Can You Jump Start a Motorcycle With a Car? How Risky is That?

Jump-starting a car from a car is common. But can you jump-start a motorcycle with a car? Of course, that might sound unrealistic, but you never know when the situation turns the table. That’s when you have no other option than to jump start a motorcycle with a car.

Yes! You can jump-start a motorcycle through a car. However, there are several risks associated with that method. Therefore, we’ll cover every detail in this post regarding the jumpstart process of motorcycles.

What’s the Risk in Jump-Starting a Motorcycle With a Car?

Normally, you won’t see people recommending jump-starting a motorcycle through a car. It’s because this method might damage the battery and other components of your motorcycle. Moreover, some damages are beyond repair.

Therefore, always go through other methods before trying this one. You can leave this option as a last resort.

Now, what are the other methods?

There are two other ways that we’ll discuss as well to jump-start a motorcycle. However, since they are less riskier than jump-starting with a car, we’ll cover them first.

• Jump-Start a Motorcycle Using a Jump-Starter
• Jump-Start a Motorcycle With another Motorcycle

Have a look at this amazing NOCO Portable Jump-Starter for your motorcycle.

Always Keep a Portable Jump-Starter in Your Motorcycle

Make it a habit! While giving on a solo ride, make sure you have added a portable jump-starter in the kit of your motorcycle.

A portable jump-starter is inexpensive and easy to carry. You can put it under your motorcycle seat as it’s a bit bigger in size than a phone. So, carrying a jump-starter with you is not a problem anymore.

It’s necessary to keep a jump-starter in your motorcycle while riding solo. Sometimes it’s possible that your motorcycle’s battery might go dead (reasons for battery failure are discussed later).

In such situations, a jump-starter will be your only option.

Besides, each jump-starter manufacturer gives a guide on how to use a motorcycle jump-starter. The instructions might vary from jump-starter type to type. However, we have gathered the common steps that you can follow to jump-start your motorcycle using a portable jump-starter.

Jump-Start a Motorcycle Using a Jump-Starter

Before anything, power off your motorcycle and the jump-starter. After that, follow these steps.

Establish Connection

1. You have to connect the portable jump-starter to the motorcycle battery. Check the jumper cables whether they are compatible with the battery or not. Usually, the jumper cables are universal, so that won’t be an issue.
2. Connect the jumper-cable positive clip (RED) to the motorcycle battery’s positive terminal (POS or +).
3. Connect the jumper-cable negative clip (BLACK) to the motorcycle battery’s negative terminal (-).

Turn On Portable Jump-Starter

Wait. First, check the voltage setting before turning on the jump-starter. As these devices are mostly used by cars and other larger vehicles, you might have to set the voltage as per the requirement.

Besides, your motorcycle battery must be using a 12V voltage setting. Therefore, adjust the voltage before turning on the jump-starter.

If you don’t set the voltage to 12V, your motorcycle battery might suffer. Excessive voltage will quickly overcharge the battery, which might begin to give smoke. That will cause the battery to explode.

Start the Motorcycle

1. Give short ignitions instead one long burst of energy. That will kill the jumper-starter battery. The jumpstarting process always needs to get short electric charges. These charges gradually power up the motorcycle battery.
2. Take a pause of 8-10 seconds between each attempt.
3. If the motorcycle starts, you have to remove the jumper cables.
4. First, disconnect the negative clip and then the positive clip from the jump-starter.
5. After that, ride around your motorcycle and rev the engine to recharge the battery.
6. Don’t forget to connect the portable jump-starter to the charger. You might need that again.

What if the Battery Doesn’t Start?

Your motorcycle battery may be fully dead. Therefore, you might have to replace that with a new one.

Check out the Deka 12V Sports Battery for your motorcycle.

Jump-Start a Motorcycle With Another Motorcycle

This is the second method you can try before going to the motorcycle-car jumpstart process. In this method, you must have a pair of jumper cables and a working motorcycle battery with enough charge to power up a weak battery.

Before proceeding, make sure that both motorcycles are turned off.

Establish Connection

1. Unlock the seat and pick it up. Most motorcycle batteries are installed under the seat.
2. Connect one positive (RED) jumper-cable clip to the positive (+) terminal of the working battery and the other positive clip to the positive terminal of the weak motorcycle battery.
3. Connect the negative (BLACK) jumper-cable clip to the negative (-) terminal of the working battery and the other negative clip to any non-painted metallic surface of the weak or dead motorcycle battery.

