Bonehead Newb Mistake Leads To Jump Question

[Xdot]

Went for a short ride today to watch my son play a tennis match. When I pulled up I just hit the kill switch and walked away, thinking how cool I look on this beautiful machine.
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You should have guess it by now. When I get back 90 minutes later the first thing I notice is the headlight glowing at me. Yup, I left the key in, turned to on. Glad I live in the southeast. Still, last time I do that. Naturally, it wouldn't start. Just so happened I have a buddy who rides a '90 BMW RT a few houses down who brought a batter charger over. Only problem was, we couldn't get to the terminals. Question is: how do you jump one of these bikes and is it even advisable, and is there a battery charger that will fit that wierd size power port?

In the end it didn't matter. Twenty minutes later the battery had recovered (read: cooled off) enough to crank the bike if just barely. Question remains.

John

P.S. He won, 6-0, 6-1 in the final.

[Samiam]

Do you have an Owner's Manual? Is the bike a "later Model"? If you have the manual, it will show you the two studs you use to jump or charge the battery. If it's an older model without the external posts, you'll likely need to loosen the gas tank to access the battery. I hope the two answers to the above are yes. God luck.

[rsperko]

I have an older one without the jumper post, I just took off the starter cover and think I would try connecting to the starter post. I believe that is were the jumper post connects. All it takes is a 6mm allen wrench.

-Rick

[iowabeakster]

The yellow jackets are not the "later models". So it wouldn't have the jump posts as stock fitment (although previous owner could have bought and installed them).

The good news is that you don't need to remove the gas tank to jump start. EDIT: (as rsperko posted, as I was making picture)

You can remove the plastic starter cover (a single small bolt, if I rememver right), and attatch the positive lead of the jumper cable to the + terminal on the starter. Then attatch the negative jumper cable to any substantial metal (ground) on the engine/frame. The painted cooling fins (or anything painted) will not make a good electrical contact point.

Yes, you can trickle charge the battery through the socket. But, don't try to jump start it that way.

Here, I made a picture (having a really slow night at work tonight).




Remove bolt (yellow)
Sorry, I don't have a picture with the cover removed. Attatch positive jumper cable to the positive terminal on the starter.
Some places to ground the negative (green)

My bike (04 model) bike has the jumper posts (red-positive) (blue-negative). You could buy a kit from a dealer if you wanted to install these on your bike.

[Xdot]

Hey, thanks much, all. Think I will find and install the kit. Good protection JIC.

Thought I'd get some ribbing. It can only mean I'm not the first person to ever do this!

-john

[CycleRob]

This could turn into "that kill switch argument", but as Xdot just found out, my "never use the KS to turn off the bike" side won that argument . . . . again. The bike's battery also lost one of it's nine lives.

Because of the big high initial current draw from the very low battery being charged by the alternator, it's a good idea to use the lower gears and higher RPM's the first 10 minutes or so of run charging time. That insures the alternator rotor & stator windings do not get too overheated. The battery's charging rate will be very nearly the same at lower engine RPM's, but the alternator rotor's low RPM larger excitation current and resulting higher operational heat is removed more slowly by the slower turning external fan. The owner's manual advises against using the bike's alternator to charge up a dead battery (after a jump or push start), as it is not designed to handle the sustained high Ampere output. Now you know the why of it. Yes, everybody does it, but the alternator (car or bike) is being pushed to it's `no harm' limits when you do.

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[wncbmw]

The only time my kill switch gets used is when that clown at the Beakster Bash goes around flipping everyone's off overnight!

(Hear that Boxer! Yeah, you!)

[rdsmith3]

I don't use the kill switch, either.

does MSF still teach that as the "right" way to turn off a bike?

[Xdot]

Actually I don't think I used the kill switch. I think I used the kickstand. Either way, I won't make that mistake again. And the battery wasn't dead, just low. It did have enough juice to start the bike. Now, after reading that other post this morning, I'm wondering what I can do to extend the life of the clutch splines... Hate to hear about that one.

[rsperko]

In MSF they told us to always use the kill switch. I do on my Enfield, but use the key on the R. I have seen oil class debates on the two.

-Rick

[Sander Abernathy]

I don't use the kill switch, either.

does MSF still teach that as the "right" way to turn off a bike?

I was new to riding in April and took the MSF basic rider course and yes they did teach us to use the kill switch. I wouldn't say that they think that is the right way though. Inside the fenced confines of an MSF course removing the key from the bike doesn't accomplish anything but cause one of 12 students to lose the key after each exercise.

To date, I have considered it something of a triumph whenever I used the killswitch because it means I didn't stall the bike or put the sidestand down with the bike in gear. After 3,500 miles in two months a stall or using the sidestand as an off switch is now pretty rare. However, leaving my keys in the bike is still very common. This thread makes me realize I should be using the key and not the kill switch.

You learn something new every day.

[Dr. Strangelove]

The only time my kill switch gets used is when that clown at the Beakster Bash goes around flipping everyone's off overnight!

(Hear that Boxer! Yeah, you!)

Ah-Ha that's the joker who did it at Harriman. I caught it btw.

[keithbw]

Wow, thought I knew most all the important stuff about the RR.
I would have used the accessory socket before I read this thread.
Did not even occur to me to remove the starter cover as an alternative to removing the tank.
Seems obvious after being pointed out.
Need to pay more attention for sure.
Bought the #6 o-rings for my mirrors last week, glad that thread was resurrected, missed it
the first time around.