Harley Davidson Sportster: How to Jump Start Battery
Having a dead battery is at best disappointing, even if you are home in your garage. Worse is getting stuck somewhere on the road with battery trouble. Unless you happen to break down in front of the Harley Dealer, your options are limited to jump starting or having your bike towed. In this article, we'll describe how to safely jump start your bike from another bike or, although there's some legend out there that says not to, even a car. The procedure is the same.
This article applies to the Harley Davidson Sportster.
Your motorcycle's battery is a key component of its operating system. The battery's purpose is to provide enough energy to spin the bike's crankshaft via the starter motor until the engine catches and runs on its own. Once the engine is running, the battery is recharged from the engine's alternator or generator so that it will be ready to start your bike again the next time. If you've ever tried to kick start a big twin like a Sportster, you can imagine how much energy it takes to turn the crank fast enough and long enough to get a reliable start. The battery doesn't have to be completely dead before you will have trouble starting your bike. If you find yourself in a no-start situation, and since most bikes no longer have kick starters, you may have no choice but to jump start your bike. This is a very simple procedure, but there are a few details to be aware of.
Material Needed
- Jumper cables
Step 1 – Access the battery
Once you've determined your stop/run switch position is not the problem, you'll need to access the bike's battery. This is done from the left side by removing or opening the left side cover under the seat. First lay a rag, glove or whatever you have handy over the foot rest immediately below to avoid scratching the paint on the side cover. Now pull outward, away from the bike, near the top corners of the cover until it unsnaps. Swing it down out of the way and let it rest on the foot peg you previously covered.
Pro Tip
Sometimes, a failed clutch switch can cause a no-start condition, mimicking the symptoms of a dead battery. The clutch switch is part of an interlock system that prevents starting the bike with the transmission in gear unless the clutch lever is pulled in. Besides checking the start/run switch, also make sure the bike's transmission is in neutral to eliminate this possibility for the no-start problem.
Step 2 – Expose positive battery terminal
With the left side cover open, you will see the battery just under the seat. Fortunately, for jump starting, the positive terminal is the only one needed and it's conveniently positioned to the left where it's easy to access. Once the battery is accessible, fold back the red rubber insulator/protector on the positive terminal.
Step 3 – Connect jumper cables
Once the battery positive terminal is accessible, connect the jumper cables as follows. If you are jumping from another vehicle (motorcycle, car or truck) make sure the other vehicle is not running and the ignition switch is in the off position. Make sure your bike's ignition is also switched to off. Connect the jumper cable to the positive terminal on your bike's battery first, then connect the other end of the cable to the positive terminal of the helper vehicle. Remember to always connect positive to positive and negative to negative. Now connect the other cable to the negative terminal of the helper vehicle. Be careful not to let the ends of the cables contact one another. Now for the last connection of the negative cable to your motorcycle, do not connect to the negative terminal of the battery (you can't easily reach it with the battery in place on the Sportster anyway), instead find an unpainted metal part of the frame or engine and connect the cable there as shown in Figure 3.
Although this is less of a concern with the newer sealed batteries, older vented cell batteries release hydrogen gas when charging. Hyrdrogen gas is extremely flammable (think Hindenburg). When the last connection of the jumper cables is made, there may be some small sparks and connecting away from the battery avoids the possibility of igniting any hydrogen, causing a battery explosion.
Pro Tip
If your bike has a pigtail harness attached intended for connecting your battery charger, do not be tempted to use this as a means to jump start. The amount of current required to start the bike is much greater than the charging current. Trying to jump a bike via such a pigtail will most likely melt the insulation, causing a short circuit and may potentially do electrical damage, or worse, to both vehicles.
Step 4 – Start your bike
Once the jumper cables are connected properly, allow a few minutes before attempting to start. This will allow the helper battery to restore some amount of charge to the dead battery. Next, try starting your bike as usual; if it cranks too slow, allow a few more minutes with the cables connected before trying again. Once the bike has started, remove the jumper cables in the reverse order they were attached. Remove the negative cable from the frame or engine block of your bike, then remove the negative cable from the helper battery's negative terminal, followed by removal from the positive terminal of the helper battery. Lastly, return to your bike and remove the cable from the positive battery terminal.
With the bike idling, replace the red rubber terminal cover and snap the left side cover back into place. You may now ride your bike home or to a repair shop. Be careful not to stall the engine, should your battery still be too weak to re-start it and, if possible, have your helper follow you to your destination.
Pro Tip
There is a relatively new alternative to carrying jumper cables that has recently become available. There are now compact, extremely powerful lithium battery jump starters available for under $100. These may offer several advantages. If you suffer a dead battery some place remote, you won't need a good Samaritan to help you jump your bike, you can do it yourself. If you need to call for help, most of these batteries also have provisions to recharge your phone for those long hold times. Some also incorporate a flashlight, which can be very handy in case you have a problem at night. Lastly, because these aren't much larger than a +sized smart phone, they won't take any more space to pack than a set of jumper cables.
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