battery jumper cables...

[redwing]

Making a set of cables seem the most effective for cost and value. Found a web sight detailing how to make a set. And another for a set of cables that charge your battery. Pretty simple setup but I'm light on biking experience so I thought making this post and asking for advice would be a good idea.
Ya can't never know too much...

http://www.gadgetjq.com/cheapcable.htm making a set

http://www.upstart-inc.com/index.html battery charging cables

http://www.powerlet.com/product/real-mo ... cables/410 found this and it might be a real solution but priceee

Robert

[Faylo]

Just an FYI. Years ago, my sister was riding an R50/5 and my father an R90/6 on a trip to Colorado. BMWMOA rally at Colorado Springs in 1977? The R50 had a questionable battery and sure enough if went dead while visiting some relatives out in the middle of nowhere. (Literally in a field checking out some cattle.) We sourced a coat hanger and I held it on both battery +positive terminals while we put the valve covers of both bikes in contact and jumped the R50 from the R90. We kept the coat hanger for the trip home and had to do another jump somewhere in Kansas.

Given that. I think all one would need for a jumper cable on a bike would be a single large gauge wire (12AWG) with clips on each end for the battery positive connection and then touch the bikes to each other.

Hope this helps.
-Jim

[SDMAX]

Dude !
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/ ... ables.aspx

9.95 and they fit under the r1200r seat. I gave them to some of my pals for Christmas last year. My son figured I was an idiot and had to call for help because he left his gifted jumpers at home.

8 gauge is bigger than 10 gauge or 12 gauge; smallest cheapest gauge is right for putting under the seat.

Here's the thing. I was at a track training class and left the key on. R1200R's do not bump start or push start, not even downhill with several people pushing; not in any gear. You need to jump. Little cables under the seat do the job. Of course, now that I have them, I've never used them but they fit under the seat along with a small slime pump and a tire plug kit...took the pump out of its case and put it in a gym sock. There's other stuff too, set of torx tools, like that.

YMMV

PS: Someday I hope I get a chance to impress my friends with the coat hanger/valve cover start technique. Bad ass.

[spoonyfork]

I bump started my 2008 R1200R in second gear last Wednesday. It was down hill with 2 people pushing, but it did start. I ended up replacing the struggling 3 year old battery when I got home.

[SDMAX]

I think if there is something left in the battery you might get a bump start. I am informed and believe and thereon allege that there has to be some minimum voltage to tell things to wake up. Certainly not enough to turn it over but enough to tell the sleepy giant that things are maybe gonna happen. Mine was flat and no wake up until external juice applied.

Glad you could get yours going. These are smallish batteries and it doesn't take much time to run them flat. OTH my battery was good and it charged right up from running the bike. BTW I never use a trickle charger and it started recently after no starts for a month. Sleeps in a garage and not very cold so that may help.

Out here a guy was taking his bike from northern California to southern and got stuck in the middle of nowhere, well nowhere near an mc battery sale place--- throwing error codes, going nuts....yeah it was a weak battery and it had been slow turning over when he started the trip.

Ain't nothing worse than looking at some cold, lifeless lump what won't start. I am over batteried in everything I own what needs one. Ask me sometime about the 8 L16 6volt AGM's wired for 12 on my boat....that's 1600 amps...that would get Mr. R12's attention! Of course the 8 batteries weigh way more than the R 12.

BTW two: Off memory 12 volts is dead. 12.2 is getting dead. 13 plus is what it should read. Something like that. But basically, new battery time about every two years and I'm close.

Best to list. Cheap cables under the seat rock for me.

[tinytrains]

I carry a set of cables from Amazon in the saddle bag, but from what I have read and heard, "If the bike won't start, the bike won't run". If the battery is low because you left the parking light on, you may be OK with the jumpers. But if the battery has failed, you are probably dead. BMW should have provided a bit more headroom on the power bus before shutting down the system. Processors run at 3.3 volts or less, so I don't know why they cut it off at 12 volts.

Anyone with success at jump or bump starting their R1200R, chime in.

Scott

[SDMAX]

Rodger all that; my premise is that the battery got too low to start because the key was left on; this is easy for me to do bc of my bad happen of stopping the bike by putting the side stand down. I know, I know.

If it's a failing battery for other reasons, with the jumps on and the donor bike running for a few mins, then dead bike should come to life. It's next stop should be the battery store.

All I can report is that my discharged battery did not permit a bump start but did fire without fuss after being hooked up to another bike for just a couple of minutes.

The lower gauge cables make the fit under the seat a breeze. Also, per someone's rules, once there, your battery will never fail.

[dbrick]

I flattend my bike's Exide by turng the engine off with the kill switch and forgetting to turn the key off, then walking off for a lengthy lunch. When I returned, I got needle lurching and other weirdness for awhile, then complete deadness.

Jumped it from the bike next door. Started right up. Ran it for an hour and a half at high speed (we were out near Death Valley) and it's been fine the seven months since.

[AncientMariner]

White Horse Press, up in New Hampshire, sells a very nice set of jumpers.

[nylife]

http://roadgear.com//deluxe-jumper-cabl ... 668ce9ed27

[TinkerToy]

This may shed some light on why things won't go...a service mgr. told me that anything below 11.8 volts, the computer [? processor } shuts the start system off...my dash lights a glow, looking normal but the bike wouldn't turn over...the sudden death had set in...a new battery fixed it. O Reilys Advance Auto and Autozone ...sell a 10ft.10 ga. booster cable in a round plastic pouch 1.5 in. thick and 6in. in dia. ...abouy $10.00 My set caries the brand name SUPER START...part no.01413 Ozark Automobile Distribuiors Springfield,Mo. 65802

[mogu83]

I carry a set of Yuasa Motorcycle Battery Jumper Cables they're a little more expensive than some others but this is a case of you get what you pay for. The cheap sets have a few strands of heavy wire in them but the better sets have a large amount of fine wire. That makes them more flexible and also more efficient at transferring voltage (amps) from one vehicle to another.


When you Need jumper cables you don't want to be screwing around touching valve covers together or using a set that was designed for automobiles when for the price of a tank of gas you can have a premium set that was designed for a motorcycle,

http://www.amazon.com/Yuasa-Motorcycle- ... B003TI2DD2

[PhilSB]

This summer my bike refused to start after being parked for a short while, I had just ridden for over an hour. I tried to bump start it down a slope but with no luck. The AA man came and tested the battery and said it was in need of replacement, it was over 4 years old. He jump started it and away I went. I replaced it with another from the BMW dealer (Exide?) , the date stamped on the battery was over 6 months old which I thought was a bit much.
I was going to change the battery earlier but the dealer tested it in March and said it was fine. I knew at 4 years it wouldn't last long, if I wasn't a cheapskate I would have changed it.

Phil