HELP!!! MY BIKE NEEDS A RIDE

[jimaug87]

I was late returning to work and left my keys in the ignition, and the ignition was left on, wala! my bikes dead.

I tried to pop start it but that was to no avail. The engine turned over but it never kicked on.

I don't know if you can jump a motorcycle using a car. If that is possible I would appreciate it if someone could help me out with that.

If you can't do that I really just want it home in the garage where it's safe. If anyone has any advice or can lend a hand I would forver be in debt to you.

It's sitting in the Stop and Shop/CVS/ect parking lot on Rt 1N @ Rt 62 in Danvers. If anybody can come out to help i could reinburse you gas money. I live about 15 minutes south of the bike's location.

I know cars, and really wish I had a broken down car that needed roadside repair. I know almost nothing about motorcycles and feel dumb that I'm stranded with a dead battery.

The bike is a 1994 ZX-11, that's also currently for sale

I know somebody will lend me a hand or shoot me some advice that will get my bike home. whomever that is, Thank you.

[reiobard]

sorry, i am too far away, but if you can find anyone around then you can jump start the bike from a car just DO NOT HAVE THE CAR RUNNING. if the car is running the alternator will output about 14V and resting the car battery should rest at about 12 which should be safe, just take the cables off as soon as it is running.

[jimaug87]

Thanks for that. I'll give it a try after dinner. If anyone has done that before I would like to see it first. Should I be able to jump the bike right after the cables are attached or should I wait for the battery to charge then try to start it?

[Wishbone]

the very first night I bought my current bike I had to jump it 2 times from a car, with it running that was over 15k ago now and every thing still works great. still has the original battery (2002) that has NEVER been on a battery tender

[Dean_T]

Get a nother person to push you on the bike. Put the bike on 2nd gear.

[Currently]

Make sure that the jumping vehicle is TURNED OFF.

You want to jump just with their battery power.

[jimaug87]

When I tried pop starting it I was in 2nd. I have popped bikes on before and this bike just turned over. It never kicked in.

And I got that the donor vehicle needs to be off, but should I try to start the bike right as soon as the cables are attached, or should i wait and let it built up a charge?

Thanks for all of these really speedy replies.

[jimaug87]

uhhhmmmm....

where's the battery? haha.

1994 ZX11

[Dean_T]

If you don't have the motorcycle to car cigarette lighter cable then you can use the normal cables. Attach them the usual way. DO NOT START THE CAR. Let it charge for about 5-10 minutes or you can start your bike and see what happens. Check your cabling and make sure your battery cables are not loose (from experience).

[wookie]

Jumped a bike from a car...no problem.

Once tried to jump a car from a bike....no work.

Also, when I bought the speed triple the battery died.

I called the dealer because I wasn't sure where the battery was and someone was waiting there with their car.

"could you tell me where the battery is I don't have the manual/you never gave it to me"

"....yeah, the battery is under the seat next to the manual"

BTW DID YOU FIND SOMEONE TO JUMP YOU?

[OreoGaborio]

Don't charge the battery w/ the car's battery, it wasn't designed to work like that. Hook em together, start it, disconnect & go for a LONG RIDE.... idling won't charge the battery at all.

Battery should be under the front seat where they usually are.... may be on the side of the bike though, but not likely.

[Wishbone]

"....yeah, the battery is under the seat next to the manual"

Now that is god stuff, I bet they could tell that your other mount was a HD

[Honclfibr]

WHY SHOULDN'T I START THE CAR?

WHY ARE WE YELLING?

I LOVE LAMP.

[TTD]

I'm with the "car not running" crowd.

Battery alone is plenty strong to start a bike.

Why risk having the car running?

[ZX-12R]

When I tried pop starting it I was in 2nd. I have popped bikes on before and this bike just turned over. It never kicked in.

The ignition system needs a little power to function properly. Most times when you can't turn the bike over, there is enough juice in the battery to let the electronics run which allows you to pop start it. When you leave your ignition on for extened periods of time, it completely kills the battery to the point where your coils won't fire.

After you get jump from another vehicle, ride straight home and put the battery on a slow charge for a few hours. Then let it sit overnight on a trickle charger.

[jimaug87]

I tried to charge it and that failed. I then tried to pop it once again, thinkning i might have enough juice to get her going, and nothing.

I think my battery may have been on it's last legs anyway, because of the weird starting issues I've had. I would hit the button, it would turn once or twice, then stop. I would keep hitting the button until it finally turned over the 3 or 4 times my carbs needed to fire.

My brother came home with his van. I'm going give her a ride back. thanks for all of the advice.

Oh and i needed to loosen the tank to get to the battery.

[R7]

WHY SHOULDN'T I START THE CAR?

