Portable jump starter

Well, I waited too long to purchase a jump starter. Went for a ride today on my CB 1100 and stopped to take a pic of a Halloween display. When I went to restart the FireBrand battery recommended by my local shop I put in 19 months ago and that has been on a battery tender jr anytime the bike wasn't being ridden.... was dead. I tried bump starting it 4 times on my own but my 74 year old legs couldn't get the 575 pound motorcycle rolling fast enough for a bump start to work. Finally, 2 good Samaritans drove up and asked if I needed help. They had seen me trying to bump start it. With their help pushing I was able to bump start it and get it home. Thanks goodness for the kindness of others.

Pulling the battery out when I got home meant taking off the seat. Removing the tool kit hold down rubber strap, removing the tool tray hold down screw with a phillips screw driver, taking out the tool tray push pin alignment pin and pulling out the tool tray. Then I had access to the battery (man I miss the old days of removing a side cover and the battery is right there!).

So, Monday I'm off in search of a new battery.

Getting to the battery on these new motorcycles is a chore, and my other bike and my wife's scooter are automatics so no bump starting....so whatever battery jump starter I buy has to be able to connect to a cable already connected to the battery so I don't have to strip the bike down on the highway, maybe in the dark.

So if I read right Noco has the jump starter and the cables that attach to the battery?

Can I hook them up along with the battery tender jr leads to the battery?
 
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Most of the jump starters have proprietary connections so you may have to McGiver something to hook up your battery tender. Or, just have 2 leads hanging out where they are accessible.
Myself, I just created an SAE connector, using 10ga wire, that I hooked up to the battery for use with battery tender, compressor, heated gear, etc, and then McGivered a connector for the jump starter. However, as was pointed out earlier, 10ga may not be sufficient to handle a jump start although, so far (touch wood) it hasn't been an issue (used once for jump starting).
 
Yea I'm not too good at McGivering or most anything mechanical. My younger brother may be able to do it though. Being a non-McGivering kinda guy I'd prefer just to buy the pieces that work together even if it costs a little more (boy that doesn't sound like me lol)

Oh yea hadn't thought about needing to use my electric gear which I use a lot when it gets below 40 so I need the battery tender jr plugs right?

. I think I'm going to have a stroke obsessing about this lol
 
the Ferret said:
Yea I'm not too good at McGivering or most anything mechanical. My younger brother may be able to do it though. Being a non-McGivering kinda guy I'd prefer just to buy the pieces that work together even if it costs a little more (boy that doesn't sound like me lol)

Oh yea hadn't thought about needing to use my electric gear which I use a lot when it gets below 40 so I need the battery tender jr plugs right?

. I think I'm going to have a stroke obsessing about this lol
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Had one of these for a few years now. Only used it on the ST1300 once, worked okay on the 2.2litre diesel Ford Ranger too. Neither time were batteries dead flat, but enough charge for ignition lights, etc.. and the dreaded click click click of the starter (on the Ranger).

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12V Car Jump Starter Kit 99800mAh Power Bank Emergency Battery Charger Booster | eBay

Car Battery Charging Units: 12V Output 600A Peak, support up to petrol engines up to 6L and diesel engines up to 4L, you can start the car quickly without electrical mains. Multiple Protections: Portable jump starter power bank built in circuit protection guards against short circuit, reverse...
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the Ferret said:
Can I plug that into my battery tender jr plug and then use the jump starter?
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You found you can't. Plugging a jump starter into an SAE connector seems to be a no-go for full on jumper use unless you DIY and that out of your wheelhouse you say.

This NOCO setup looks to allow either a NOCO jumper or a NOCO battery charger to quick connect to a battery as needed.

So that means this NOCO harness with adapter and their charger and their jumper. Near as I can tell anyway.

NOCO GBC007 18.5-Inch Boost X-Connect Adapter Extension Cable for GB20, GB40, GB50 and GBX45 UltraSafe Lithium Jump Starters​

 
drrod said:
... you may have to McGiver something to hook up your battery tender. Or, just have 2 leads hanging out where they are accessible...
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On my previous bike, I just ran two thick wires out from the hidden battery to a place under the seat, wrapped the ends with electrical tape and tucked them out of the way.

Chris
 
the Ferret said:
Oh yea hadn't thought about needing to use my electric gear which I use a lot when it gets below 40 so I need the battery tender jr plugs right?
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You already have the Battery Tender Jr plug connected to your battery based on what you wrote. There is no reason why you have to use the same harness for boosting and battery tender/heated gear. Leave the existing battery tender harness connected and simply add the NOCO booster cable harness to the same battery post connections. Leave the Tender/heated gear plug wherever it is now. Put the booster cable plug wherever you find convenient so that it is easily accessible when you need to plug it in to the jump starter. All you need afterwards is a NOCO jump starter that mates with that NOCO booster harness.

There are much smaller booster packs available. Some are about the size of a cigarette pack or a smart phone making them space friendly for a motorcycle. Each one will have to be checked to see what might need to be done to install a compatible harness to the battery.
 
The Noco one would replace your existing SAE (and confirm it has the SAE adapter), you will need to buy a Noco jumper. I'm sure other companies make similar products.

