Motorcycle Jumper Cables

[HaChayalBoded]

Here is a nice chart for the current limits of a particular guage of wire and a handy little voltage drop calculator based on guage, length and amperage. Slick!

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

[Xeraux]

Originally Posted by Tasy's BIGJIM

Look I wouldn't risk the Damage to my Bm electronics by Sparking Jumper Cables? Ampage is it the same between different bikes? Its never going to go if you Fry that! I'd just Push start. I've pushed a Goldwing my Race Bike.... some carry so much not needed stuff ? Jim. ?

You can't push a 12GS

[dlrides]

I carry a standard 6 ft extension cord. If you need a m/c boost, cut the plugs off, wrap around terminals, instant booster cables !

[Unca Fud]

If you can keep the total length to less than 10 ft, you should figure on #8 wire. That's assuming the max starter current is about 200Amps and about 1 V allowable voltage drop.

From some of the posts above there's going to be a lot of 10Amp accessory outlets that won't work soon...........

[chaserkeywest]

Originally Posted by HaChayalBoded

I would have someone else do all your wiring if I were you. You need to read up on electricity a bit more. Just because a wire can handle 110 does not mean it can handle a high amperage 12v load. Take a walk around the house and check the wiring coming out of your TV, lamp, radio, telephone, cell phone charger. Now take a look at the main 12v and ground wire coming off the battery and tell me if you see a difference.

If you tried to use any of those wires in your home to boost a vehicle, the insulation would melt in your hand (kinda like M&Ms except more painful)

Say your using 12g wire at about 12ft as a booster cable. Figure the load being roughly 25amps to boost. Your looking at a voltage drop of about 1amp by the time the power reaches the end of the wire. Based on the amperage, voltage drop and load. Your home wiring insulation would be dripping from start to end within about 5-10 seconds.

This setup has worked for me for 10 years or more without any melt problems and coils up into a tight bundle.

The stuff I'm talking about is muli-strand, did you ever see it?

Reading usually stunts your growth........

[NBeener]

In theory, practice should be the same as theory.

In practice, though, it's not.

[GSWayne]

Originally Posted by HaChayalBoded

Say your using 12g wire at about 12ft as a booster cable. Figure the load being roughly 25amps to boost. Your looking at a voltage drop of about 1amp by the time the power reaches the end of the wire. Based on the amperage, voltage drop and load. Your home wiring insulation would be dripping from start to end within about 5-10 seconds.

12 Ga wire can handle 20 A all day, that is the typical circuit breaker size for 12 Ga house wiring and 25% more is not going to melt any insulation in 5 or 10 seconds. For an experiment I took a piece of 14 Ga (two wire sizes smaller than 12 Ga so it has about 50% more resistance) "house wire" and using my welder put 50 A DC through it for about 30 seconds and it just got warm on the outside. Power dissipation in the wire goes like the square of the current, so the dissipation per foot of wire in the experment should be about 6 times the dissipation for 25 A in 12 Ga wire. I am actually surprised it didn't get hotter, in theory it was dissipating 6 watts per foot or 4 watts in the 8" length I was using. (my 0.1 ohm sense resistor sure got hot with only 2.5 watts dissipation).

[NBeener]

Originally Posted by NBeener

Here's one example of what you're talking about:



Marine-grade 10 gauge wire.

From:

this link

It's about $1/foot, so .. with $8/pr marine battery clips, you got about $24 for bulletproof cables.

Well, I jetted out to the marine store and made myself a pair of these last night.

They came out exceptionally well.

They coil up into something the size of a small can of nuts and slips right into my tool bag.

[EDIT] picture:

[Mixpro]

Originally Posted by Tasy's BIGJIM

Look I wouldn't risk the Damage to my Bm electronics by Sparking Jumper Cables? Ampage is it the same between different bikes? Its never going to go if you Fry that! I'd just Push start. I've pushed a Goldwing my Race Bike.... some carry so much not needed stuff ? Jim. ?

I've dropped my bike trying to hop on after pushing it down the alley to push-starting it. Scratches in the plastic, Big bummer.http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/bncry.gif If you jump correctly, you won't worry about differences in electrical systems, as they're all 12 volts. Do this: The "good" battery should NOT be in a running car or bike. The car's alternator, especially if it's faulty, is what can damage your electrical system. A good battery will start your dead bike on its own. Connect the + (Red) side of the good battery to the + side of your battery. Connect the - ground (black) of the good battery to either your - battery terminal or bare metal of the frame of your bike. This will safely complete the circuit. Then start your bike, remove the + cable first, then the ground. If some good samaritan wants to rev up his car engine while you're trying to get a jump, wait for someone else.

[Jamie Z]

Originally Posted by Cosmic_Jumper

This ought to cost you all of $7 or $8:

Go to Home Depot and get 8 feet of 12 or 14 gauge (two lead) Low Voltage Lighting Cable from the spool in the Electric Wire Section. This is the stuff that's used for low voltage yard lights. It's very flexible. That's gonna cost you about $0.35/foot. Don't get the pre-packaged stuff, get it off the spool.

Next stop is at Wal-Mart to pick up two sets of small battery charger clamps from the Tire Section --where they sell battery terminals. That'll cost you another $1.88 per set.

Take everything home, split the wires back about 6 inches on both ends & solder the terminals to the appropriate ends of the wire, being sure to observe polarity.

It's been well over a year, but this is what I ended up doing, almost exactly.

I ended up with about seven feet of 12 gauge Lighting Cable from Home Depot at 50 cents a foot, and two sets of battery charger clamps from Walmart ($1.88, just like you said). They came out pretty good, though I don't have any way to test them that I can think. The continuity is good, so I presume they'll work if I ever have to jump my bike or someone else's, which has happened twice so far when I didn't have cables.

Thanks Jumper... if you're still around.

Jamie

[Slash5]

I went to Home Depot and bought a 6 foot Electric Range Wire ($6) and two pair of alligator clips ($1.50 each). Stipped the third wire off and replaced both end with alligator clips, soldered all connections and I was set to go. Pretty heavy duty and packs small enough to put into a quart size zip lock bag.

[Cumminsman76]

Originally Posted by Jamie Z

I ended up with about seven feet of 12 gauge Lighting Cable from Home Depot at 50 cents a foot, and two sets of battery charger clamps from Walmart ($1.88, just like you said). They came out pretty good, though I don't have any way to test them that I can think. The continuity is good, so I presume they'll work if I ever have to jump my bike or someone else's, which has happened twice so far when I didn't have cables.


Jamie

Time to go to the store.

[VFR]

I went to the local electronics supply store & picked up 10 feet of 10 ga auto stereo power cable & four clamps, I believe when I first saw this post in '07. This cable is red/black two conductor stranded cable. Stereo cable is much more flexible than standard 10 ga wire and has thicker insulation.

Been carrying them ever since & have used them several times, both on others & my bikes. Keep them in the side bags with the tire repair kit & Cycle Pump.

You could have a 10 ga SAE connector connected to the battery with a very short lead & use an SAE connector on one end of the jumper cable. The downside here is it would only work on your bike and it would also be a good idea to make the jumper cable shorter, like maybe 6 feet.

I have an SAE connector attached to a fuse block & extending below the side panel of my bike to use for charging various electronic gear plus the Cycle Pump & battery charger. I have chargers & adapters for all of the gear I carry in a small bag which stays in the side bag. Even the pump to air up my air mattress.

Jamie Z's tips have proven very useful....