How Do I Jump My Battery

[Suzukigurletoo]

Hi,

My bike has 900 miles; has been in storage (inside) for 6 months but battery is dead although light still comes on.

Question is should I try to jump the battery or should I buy a new one?

Please let me know, I want to get to riding.

Thanks.

Suzukigurletoo

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Suzukigurletoo

Question is should I try to jump the battery or should I buy a new one?

Neither. You should buy a battery CHARGER. Get one that has a 2 amp (or less) range and leave it connected for 8-10 hours......and then pray that it holds up long term.

It may not but you should have a charger anyway. New battery from dealer or Interstate: About $90.

[mrlmd1]

The light still comes on because there's still some amount of "juice" left in the battery, but not enough to turn over the starter or start the bike.
Charge it up fully overnight, with a plug in charger (2 amps- not 8 or 12 or more) first, or leave it overnight on a trickle charger, before buying a new one, you may be able to recover it. If you jump it and get the bike started, the charging system of the bike is not strong enough to bring the battery back to it's fully charged capacity if it's dead. It would take a few tankfuls of gas to do that, it's got a weak, low amp output charging system. If you jump it with another battery, like from a car, just connect the battery cables to the good battery, don't have the car engine running, so you don't burn something out.
If the bike has been sitting for 6 months, there may be no fuel in the carb, so you should turn the petcock to PRIME for a minute or two, then set it back to RUN, then try and start it.

[5th_bike]

You could also put it in 3rd gear and try to push start it (don't forget to switch the ignition key to 'on' and use the choke), then drive for at least half an hour (longer, like one whole hour, is better) and your battery will have some charge again. I did that last winter when the bike just said "click...".

[Suzukigurletoo]

Ok guys thanks for the tips BUT the real problem for me is that I DON'T KNOW HOW TO CHARGE THE BATTERY. I did take the cover off the side panel and located the battery but I don't know how to put the leads on it or where to put them, of course I know red is positive and the other (black?) I think is negative and the leads have to correlate. Other than that I'm lost.

What do you think?

[Water Warrior 2]

As suggested, get a battery charger. The smallest is best. A "Battery Tender" is a motorcycle specific charger and many folks swear by them. The Tender will come with proper leads and are color coded with excellant instructions for the uninitiated. You can get one on-line or check out your local bike shops. The package also includes a cord to be permanentely attached to the battery so you don't have to remove the side cover. Just leave the other end(2 or 3 inches)hang out from underneath the side cover. Both of our bikes have this feature. It is great if the battery is run down or the bike sits idle for a long time. The Tender will maintain the battery at full charge and is fully automatic.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

Just leave the other end(2 or 3 inches)hang out from underneath the side cover.

I've got mine going to the tool tray under the saddle. That way, I know that the socket is going to stay nice and dry (and hopefully corrosion free) I know I have to lift the saddle up to plug in the charger, but it doesn't take a moment, & I'm not going to be riding with the charger attached, anyway. :roll:

[alantf]

Originally Posted by Suzukigurletoo

I don't know how to put the leads on it or where to put them,

The battery tender should come with a lead with a socket on one end (to plug the charger in) & two rings on the other end.(one on each cable, marked + & - or pos & neg.) The battery has two terminals with bolts. Undo the red (+) bolt, & add the red/+ lead to the bolt, & fasten it up (nice & snug, but not enough force to shear the bolt.) Repeat this on the other black (-) terminal, with the other lead. Hey presto - job done.

By the way - if it's the original battery, it'll have metric bolts, like ALL the bolts on the bike.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Suzukigurletoo

of course I know red is positive and the other (black?) I think is negative and the leads have to correlate. Other than that I'm lost.

I think that is about all you need to know......other than what kind of charger to get.
A "dual range" one is most versitile. Something like 2/6 or 2/8 etc. The 2 setting is for motorcycles and lawn mowers and the higher setting is for cars and trucks.

Select the 2 range and 12V. Plug in the charger (do not touch the clip leads together!!).
Connect black clip to negative battery; connect red clip to positive (+) battery.....making sure that it does NOT also touch the frame.

Note that the meter on the charger goes up about half way or more.
Leave connected at least a couple of hours or until the meter goes down to about 1/8 scale. It won't hurt to leave it connected for 8-10 hours just to be sure.

Disconnect the charger before you try to start the bike.

It is a little easier to see what you are doing with the seat AND side cover removed.

AND finally, the owner's manual AND service manual AND parts list are available here for downloading. They are also available through the dealer for a "nominal" cost !!

P.S. OR find a friend who knows about all this stuff and ask for help. :biggrin:
I would volunteer but we're not quite close enough to make it an easy ride.

[New GZ250]

Plug in the charger (do not touch the clip leads together!!

I like to put the leads on and then plug the charger in, then I do not have to worry about touching the live leads.