The bulkhead connectors like these are in addition to your SAE and you have to run proper size wire to jump, but you can jump with anything. Location may be tricky.

Third option is, and as far as I know is the only one available, the Anti Gravity with "remote" built in jumpstarting. With multiple bikes this gets expensive though. It uses a 9v battery plugged into you SAE connector for the jump, it works.

I feel for you on the choices and caveats, this has come up in the past for me and others, not sure of the others final, mine was an anti gravity, then a non remote as equal. I think given your requirements the Noco is the best answer, a connector and adapter for each bike and one jumper. The only time you'll care is when you jump and it looks like it's as easy as unplugging the SAE and plugging in the jumper. Good luck.


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OK, so it looks like for me, it comes down to

Noco GB20 @ 79.95 with (2) GBC007 boost eyelets @ $24.95 ea ... $129.85

or the

Antigravity XP-3 @ 119.95 and (2) @ 18.99 ea ... $ 157.93

This would cover the 2 Automatic bikes that can't be bump started anyway

Can anyone see an advantage for one over the other?
 
also today I read the jump starters don't last too long, generally a year or so before they quit taking a charge. Is this true?
 
Somebody here said they last 2 to 3 years. I think the key is to charge them up every 6 months or so, per the instructions in the owner's manual that came with the device.

Going back to your Q about using the battery tender's harness - those wires are NOT large enough to carry jump starting amperage. You risk melting the insulation on those small wires and shorting everything out - possibly starting a fire. When I was looking for a jump starter, I read Consumer Reports and The Wire Cutter. After using Pat's jump starter several times over an OHSTOC weekend, I made a couple of leads (one painted red), each with a heavy duty eyelet for the battery end and a crimped copper sleeve for the other end. These lived under my ST's seat attached to the battery. The copper sleeve end was insulated with a piece of vinyl tubing and electrical tape. These were my 'jump' leads and were made of #6awg welding wire. Probably a bit of overkill, but #10 wire is probably about the smallest you can go for a quick (short duration) jump. I will probably make something like this for my NC750.

I've not measured jump starting currents, but people here have said they easily hit 60 amps, some have said 90 - that's for only a few seconds.
 
the Ferret said:
OK, so it looks like for me, it comes down to

Noco GB20 @ 79.95 with (2) GBC007 boost eyelets @ $24.95 ea ... $129.85

or the

Antigravity XP-3 @ 119.95 and (2) @ 18.99 ea ... $ 157.93

This would cover the 2 Automatic bikes that can't be bump started anyway

Can anyone see an advantage for one over the other?
[/QUOTE
the Ferret said:
OK, so it looks like for me, it comes down to

Noco GB20 @ 79.95 with (2) GBC007 boost eyelets @ $24.95 ea ... $129.85

or the

Antigravity XP-3 @ 119.95 and (2) @ 18.99 ea ... $ 157.93

This would cover the 2 Automatic bikes that can't be bump started anyway

Can anyone see an advantage for one over the other?
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Don’t think you can go wrong with either. I think the xp-3 is smaller so will fit in small saddlebags easier so that’s why I got it.
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SMSW said:
Somebody here said they last 2 to 3 years. I think the key is to charge them up every 6 months or so, per the instructions in the owner's manual that came with the device.

Going back to your Q about using the battery tender's harness - those wires are NOT large enough to carry jump starting amperage. You risk melting the insulation on those small wires and shorting everything out - possibly starting a fire. When I was looking for a jump starter, I read Consumer Reports and The Wire Cutter. After using Pat's jump starter several times over an OHSTOC weekend, I made a couple of leads (one painted red), each with a heavy duty eyelet for the battery end and a crimped copper sleeve for the other end. These lived under my ST's seat attached to the battery. The copper sleeve end was insulated with a piece of vinyl tubing and electrical tape. These were my 'jump' leads and were made of #6awg welding wire. Probably a bit of overkill, but #10 wire is probably about the smallest you can go for a quick (short duration) jump. I will probably make something like this for my NC750.

I've not measured jump starting currents, but people here have said they easily hit 60 amps, some have said 90 - that's for only a few seconds.
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I believe they instruct you not to leave them hooked up for more than 30 seconds

I think I've decided to just buy the jumper and harnesses for my 2 automatic bikes, buy a new better quality battery for my manual bike and hope that it will last for 4 years. I cant imagine being able to ride 4 more years... but you never know lol
 
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the Ferret said:
also today I read the jump starters don't last too long, generally a year or so before they quit taking a charge. Is this true?
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My XP10 lasted 10 years before it swelled up. Still worked but I was afraid of fire/explosion.

I called Antigravity to see if they sold just the battery, so I didn’t have to buy clamps, charger, and carrying case, but they only sell complete kits. They did offer 40% off on a new kit, so I’m good for another 10 years, I hope. Pretty good customer service, in my opinion.

John
 
the Ferret said:
also today I read the jump starters don't last too long, generally a year or so before they quit taking a charge. Is this true?
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Bought mine Christmas 2022.... Used it at least 10x on my 2nd car that doesnt get driven much... still going strong...
 
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