Quote:

DO NOT jump a bike off with a car...ever.. way too many cranking amps.


Fellows, Could you please explain the above statement? Maybe I'm missing something here! example... If I have a 1.5 volt light bulb and hook it up to a 1.5 volt D cell, it will light up. If I hook up 50 1.5 volt D cells in parallel and then hook them up to the same 1.5 volt light bulb, it will still light up with no problem. There is a lot more amperage available but it is still rated for 1.5 volts. What is the difference with a 12 volt motorcycle battery vs a 12 volt automotive battery.

If you could fit a car battery in your bike, it would function just like a bike battery. The only difference is that you would be able to crank your starter for a lot longer.

I realize the potential for arcing and damage to the charging system is a lot greater if you ground out a jumper lead because of the large amperage potential with the automotive battery but you can still jump start your bike in a pinch. Just make sure the car isn't running like Oldroadie stated.

One last statement, there is always the safety aspect of jump starting. Any battery can explode when jump started depending on how you jumpered the cables and the internal condition of the battery. I've seen at least a dozen batteries explode over the years. Some because of loose connections, some because of internal shorting. If you don't know what you are doing, don't do it.

I have included a couple of links on "Jump starting Motorcycles"
http://www.msgroup.org/tip.aspx?num=104
http://www.cyclemaintenance.com/elec/jump_starting.htm

This link states that you can boost from an Auto but make sure it is not running.
http://www.shadowriders.org/faq/jumpstarting.html