Jump Start Advice

[Blackjack]

In the case of a dead battery situation away from home what is the best item to have with you for a fast safe jump start. Since some bikes like mine has a tickle charge pigtail quick connect feature, is there another charging cable available that can also provide a jump start as well without making something homemade?

Seen some cigarette lighter plug systems for a car to car charge; however, for less than $20, I wonder how well they actually work. Looking for something compact enough to stay on the bike and does not require taking the seat off to get a jump start.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[gamorg02]

i would imagine a lot of the wires that are used to trickle charge can't carry the correct or enough amperage to do the starter quickly. i think my pigtails have a 5amp fuse built in.

is it that much of a problem where you need that many jumps?

also, why do you have a forum supported in your signature? have you contributed money to the forum but not gotten your official one?

 

[Blackjack]

Not a constant problem needing jumps, just having the right tools in case a situation comes along unexpectedly or need to help others as well.

 

[gamorg02]

Not a constant problem needing jumps, just having the right tools in case a situation comes along unexpectedly or need to help others as well.

i'd worry about the gauge of the wire to be honest. it'd be easier just to carry a 10mm wrench or not even bolt the seat in eh?

 

[Blackjack]

Looks like these folks may have what I am looking for...

http://stores.e-zjump.com/StoreFront.bok

 

[Blackjack]

Good tips to follow for a dead battery...

http://www.suite101.com/content/motorcycle-maintenancerepair-a17942

 

[[email protected]]

Ever see this website:
http://02d54de.netsolhost.com/bbblog1/?cat=3

They talk about a bunch of electrical accessories there.


They sell stuff on ebay too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorcyclist-Gi...231?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33628934df


I'd be leary of jump starting my motorcycle through a SAE connector and tiny wires.

Not that any of this will probably help you but its somewhat related info

 

[RaWarrior]

All you need is two feet and your left hand. Get it rolling about 5mph, second gear, drop the clutch. She'll bump start. Not as easy as some I4's, but compared to big v-twins, no problem. Even easier if you can convince someone to give you a push or happen to be at the top of a hill.

My QC pigtail also had a 5amp fuse built into it. Just remove all the seat bolts so the battery is easier to access, you can just pop the seat off when needed. With the fuel cover clipped down, it's going anywhere. I found that from too dead to turn the motor over, about 5 minutes on a 6amp charger was enough to start.

I wouldn't jump it off a running vehicle. Any 12v battery is fine from a car or something, just shut the motor off first. A friend fried the MPEM (brain box) on a sea-doo jumping it off a running boat.

 

[gamorg02]

All you need is two feet and your left hand. Get it rolling about 5mph, second gear, drop the clutch. She'll bump start. Not as easy as some I4's, but compared to big v-twins, no problem. Even easier if you can convince someone to give you a push or happen to be at the top of a hill.

My QC pigtail also had a 5amp fuse built into it. Just remove all the seat bolts so the battery is easier to access, you can just pop the seat off when needed. With the fuel cover clipped down, it's going anywhere. I found that from too dead to turn the motor over, about 5 minutes on a 6amp charger was enough to start.

I wouldn't jump it off a running vehicle. Any 12v battery is fine from a car or something, just shut the motor off first. A friend fried the MPEM (brain box) on a sea-doo jumping it off a running boat.

now keeping some jumper cables that fit into the recess for a vmax battery, thats not a bad idea, but my pigtails do the same thing

if everything is working properly you should be able to run it off a running vehicle right?

 

[dingy]

If you need to jump a Vmax from a car, the safest thing to do is not to have the car running. Any decent car battery should be able to jump a motorcycle with the engine off. 9 times out of 10 nothing will happen with a running car, below is an attempt to describe what can go wrong.

Vmax's & Ventures use a Shunt type regulator. This style regulator discharges excess current coming from the stator to ground via an electronic circuit, probably large SCR's. This shunt system is designed to handle the expected output of the bikes stator which is in the range of 30 amps. When you hook a car up to it that is running, now the regulator is trying to shunt the output of possibly a 100 amp or more alternator. The bike regulator may fail trying to do this. The reason a running car is worse than a non running car is that when the car's voltage regulator senses the lower voltage of the bikes battery being put in parallel with the cars battery, it engages the higher alternator output. This increases voltage and current flow. A non running car's battery is at a level around 13.2 volts, when the alt. engages the system voltage increases to around 14.5 volts.

With a Shunt type regulator, if a steady 13.2 voltage is applied, the motorcycle battery will try to equalize it self by drawing power from the car's battery. It acts like a sponge, sucking energy from the car. When the running cars charging system kicks in and increases voltage to 14.5, the bikes regulator sees this increase in voltage and thinks system is charged and tries to shunt current to ground in order to protect battery from overcharging. Since the car can provide far more current than the regulator is designed for, something can fail.

If the car is just idling, it probably is not spinning the alternator fast enough to develop the higher voltage & amperage. But if it is reved up, system output increases.

Gary

 

[Blackjack]

Thanks for this detailed explanation, that helps me better understand how the electrical system operates when dealing with jump starts from a vehicle. :clapping: