This has not been my week. My chain almost falls off the other day and today I kill my battery. I guess it is only fair to share our good time stories and our mistakes too. I write this tonight as a warning to others. My stupidity can be your deterrent.
I was headed home and as many of you know I geocache so I took a route way out in the country. I was probably 20 miles out of town with nothing but trees around me but I was next to a Hwy. I had pulled over in a pull off and started searching for the geocache that was located in the area. I spent about 20 minutes looking with no success. A truck pulled up and the gentleman asked if I needed help. I explained what I was doing and out of the blue he asked me if my bike was one of those Honda NX700's. I corrected his statement but was still please he knew the bike. He had a newer Goldwing so he knew Honda had come out with the NCX. It was during our conversation I noticed my lights were on so I ran up and turned the key off. While I was down at my bike I heard the gentleman's phone ring and he signals he had to go and drove off. Crap. I had hoped he'd be around for a second in case my bike would not start.
I let the bike sit for 10 minutes or so and tried to start it. It tried to crank over but just couldn't spin enough times to start. I'd say my bike normally cranks three times and starts up. I was only getting one full crank and that was it. What am I going to do now? I'm in the middle of nowhere with a dead battery. I tried to call the wife but no answer. I knew she was at crossfit. Since I'm new to the area I don't know many people and definitely don't have anyone's phone number.
I did try to push start it three times. Easier said than done. Maybe if I took all the saddle bags and top case off I could run fast enough to throw a leg over and drop the clutch but with all that hardware in the way your going to be doing it from the side. It almost started once but it wanted to take off without me. I'm kind of short so jumping on this bike isn't that easy while its moving. I gave up on that method before I dropped it. Plus I was on a flat surface. Getting up to speed wasn't easy.
Twenty minutes of sitting waiting for the wife to eventually see my text message and a truck pulls up. You Ok Mister? Nope, Not Really. Dead Battery. He told me he had some jumper cables. Well I know right about now some of you are like don't do it. I've heard both side of the story over the years. Some people say they have jumped their bikes with a car for 20 years and others will tell you they blew the coils or alternator. I was stranded and had two choices. Pull my battery and have the guy give me a ride in town to hopefully find a replacement or jump the bike with his truck. I choose to jump my bike.
1) I took the access panel off, removed the rubber retaining strap and pulled the battery out as far as possible so I could get a good connection on the terminal. Luckily his cables had pointed tips which made it easy to grab hold of the small terminal area.
2) I had him shut off his truck and lights. I connected the red battery cable clamp to his positive terminal and then connected the opposite red battery cable clamp to my positive terminal
3) I then connected the black battery cable clamp to his negative terminal and connected the opposite black battery cable clamp to my frame.
4) I tried to start the bike but nothing but clicks. I knew one of my connections wasn't solid. I had a feeling it was the negative clamp on the bike frame. To much paint maybe. I removed the clamp from the frame and attached it to the passenger foot peg. Tried to start it again and it cranked right up.
5) I removed all battery cable clamps in the reverse order of how I attached them.
I rode the bike for about 20 minutes and pulled into a gas station. Needed fuel and I was back in civilization if it happened again. I shut the bike off and immediately tried to start it. Cranked up like a champ.
Lesson learned. Don't leave your key on. I have no idea why I did. Still can't figure it out. Just plain stupid. I'm also not recommending you jump your bike with a car. Want to make that clear. It was a decision I made and I was willing to accept the consequences.
I was headed home and as many of you know I geocache so I took a route way out in the country. I was probably 20 miles out of town with nothing but trees around me but I was next to a Hwy. I had pulled over in a pull off and started searching for the geocache that was located in the area. I spent about 20 minutes looking with no success. A truck pulled up and the gentleman asked if I needed help. I explained what I was doing and out of the blue he asked me if my bike was one of those Honda NX700's. I corrected his statement but was still please he knew the bike. He had a newer Goldwing so he knew Honda had come out with the NCX. It was during our conversation I noticed my lights were on so I ran up and turned the key off. While I was down at my bike I heard the gentleman's phone ring and he signals he had to go and drove off. Crap. I had hoped he'd be around for a second in case my bike would not start.
I let the bike sit for 10 minutes or so and tried to start it. It tried to crank over but just couldn't spin enough times to start. I'd say my bike normally cranks three times and starts up. I was only getting one full crank and that was it. What am I going to do now? I'm in the middle of nowhere with a dead battery. I tried to call the wife but no answer. I knew she was at crossfit. Since I'm new to the area I don't know many people and definitely don't have anyone's phone number.
I did try to push start it three times. Easier said than done. Maybe if I took all the saddle bags and top case off I could run fast enough to throw a leg over and drop the clutch but with all that hardware in the way your going to be doing it from the side. It almost started once but it wanted to take off without me. I'm kind of short so jumping on this bike isn't that easy while its moving. I gave up on that method before I dropped it. Plus I was on a flat surface. Getting up to speed wasn't easy.
Twenty minutes of sitting waiting for the wife to eventually see my text message and a truck pulls up. You Ok Mister? Nope, Not Really. Dead Battery. He told me he had some jumper cables. Well I know right about now some of you are like don't do it. I've heard both side of the story over the years. Some people say they have jumped their bikes with a car for 20 years and others will tell you they blew the coils or alternator. I was stranded and had two choices. Pull my battery and have the guy give me a ride in town to hopefully find a replacement or jump the bike with his truck. I choose to jump my bike.
1) I took the access panel off, removed the rubber retaining strap and pulled the battery out as far as possible so I could get a good connection on the terminal. Luckily his cables had pointed tips which made it easy to grab hold of the small terminal area.
2) I had him shut off his truck and lights. I connected the red battery cable clamp to his positive terminal and then connected the opposite red battery cable clamp to my positive terminal
3) I then connected the black battery cable clamp to his negative terminal and connected the opposite black battery cable clamp to my frame.
4) I tried to start the bike but nothing but clicks. I knew one of my connections wasn't solid. I had a feeling it was the negative clamp on the bike frame. To much paint maybe. I removed the clamp from the frame and attached it to the passenger foot peg. Tried to start it again and it cranked right up.
5) I removed all battery cable clamps in the reverse order of how I attached them.
I rode the bike for about 20 minutes and pulled into a gas station. Needed fuel and I was back in civilization if it happened again. I shut the bike off and immediately tried to start it. Cranked up like a champ.
Lesson learned. Don't leave your key on. I have no idea why I did. Still can't figure it out. Just plain stupid. I'm also not recommending you jump your bike with a car. Want to make that clear. It was a decision I made and I was willing to accept the consequences.
