I am thinking about building a set of motorcycle jumper cables / charge wires. I have read in several places that all you need is 10 gauge wires cut to about 4-5 feet with some smallish 50 amp clamps. I have scene 10g jumper cables intended for cars. I just have a hard time believing those little wires can "jump" anything. Will a sett up like this actually jump a motorcycle? I'm sure you could connect it and let it charge up a bit and start it. But that could take a while. I have a real of 10g wire but I also have 12ft of 6 gauge cable that's pretty flexible. It can be wound up pretty good and not take up too much space. But if all I need is 10g wire I'd be better off with those as far as space is concerned. Which way would you build it? I just have a hard time believing 10g wire will jump anything. I know jumping a motorcycle is not recommend by a lot of people. I also know of the potential to damage something. However I'll take the chance under certain circumstances. I'd rather not go crap and drop my bike, risking injury to me while trying to bump start it. At work we sometimes use ATV's. A few days ago a small set of jumpers would have been usefull. We could not get a set ment for automotive use connected. They have a pull string back up but haha the dam string snapped on the first pull. For some reason it would not bump start. We where having trouble getting it up to speed. Enter the Red Neck in me. Me and my coworker are a little nuts at times. Out comes the recovery strap. Down the trail we go at about 25 mph bump the clutch and it came to life. I do not recomend this be done by anybody! But I'm a nut sometimes. Next time I think I'll pull the battery and connect it with the cables letting it charge off the wench battery.

 

The bigger the better when it comes to jumper cables. I have a smallish clamp that I put on the motorcycle battery (+ terminal only) then connect my regular cable to that clamp. The neg cable I attach to a bolt on the bike. I don't do it often but it work for me.

 

I have only push started my own motorcycle by myself twice in forty plus years of riding. Push started my wideglide about five years ago to get it home after having the voltage regulator go out. If I have to I will call for a trailer to take the bike to a local dealer. Your cables but I wouldn't waste my time because most riders don't leave enough accessories on with a motorcycle to run the battery down.

 

After getting stranded a couple times when I left my ignition switch on I decided to buy a set of mc jumper cables. Got the Yuasa set. Very compact and 8 gauge. The only thing I've heard that you need to avoid doing is jumping a mc from a car with the engine running.

 

I used to use a full size set of cables on my old Guzzi, but that bitch had a full size Diehard.
Towards the end it had an iffy starter, so when I could I'd park it near a hill.

 

I bought the Yusa set off amazon for $21.20 used them twice...worth the small cost.

 

I have a set of jumper cables stowed on each of the bikes. I have never needed them for myself, but one of the guys I ride with occasionally, likes to use the kill switch rather than the key to shut his bike off. then he starts messing with $hit (stow helmet, find wallet, get glasses...) and forgets to remove the key. Several time he has gone into an eatery - spent an hour or so - only to come out and realize he has left the key in the "ON" position. Every time he does this, his battery is too low to start the bike because the headlight stays on when the key is on. I think the guy is a little slow on the uptake, because he insists that since he never turned the lights on, there should be no drain on the battery. I've explained numerous times that if the key is on, the lights are on, but he doesn't get it. I've even showed him that there is no light switch on his bike and that the only way to shut off the lights is to turn the damn key off. Anyway - when it comes to jumper cables, "BIGGER IS BETTER". Heaviest wire that you can conveniently cary will function the best.

 

Wow 10g wire did it. I made a set of 10g jumpers that where only about 1.5-2 ft long. With 50 amp clips. I forgot the original reason for these but I've used them to test circuits and charge 2 batteries at once off one charger. Well my girlfriends kids truck would not start. It's got a 5.7L chevy engine. Battery would not even crank it over. My girlfriend had my truck along with my jumper cables. Her truck was at shop getting new tires. I was going to go with my girlfriends son to get a new battery. Well I have a back up battery that fits my truck that I keep on a battery tender. It will not fit his truck. I took the charged battery out to his truck and connected it with the 10g wires. I let it sit for about 30 minutes or so checking it often to make sure it was not going to heat up. I left the wires connected and it fired right up. The wires never heated up. I think I'm going to make some about 5 feet long for the bike. I think it will work but probably won't "jump" it.

 

I jump started a SUV with my bike and also jump started someones bike with my truck (while it was running) with no problems

 

Offer to ride while he pushes and I bet he will remember to turn off the ignition after killing the engine with the run/off switch. I also wouldn't let the clutch out till he starts to lose speed.