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Bike Jumping

  • Thread starter Thread starter shadowfist
  • Start date Start date
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shadowfist

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Just a quick question. can you use jumper cables on a cycle and jump it using a running car? do they use the same voltages and such?

mine is a 78 GS750 BTW
 
You CAN use a car batt to jump your bike, but DO NOT EVER do it with the car running. You will fry things in short order...
 
Car not running!!!!! just hook up when the vehicle is OFF!!

pass it on to help everyone you can

voltage is the same 12 DCV. Amperage is different

bike= 10 amps
car =100 amps when running

the starter on a bike will draw 50 ~75 amps momentarily. if it is good.

if the starter is going bad a car battery will not help.
 
nother question, can you use those starter battery things that you attach to your battery and press the button then?
 
I would suggest NOT using one of those starter packs. I have seen a couple that boosted the voltage a bit so they would not have to supply so many amps (using some basic electrical properties). Your voltage regulator will attempt to regulate those extra volts, but, because of the accomanying increase in amps, it will quickly die while trying.

.
 
Don't sweat the amps

Don't sweat the amps

I have jumped my bike frequently from my car with no ill effects, and I think there is a bit of confusion on the subject.

Let?s look at this for a moment. A battery is an electron source. The voltage or electron pressure it can supply is determined by it?s design, in the case of lead/acid motorcycle and automobile batteries about 12.5 volts. The amperage or volume of electrons it can supply is determined by its physical size. The watt is a measure of how much electrical work can be done, volts x amps = watts. It takes more work (watts) to turn over a car engine than a motorcycle engine, perhaps around ten times as much. If a bike requires 20 amps to start, we say it will draw 12.5vdc x 20 amps = 250 watts. A car on the other hand might draw 10 times as much 12.5 vdc x 200 amps = 2500 watts! A car?s battery must be larger only because it must be able to supply more amps but not more volts for the car?s starter, Connect it to a bike and it will supply only as much as the what the bike starter needs, and this is ten times less.

You cannot damage your bikes electrical system by connecting it to a car electrical system if you observe proper polarity (+ to +, - to -) UNLESS there is something wrong with the bike's system such as a short (a direct electrical path to ground - your bike's frame, in which case you might wind up with a lot of very hot wires, melted insulation smoke and flames., but not because it was connected to a larger battery.
 
johnbtrask said:
I have jumped my bike frequently from my car with no ill effects, and I think there is a bit of confusion on the subject.

Let?s look at this for a moment. A battery is an electron source. The voltage or electron pressure it can supply is determined by it?s design, in the case of lead/acid motorcycle and automobile batteries about 12.5 volts. The amperage or volume of electrons it can supply is determined by its physical size. The watt is a measure of how much electrical work can be done, volts x amps = watts. It takes more work (watts) to turn over a car engine than a motorcycle engine, perhaps around ten times as much. If a bike requires 20 amps to start, we say it will draw 12.5vdc x 20 amps = 250 watts. A car on the other hand might draw 10 times as much 12.5 vdc x 200 amps = 2500 watts! A car?s battery must be larger only because it must be able to supply more amps but not more volts for the car?s starter, Connect it to a bike and it will supply only as much as the what the bike starter needs, and this is ten times less.

You cannot damage your bikes electrical system by connecting it to a car electrical system if you observe proper polarity (+ to +, - to -) UNLESS there is something wrong with the bike's system such as a short (a direct electrical path to ground - your bike's frame, in which case you might wind up with a lot of very hot wires, melted insulation smoke and flames., but not because it was connected to a larger battery.
Click to expand...
agreed, as long as your electrical system is in good order, your battery and system will only draw the power it needs. if something else is wrong somewhere then the main fuse will blow, rather than frying your electrics. thats what fuses are for!
 
thats all good except one big problem.

plenty folks have fried their regulators jumping from a running car.

the components used in the R&R were not designed to handle the current a set of car jumper cables can send from a running car.

true the motorcycle regulator will try to regulate to the same voltage a car regulator will and in theory and logicly it should be fine, yet there are plenty people who have let the smoke out the R&R and blow the master fuse.
better safe than sorry and jumper cable do send plenty amps to jump a bike with the car shut off.
 
i can't explain it as eloquently as previously explained but i fried a R/R and i think at the same time the ignitor box. I've been told by many that you should not jump start your bike with a car running.

By theory it sounds good but life experiences sometimes overrule theory. Those of you who want to jump start your bike with a car running, i say go for it and good luck.
 
The problem with jumping from a running car happens when the car regulator is set for higher voltage than the bike's. Unlike the generator in a bike, an alternator in a car adjusts the magnetic field and produce 14.4 V (or whatever) at idle or at 6k rpm. So if the bike's RR has a lower voltage limit, it will always lose.
 
All technelectrical terms aside, the lesson for me is don't jumpstart my bike with a car's battery when the engine is running! Great info, I did not know. Thanks all.
 
tas850g said:
By theory it sounds good but life experiences sometimes overrule theory.
Click to expand...
I don't remember if I saw it here or on another board that I frequent, but somebody had a sig line that read something like this:

In theory, theory and practice are the same. :D

In practice, it will probably blow up. :eek:

.
 
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