Your Guide to Jump-Starting a Motorcycle

While jump-starting a vehicle is a fairly simple process, there are a few key differences between jumping a car and jumping a motorcycle that you’ll need to be aware of. If you’ve never jump-started a motorcycle before, we encourage you to read through our guide below. We’ve written step-by-step instructions on how to set up a jump, what tools you’ll need, and how to prepare for an emergency.

Emergency Tools

You never know when an emergency is going to arise, so it’s incredibly important to be prepared. When driving a motorcycle, we advise you to always have a set of jumper cables and durable gloves with you. If you’re traveling out of town and are worried about a breakdown, you may want to invest in an insurance policy that covers tow trucks and taxis or purchase a jump-starter machine to help you get to a nearby mechanic. 

Cars vs Motorcycles 

If you’re not using a portable jump starter, you’re very likely using someone else’s car or motorcycle to jump-start your vehicle. If you’re using another motorcycle, you should be able to set up an electrical connection between the two models and start them both up with no problem. However, if you are using a car to jump-start your motorcycle, at no point should you start the engine. A car battery is powerful enough to charge your bike, even without starting the engine. Doing so may damage your motorcycle’s charging system, rather than recharge it. 

Jump-Starting 

To jump-start your motorcycle you’ll first need to connect the red jumper cable to each vehicle’s positive battery pole. This pole will often be indicated with a plus sign and the negative pole with a minus sign. Once the red cable is connected, take the black cable and connect it to the other vehicle’s negative battery pole. Then, to charge your motorcycle’s battery, place the black cable to a grounded piece of metal on your model, such as the frame. Go ahead and start the opposite vehicle, (unless it’s a car) followed by your own motorcycle. Allow it to idle for a few minutes before disconnecting the cables in the reverse order that you connected them. 

If your motorcycle is dying regularly, having trouble starting, or won’t run at all, you may want to visit one of our helpful service centers here in San Marcos and Corona, California. We proudly serve the nearby cities of San Diego and Oceanside, California, and our experienced technicians will have your bike back up and running in no time!