill the dumb guy in

[Curtis_Valk]

I don't know if it will blow the battery up, but there's plenty of OOMPH in the car battery without running the engine.

Hook up the bike end first (both leads, doesn't matter which first), then hook the positive lead to the battery on the auto end.  LASTLY, hook up the negative lead on the auto end to a good ground that is NOT the battery (a good ground is the alternator bracket).  The reason behind this is if there is a spark due to connecting the load it will be AWAY from the battery where whiffs of EXPLOSIVE hydrogen gas may be lurking.

After starting the bike, disconnect in reverse order ie: disconnect negative at the auto end, then positive at the auto end, then disconnect the cables from the bike (either one first, doesn't matter).

Just keep the correct polarity (red positive plus, and black negative minus), and don't short the black and red together at any time even momentarily or you can blow diodes on the rectifier of either vehicle.

Curtis

[Greg Cothern]

Best thing would be to put a charger on it if you have access to one.  How old is the battery?  Does it crank at all?
If it is pretty old and not even a crank just replace it and ride, LoL.  
Otherwise red to positive terminal and black to negative terminal making sure not to short anything has you are hooking up.  Dont let the red/positive leads touch anything metal at all.  Have to watch carefully to make sure of this.
Doesnt really matter if you have the good battery in a vehicle running or not, will keep that battery at its best to give best current.

[BadAss4life]

thanx guy's....the battery aint that old it just dont have enough to turn it over and i dont wanna keep try'n and run it completly down to nothing....i do have a charger for car battery's.......the blow thing just got me nervous

[Shortround]

Definitely do NOT have the car running. The output of the car alternater is far to high for that little bike battery. It may not explode, but it will over heat and warp the plates. We probably run into this a lot more up here in the frozen north.

If the bikes battery doesn't have enough charge the bikes alternater will not be able to charge it. So get a good 1 or 2 amp charger for the bike.

[silveradocowboy]

After this battery dies you might want to consider getting a maintenance free(sealed) battery. I have had very little if any trouble with them. Both V65's have one and have sat most of the winter with out a charger. One started without a jump and the other only needed a little help. The 1000R was having problems and after replacing it with a maint. free battery I haven't had any trouble.

[BadAss4life]

yah i'm up in frozen n.y. ....put the charger on it on 2 amp charge and she fire'd up in a minute....thanx guy's

[Wayne]

A running car will start your bike.
It will also damage (and eventually destroy) your electronics module.

Way too much current at 13.8 volts (car alternator voltage is abotu 2v higher than battery voltage)

I'm the dummy who proved it, and I have the repair bill to prove it.

I googled it later and saw pretty much the same advice as above--slow charge if you can, try another motorcycle battery next, jump from a turned-off car if all else fails.

[Magna 4 Me]

If you are going to let the bike sit like that without being started, the best thing to do is get one of those trickle chargers and plug it in when you put the bike up.  It will put a full charge on the battery and then reduce the amount of charge to keep the battery at full charge without cooking anything.  They are relatively cheap too.  

I got one the last time I had to get a new battery for my bike and used it to put the initial charge on it.  Since I ride about every week I haven't really had to use it for it's intended purpose yet but it is there in the event I will need it.  Nothing worse than having a dead battery when you want to sneak in a quick ride.

[Curtis_Valk]

I agree with Tom, the battery tenders work great.  It's a shame to say but I let my last battery go flat three times.  The third time it would not come back and it was only 1 1/2 years old.  These tiny batterys don't like to be discharged all the way for some reason.  I guess that's why they make a "deep cycle" battery for that kind of use (trolling motors, travel trailers, etc....)

I got my battery tenders for 29.95 each (I bought one for each bike and I got the "Battery Tender Jr.")  They are available all over the 'net or at most auto or bike stores.  I have even seen them on sale for 19.95, but at the time I wanted to buy none were that low.

Curtis

P.S.  Forgot to mention that the Battery Tenders come with a pigtail that attaches to the bike's battery permanently.  You can hang it out at the edge of the seat or hide it under a side cover.  Either way, it is very convenient to "plug the bike in" when you get home from a ride.

[Weinercat]

Now I've listened about jumping off a car and other motorcycle battery - What about a jump box? Has any one done this? - Thanks!!