Start the Motorcycle Having Working Battery

1. Give ignition or kick start the motorcycle, which is jumping the other motorcycle.
2. Keep the motorcycle started so that it can fully transfer the charge and also recharge itself.

Start the Motorcycle Having Weak or Dead Battery

1. Try starting the other motorcycle as you did in the first method with a portable jump-starter. Give short bursts instead of long ignition.
2. Once the motorcycle starts, take a ride around the streets for 15-20 minutes. That will recharge the battery of your motorcycle that was once weak.
3. If the battery doesn’t start, it might have gone dead. Therefore, you have to replace your motorcycle battery.

Disconnect the Jumper Cables

1. After that, disconnect the jumper cables in reverse order. First, unplug the negative clip from the weak motorcycle battery and the negative terminal of the working battery.
2. Repeat that step for the positive clip as well.

As you have seen, these two motorcycle jump-start methods are simple to follow. No doubt, you have to buy a new motorcycle battery if it’s fully dead. There is no alternative.

Now, let’s discuss how you can jump-start your motorcycle with a car.

Jump-Start Motorcycle With a Car

This jump-start technique works fine. However, there are risks associated with this option that we’ll discuss in the next section.

Follow these steps to jump-start your motorcycle through a car.

Connect Jumper-Cables

1. Before making the connection, turn off your car and make sure that the motorcycle is also off.
2. Connect the red or positive clip of the jumper cable to the positive terminal of the motorcycle battery, and the other positive clip will go to the car battery’s positive terminal.
3. Connect the black or negative clip to the negative terminal of the car battery, and the other negative clip will go to a metallic surface of the motorcycle.

Start Your Motorcycle

Try starting your motorcycle while keeping the car turned off. The car battery has enough charge that can easily boost the motorcycle battery.

If you start your car, that might fry and permanently damage the motorcycle battery. Also, that will affect all other electrical and electronic systems of your motorcycle.

Try for a few tries without turning your car on. The car battery has enough energy to start a motorcycle battery.

After a couple of tries, your motorcycle is supposed to run. Once it gets back to life, ride around for at least 15 minutes. That will recharge the motorcycle battery.

If that doesn’t start your motorcycle, the battery is probably dead. Therefore, you have to replace that.

Disconnect Jumper-Cables

Follow the reverse order while disconnecting the jumper cables. Remove the negative clip from the motorcycle first and then proceed.

Risks

If your car battery is more than 12V, avoid charging a motorcycle battery with that. No doubt that will recharge your battery, but that might damage it.

Also, the amperage is also different in car and motorcycle batteries. For instance, the car battery has an average of 48 amp-hours capacity. On the other hand, a motorcycle battery has 2.5 – 32 amp-hours capacity for electric charge.

Therefore, it’s another risk that might overcharge the motorcycle battery.

When you jump-start your motorcycle with a car, it can void the battery’s warranty. Not only that, but you can also lose the warranty of other electrical and electronic components of your motorcycle.

Can Motorcycle Battery Go Dead While Riding?

Yes. It’s possible that the motorcycle battery can go dead while you are riding. There are several reasons behind that, including

• The battery has bad terminal connections. They are connected loosely, or the battery needs maintenance to clean the dirt and grime. You can visit the nearest automobile service station or take it as a DIY project at home.
• The terminals are corroded, which means that you have to take action before the motorcycle battery becomes completely unresponsive. Moreover, corrosion takes place due to severe humidity.
• Your motorcycle might have a faulty rectifier or regulator. These two components are essential in providing power to the motorcycle battery.
• If you have added numerous electrical add-ons, that might also quickly drain the battery of your motorcycle.

Final Thoughts

A portable jump-starter is the best solution for your dead or weak motorcycle battery. These devices are affordable and easily available from automobile and hardware stores. Moreover, you can place it under the seat of your motorcycle.

All you need to have is a pair of jumper cables that will connect to the battery and start your motorcycle.

However, if you are in a situation where you can only jump-start your motorcycle with a car, follow the traditional jumpstart process without starting the car. That will surely revive the battery of your motorcycle.