Can't answer that question, a car charging system puts out the same ampers as a mc charging system (13.3-13.8)...maybe the car ampers are bigger or fatter

[jimaug87]

The bike is still dead, but safe at home. My brother came home earlier than expected and I got to use his van.

Damn! ZX11's are heavy tho

[Captain Chris]

Jim,
Just push start it. Keep trying until it starts. You don't need a battery to run a motorcycle. The only thing you "need" the battery for is turn the starter to turn the engine and you don't even need that. You can turn the engine by push starting it. Just make sure the ignition is on and the kill switch is ok. If it still doesn't start, the problem is not with your battery.
Also, go out and get yourself a battery tender (the small, mini one). They're pretty cheap and they do an awesome job at charging and maintaining your battery. Hook it up and leave it for a day or so and you'll be good.
Good luck,
Chris

[OreoGaborio]

The bike is still dead, but safe at home. My brother came home earlier than expected and I got to use his van.

Damn! ZX11's are heavy tho

if you listened to those that said you can jump start it you wouldn't have had to lift it, push it or whatever. So once again, you can jump start a bike w/ a car battery.

[spicy]

last year my katana battery was dead when i went to start it in the beginning of the season... i had the car running, but my father accidentally had the polarity switched coming off the car battery to the bike -- totally fried my electricals...

pro tip: don't let anyone else attach your jumper cables, lol.

[ZX-12R]

Can't answer that question, a car charging system puts out the same ampers as a mc charging system (13.3-13.8)...maybe the car ampers are bigger or fatter

The problem lies in the way the charging systems work on cars and bikes. In a car, the alternator has an adjustable field which allows the regulator electronics to adjust the output of the alternator (current and voltage) to suit the demands of the car. This is fairly efficient and little heat is generated.

On a motorcycle you have a permanent magnet rotor which is always outputting the maximum current possible for any given RPM since its magnetic field can not be adjusted. Because of that, the regulator on a motorcycle works by dissipating all the unused power as heat which is why your reg/rect module has large heat sinks on it. The module is designed to be able to dissipate all the power that the generator can produce. The charging system on an average car can deliver 3-5 times the power that the motorcycle system is designed to handle. If the car's regulation voltage is higher than the motorcycle's, the motorcycle will attempt to regulate it by shunting the excess power to ground. The car's charging system detects this and increases it's output to get back to it's regulation point. This in turn causes the motorcycle's regulator to dissipate even more power. This continues until the motorcycle's regulator eventually overheats and fails.

[DucDave]

.....you have a permanent magnet rotor which is always outputting the maximum current possible for any given RPM since its magnetic field can not be adjusted. Because of that, the regulator on a motorcycle works by dissipating all the unused power as heat which is why your reg/rect module has large heat sinks on it. The module is designed to be able to dissipate all the power that the generator can produce. The charging system on an average car can deliver 3-5 times the power that the motorcycle system is designed to handle. If there car's regulation voltage is higher than the motorcycle's, the motorcycle will attempt to regulate it by shunting the excess power to ground. The car's charging system detects this and increases it's output to get back to it's regulation point. This in turn causes the motorcycle's regulator to dissipate even more power. This continues until the motorcycle's regulator eventually overheats and fails....

Great explanation! Mr. Wizard's got nuttin on you!!!

[Jaynnus]

The problem lies in the way the charging systems work on cars and bikes. In a car, the alternator has an adjustable field which allows the regulator electronics to adjust the output of the alternator (current and voltage) to suit the demands of the car. This is fairly efficient and little heat is generated.

On a motorcycle you have a permanent magnet rotor which is always outputting the maximum current possible for any given RPM since its magnetic field can not be adjusted. Because of that, the regulator on a motorcycle works by dissipating all the unused power as heat which is why your reg/rect module has large heat sinks on it. The module is designed to be able to dissipate all the power that the generator can produce. The charging system on an average car can deliver 3-5 times the power that the motorcycle system is designed to handle. If there car's regulation voltage is higher than the motorcycle's, the motorcycle will attempt to regulate it by shunting the excess power to ground. The car's charging system detects this and increases it's output to get back to it's regulation point. This in turn causes the motorcycle's regulator to dissipate even more power. This continues until the motorcycle's regulator eventually overheats and fails.

Wow, finally some good information on NESR...go figure!

I had to jump the 7fiddy a few weeks ago and argued with the truck owner not to leave the truck running....my best answer was.."I don't know why, the batteries are the same volt, but just don't do it!"

[jimaug87]

I tried jumping the bike with a car that was not running. After almost an hour of charging my bike, the neutral light was barely visible when I turned on the ignition, as opposed to having zero light before the jump.

I tried pop starting it once more before I left and nothing. The engine just turned over a couple of time again.

I have a steep incline to my driveway and I'm going to try popping it again later. I knwo that should work, and i don't know why it's not kicking in.