Hi all - good day here.
I kept my bike running all through the winter by riding in the coldest of days.  Now it's a first real riding day and the bike won't start.

The starter turns over but the bike doesn't start.  I suspect it could be a dead battery because we had some cold weather here and I last rode the bike a month ago.  My question is this then, can I safely jump start GS500 from a car?  Or will the excess current of a car overpower gs circuitry.

THanks, and hope your enjoying the weather today!

I use my battery charger's start function to start my GS when it wont start.  After that it starts fine all day.

yeah using a car is just fine... I did it like 10 times in the last two years...

you might consider buying a new battery soon if it dies... not that expensive for a higher grade aftermarket battery. Then you can buy like a battery tender (http://batterytender.com/product_info.php?products_id=2 is the one I got and strongly recommend) and use it on the battery when you leave it without running it for more than a week or so in cool weather. I never had to jump start it after buying the tender. You just have to think ahead and if you think it wont start next time you want it to, get the battery on the tender and it will start.

Speaking of the Battery Tender, I have seen some pretty good sales on it lately:

$34.97 from Chaparral

$33.95 from MAW  (OK, so they inflated the MSRP a little bit.... )

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First the good news - hooked up to a car, and I got liftoff!!  

I think I am going to get the battery tender.  The only thing is that it says on the site that it's for sealed maintenance free batteries, and GS stock one is not as it requires distilled water to adjust electrolite levels.  Do you think it's still going to work with it?

Thanks for the help all!

Quote from: GSinUSFirst the good news - hooked up to a car, and I got liftoff!!

YES!    Congratulations.

Quote from: GSinUSI think I am going to get the battery tender.  The only thing is that it says on the site that it's for sealed maintenance free batteries, and GS stock one is not as it requires distilled water to adjust electrolite levels.  Do you think it's still going to work with it?

Absolutely.  I couldn't find the text you mentioned on the site, but I did read the following (in small print) on the PDF that came up when I clicked the Product Summary link:

Quote from: DeltranNote: The traditional Battery Plus is designed to accommodate the demanding chaging requirements of high qulaity lead-acid batteries and should safely charge all lead acid battery types.

Any mention of a sealed battery was probably to reassure you that the BT+ wouldn't get it hot enough to explode or something.

I swear by my BT+.  It has worked flawlessly on my non-sealed lead-acid batteries ... many times.  

I wouldnt worry about the tender's warnings that much... I've ran my battery in sub zero (farenheit) weather and slapped it on the tender without any probems... heck I've never even needed to touch the battery to add water since the electrolite levels have been perfect for the last 2 years and 20000 miles of riding way late in the cold seasons.

Honestly just put it on the tender and have something below the overflow or breathing tube just incase it decides to have a spill (which I highly doubt).

(Hijack)    is it posible to pop the clutch on a bike  semi-safely  :mrgreen:

like get it start rolling down a hill, key on clutch heaald i........... bet y-all get the picture. so what say ye,   yay or nay

just wonderin what yall thought,

Why not?  I've done that before to bump-start my bike.  Just don't get going too fast, and use 2nd or 3rd gear (depending on the speed) so you don't skid too badly if the bike doesn't start.  And so you don't take off too suddenly if it DOES.  

Just dont skimp like I did and try and make a tired battery last, it will bite you in the end.  I was stranded for like a half hour because the damn thing wouldnt start, shut it off and put in some gas, a minute later it wouldnt start, I got a jump finally, but needless to say I was not very happy. :guns: I still get mad thinking about that.  :lol:

Sit on your bike, put it in first gear, pull in the cluch, rool down your driveway and poop the cluch out. thats what i did

Quote from: GSinUSHi all - good day here.
My question is this then, can I safely jump start GS500 from a car?  Or will the excess current of a car overpower gs circuitry.

Glad to hear you got the GS running! There have been A LOT of battery/starter questions lately so you were not alone.

As long as the voltage of any two systems is the same, there will be no problems with excess current IF the only problem is low taking system capacity. The donor system (car in this case) will only provide the current (amps, amperage) demanded by the taking system (GS in this case).

To put this another way, if the Space Shuttle were a 12 VDC system, you could use it to jump start the GS with no problems.

The caveat here is if the taking system has a problem with a shorted or low resistance component. It may not show up dramatically with the GS battery, but using a higher capacity donor may reveal the bad section with gusto (smoke, sparks, bad smells, etc. -   ).  :lol:

they sell a small 6v/12v trickle charger at Walmart for like $19.