Quick questions: Can I jump start my 125 off a transit van?

[pa_broon74]

Or will it explode. (My bike, not the van...)

Cheers.

[Marci]

How are we expected to answer when you don't tell us what bike it is that you're talking about?

Tried bump starting it (stick it in third, run alongside with it in gear and clutch in & ignition on, dump clutch and pull it back in again)?
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[pa_broon74]

Its a Honda CLR 125.

I suspect that if you can jump start one 125 from a transit van it pretty much counts for all of them.

As you may already have gathered, its a 125. If you try to bump start it, the back wheel just skids; its not heavy enough to bump, (you have to sit on it.) In this instance its not practical to bump it anyway.

I ask because in order to find the fault I have to rule things out, if I have to charge the battery between each fault finding excercise i'll be there till xmas day.

[finpos]

Watch, this question normally starts an almighty hoo-haa.

As long as the van battery is 12V, no problem at all. If it's 24V, best not to

EDIT - just saw your other thread - The van battery will tell you in double quick time if the problem you are having is a wheezy battery, which does sound to be the case. Sometimes, when the battery is on it's last legs, the plug will spark when it's out of the engine, but as soon as you put it back in (starter now has to overcome compression and so takes more current) the wee spark pixies disappear.

finpos.

[veeeffarr]

[MattEMulsion]

Transits are all 12v, so as long as your bike is too, then yes you can jump start it from the van.
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[krebsy]

Once upon a time my family went off on holiday and the Volvo was parked up for a week in Penzance. when we got back to the car the dodgy battery was flat and my dad asked around for someone to jump start the car. Up rolls a land rover with a huge battery pack in the rear and a massive length of cables.

Two cables onto the battery and started first time. Then the driver told us what the land rover was for. we were at the Heliport and the electrical gear was used to start the 20 seater british airways Helecopter we had just arrived back from the isles of Scilly on..

Shame the car started miss-firing by the time we got to Bristol. My dad decided it was best to drive back to the North-West without stopping as he didn't want to risk the engine dying on us..

K.
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[pa_broon74]

Thanks folks.

The whole bump start thing gives me the shakes... It died about a month ago and I spent joyous hours waddling back and forth trying to bump it, I may never have children... :-/ (not that I want them right enough, but still, I'd like the option...)

I swapped the sparkplug back then which seemed to fix it, which is why I think the battery has ran out out of the sparky pixie things this time round.

New battery £37, from a honda dealer. Is there like a Lidl equivalent for motorcycle bits in Edinburgh??

Thanks again.

[Mooncatt]

i tried bump starting my 400 a few months ago nearly dropped it
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[finpos]

That same honda dealer will order you a bargain basement pattern part instead of the honda one if you actually ask them,,,

Well worth doing with batteries by the time you have paid for postage / hassled yourself with getting hold of acid.

BUT just satisfy yourself that the battery is at fault first by charging it. It may just have gone flat just this once (because you have startign problems), or there could be a problem with the charging on the bike.

finpos.

[Blau Zedong]

It should spark with a flat battery i think (self exciting ignition). If It won't bump start the problem lies elsewhere.
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[G]

I never had a problem bump starting a 125 in first.

[pa_broon74]

Mmm...

The last time it had sat for 2 weeks without being used. The battery was wheezing so I charged it, tried to start it then repeated this process 5 or 6 times while trying to bump start it (in first and second) in between times.

Eventually, someone here suggested it might be the spark plug. I bought another one and stuck it in. Managed to get it going, although, it did flatten the battery again and I ended up bump starting it.

It did occur to me that maybe the battery wasn't charging, but it's been fine since I changed the plug. How can you tell the difference between a faulty battery and a fault with the bike's charging bits, (highly technical jargon there probably cheaper to buy a new battery first. (wemoto do one for £28.)

I'll try jump starting it off the van, as finpos said, that would confirm the battery's at fault. I'll get another one anyway, I don't think it's ever been renewed.

Thanks again folks.

[Syx]

[pa_broon74]

Aye...

When I read it back to myself I thought it kinda looked like that too. I failed English, what can you do...

As I recall, when I was trying to bump it, the ground was damp. I wish I could say that the weight of my svelte body astride the machine still didn't provide enough traction, but I'd be talking crap.

[pa_broon74]

Well...

It didn't explode but it didn't start either. After giving it a go I tried bump starting it (in first gear with me bouncing on the seat, it was raining.)

It started that way which is fine, ran it around for 20 mins but the battery was still flat, didn't seem like it had charged at all.

I'm charging the battery indoors just now. If it takes a charge then presumably its not the battery and it'll be expensive. If it doesn't then I just get a battery right?

I can't see me bump starting it every morning and it doesn't have a kick start... If you think it might be something else I'd be happy to entertain any suggestions.

Ta.

[finpos]

I wouldn't expect the bikes charging system to do much to a flat battery in 20 mins. It's basically trickle charging it, so flat->fully charged would take hours (days?). Perhaps one less thing to worry about at the moment. I'm not saying it's not contributing towards your woes, but if you can't start it in one poke off a van battery, you need to look at that first.

As to why it won't start, well, bump starting it should spin the engine quicker than the starter motor, which means you'll get a better spark out of it, so...

I'd take another look at the plug - my guess would be that it's got crudded up again. I'm leaning towards you having some kind of mild electrical misfire: that would both crap up your plug over a period of days/weeks and also get worse in wet weather. Try starting it in the dark, see if you can see sparks tracking off the HT lead or plug cap.

finpos.

[cagiva gezzer]

Bugger just lost that...

If it's been fully emptied you're best off gettting a new one. £20 inc P&P and acid on ebay. Just needs charging before use.
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[pa_broon74]

[finpos]

Getting a belt off it is the slightly more painful way of doing it than looking at it in the dark, but it tells you the same thing

I don't think you can buy just the cover, you'll need to replace the whole cap. having said that, it's the caps's job to stop the electricity leaking, not the rubber boot, that's just there to keep it dry. Make sure the boot is not full of water, and check the cap to see if it has any cracks, pits or black (carbon) staining on it, which is a sign it's being shorting out.

Depending on how flush you are, you can either spend a while dicking around with it to try and find out what's breaking down, or just spend 10 quid on a new ht lead and plug cap. Up to yourself.

Plug might be new and look ok, but they rely on proper combustion to keep themselves clean. They can go off very quickly in a misfiring engine. Again, up to you if you want to replace it.

With the battery going as well, sounds like you're just having a bad case of 5-year-old bike

finpos.

[djneu-trix]

i used to have a clr and the batt allways had probs especaly in the cold even with a new 1!

stick it 1st with the choke on and push it along u dont have to go fast!! let go of the clutch and your away!!!

really easy bike to bump!!!!

all the best!!!
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pg

[djneu-trix]

i used to have a clr and the batt allways had probs especaly in the cold even with a new 1!

stick it 1st with the choke on and push it along u dont have to go fast!! let go of the clutch and your away!!!

really easy bike to bump!!!!

all the best!!!
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pg

[pa_broon74]

Thanks folks.

I'll swap the ht lead and get another plug. I think I'll service it properly too, I haven't changed the oil for a while (eh, about 3000 miles since I got it ) on account of the sump plug being stuck fast: I'll make more of an effort to get it off.

I think I'll have another go at charging the battery, I have a sneaky suspision that the charger was set to "slow" charge which may have skewed my rigorous testing process... Ummm

All this cold and rainy weather, I'm not surprised that its playing up, heck: I have a hard time getting going in the morning these days too.