Modern Buddy

Since I've never sucessfully kick started and the Buddy refuses to start due to the damn cold weather, no I don't have a battery tender. Is it possible to jump start a Bud the same you would a car? Would there be any possible dammage to the electrical system due to the higher ampreage of the car battery or should/could I use the other Scoot?

WARNING! I AM NOT AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER OR ELECTRICIAN although I do have to work with engineers, God help me.

If attempting to jump start I would have to use the other scoot and have it running just as you would jumping a car. I'll bet there are some risks and those who have experienced the drawbacks will probably chime in.

Might be cheaper to buy the charger.

If you try jump-starting your scooter from a car, do it while the car is not running. The car's battery should be plenty strong enough to run the scooter's starter, without any risk of the car itself not starting afterward. And the car's alternator would probably put out <i>too much</i> power.

I've jumpstarted my scoot when I left the grip heaters on and killed the battery. Just hook up the leads to a NON running car and hit the starter. Your scoot will fire right back up.

do not crank for very long if you do as a car battery puts out 10 times the amps that a scooter battery has and you can easliy cook wires

I would either use a low amp battery charger, or for crying out loud, learn to kick start it.

Anachronism wrote:I would either use a low amp battery charger, or for crying out loud, learn to kick start it.

yeah you can do it but that's what the kick starter if for. I've kick started all of my scoots, except the Burgman which doesnt have a kicker. I did jump the Burgman ( a week after I got it) after I left the parking lights on and drained the battery - no issues, just run it for a while so it recharges - and get a tender.

Have you tried the method I used where you stand behind the scooter and kick? It increases your chance of rocking it off the center stand, but I never had an issue when I did it that way. Now I have graduated to big girl kick starting. I try and do it regularly to stay in practice.

Remeber the trick is to kick forward not down.

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This is how you do it!
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I really need to make a better video of this!

Wait I can embed video !?!

brape wrote:Wait I can embed video !?!

Mmmaayyybe…

As long as it's not abused.

There goes my plans of spamming the board with cute kitten videos.

ericalm wrote:I really need to make a better video of this!

You mean one where the entire scene isn't enveloped in darkness, and what you're doing isn't both cloaked in shadow and obscured by... you? How would that make it any better?

The key that finally saved me from hurting myself, my scooter, my self-worth, and the verbal innocence of every child, spinster, and clergyman in the neighborhood was to open the throttle a little when I kicked. Without that, I was generating enough electricity with each kick to power the freakin' headlight (briefly), but without fuel, combustion wasn't taking place.

TVB wrote:

ericalm wrote:I really need to make a better video of this!

You mean one where the entire scene isn't enveloped in darkness, and what you're doing isn't both cloaked in shadow and obscured by... you? How would that make it any better?

Actually, I was just going to add a badass soundtrack.

TVB wrote: The key that finally saved me from hurting myself, my scooter, my self-worth, and the verbal innocence of every child, spinster, and clergyman in the neighborhood was to open the throttle a little when I kicked. Without that, I was generating enough electricity with each kick to power the freakin' headlight (briefly), but without fuel, combustion wasn't taking place.

This.

It is real tough to kickstart a cold scooter without cracking the throttle.

Kaos wrote:I've jumpstarted my scoot when I left the grip heaters on and killed the battery. Just hook up the leads to a NON running car and hit the starter. Your scoot will fire right back up.

I used to jump my 1960, 6-volt Karmann Ghia off of running 12-volt cars pretty regularly way back when in the 70's. Never did any (more) harm.

Boy, did she crank!

Syd wrote:

Kaos wrote:I've jumpstarted my scoot when I left the grip heaters on and killed the battery. Just hook up the leads to a NON running car and hit the starter. Your scoot will fire right back up.

I used to jump my 1960, 6-volt Karmann Ghia off of running 12-volt cars pretty regularly way back when in the 70's. Never did any (more) harm.

Boy, did she crank!

Robust fuses, maybe? You will fry one on your scooter. I know from firsthand experience.

If a battery is so dead it won't hold a charge, even jumping will do you no good.

ericalm wrote:

Syd wrote:

Kaos wrote:I've jumpstarted my scoot when I left the grip heaters on and killed the battery. Just hook up the leads to a NON running car and hit the starter. Your scoot will fire right back up.

I used to jump my 1960, 6-volt Karmann Ghia off of running 12-volt cars pretty regularly way back when in the 70's. Never did any (more) harm.

Boy, did she crank!

Robust fuses, maybe? You will fry one on your scooter. I know from firsthand experience.

If a battery is so dead it won't hold a charge, even jumping will do you no good.

Oh, it'd hold a charge. It just had a bad generator that cost more than the Ghia did! I'm much better with my motorized vehicles now.

Syd wrote:

Kaos wrote:I've jumpstarted my scoot when I left the grip heaters on and killed the battery. Just hook up the leads to a NON running car and hit the starter. Your scoot will fire right back up.

I used to jump my 1960, 6-volt Karmann Ghia off of running 12-volt cars pretty regularly way back when in the 70's. Never did any (more) harm.

Boy, did she crank!

well there is a big diffrence in the guage of the wiring on a vintage 6 volt car and a scooter
belive it or not you can convert a car or tractor from 6 volts to 12 volts by replaivng the battery and generator you dont have to replace the starter or the wire harness
its not the voltage but the amprage that will fry things
most 6 volt acessories can actauly be run on 12 volts
you want a real loud horn find one out of a 6 volt car and run 12 volts thru it

I've jump-started my Blur while connected to a car with the engine running without problem. A car's charging system, like ours, doesn't put out very much voltage while the engine is idling. And the higher current of a car battery is of no concern as long as your scoot doesn't have a shorted/damaged wiring harness. The scoot's starter/electrical system will only pull whatever amps it needs to crank the engine. An example of this idea is your water faucet; when you open your faucet, you don't get the entire city water reservoir dumped into your house, you get just what you need.

babblefish wrote:I've jump-started my Blur while connected to a car with the engine running without problem. A car's charging system, like ours, doesn't put out very much voltage while the engine is idling. And the higher current of a car battery is of no concern as long as your scoot doesn't have a shorted/damaged wiring harness. The scoot's starter/electrical system will only pull whatever amps it needs to crank the engine. An example of this idea is your water faucet; when you open your faucet, you don't get the entire city water reservoir dumped into your house, you get just what you need.

That's interesting perspective. I, an avid electricity worrywart, would just use the battery of a non-running car if that works just the same.

Alix B wrote:I, an avid electricity worrywart, would just use the battery of a non-running car if that works just the same.

Yep, no need for the car to be running. This has benn discussed many times here. I would quess there is a sticky or FAQ somewhere about it. This is from a motorcycle maintiance website:

Jump Start The Battery From A Car
The procedure to jump start a motorcycle from a car is the same as it is for jump starting it from another motorcycle except for item (6). A car battery has more amperage, and the charging system for a car is much more powerful than that of a motorcycle. When jump starting a motorcycle from a car, DO NOT START THE CAR'S MOTOR because the extra power from the charging system will possibly destroy the motorcycle's charging system and could cause a fire. The car battery should have enough power to start the motorcycle without the car's motor running.