Charging and Jump Starting the easy way?

[farina]

I keep reading that my 2008 Sprint ST has some simple battery port for charging and jumping, rather than lifting the seat and killing myself getting those bolts back in...but I can't find it.

If this magic port exists...could someone clue me in as to where it's at?

Thanks!

[DaveM]

farina you can charge the battery via the powerlette outlet in your fairing I believe.

I just clamp my Optimate 3 onto the battery terminals myself.

DaveM

[GizmoRider]

My '08 has a Powerlet socket on the left side, inside the fairing, just below knee-height, with a spring-loaded cover. The dealer also installed a Gerbing coax connector, cable-tied to the frame rail on the left side, situated just below my left thigh, perfect for my Gerbing jacket liner. I installed a connector for my Battery Tender Jr., at the same location. Am I hooked up, or what?

[oldndumb]

farina, just in case you do not have one, you can download an owner manual.

http://www.triumph.co.uk/uk/Handbooks.aspx

It might not say it is for an 08, but everything significant is the same.

[farina]

You know...I do have the owners manual (I'm the first owner) but I swear I can't find anything about that little port in there!

Either way...I did find it (thanks for the help!) but I really don't know how you use that thing. It's like a super small lighter jack? I know it's called a BMW jack or something like that, but I guess my trickle charger just doesn't have one of those extensions.

The way the story goes is that my battery died while I was at work the other day and when I tried to leave, there wasn't enough juice to get the engine to flip over. My office has a community "jumpstart pack" (one of those battery things) but this thing sucks so bad you can hardly clamp it to a car battery let alone those mini bike terminals.

So after about 30 minutes of trying to "MacGuyver" extensions to the terminals using the factory toolkits metal tools, I actually got it started! Problem then was that I couldn't stop it to close the tookkit door (cause you HAVE to have your key in it to close the damn thing) so I was forced to load up my jacket with all of my stuff hoping I wouldn't drop it on the way home.

The whole reason I figured I'd drop this thread was because I was wondering if there would have been an easier way to do all of that.

Taking the seat off, and messing with the battery to get it started up just didn't seem like the most efficient process had I have been in some random location.

I know my last bike (a Kawasaki) had battery terminals that were accessible without taking the seat off...but I'm not sure this one has anything like that. I mean...can you jump the bike off of that BMW port?

Again...thanks for the great answers and I'm super jazzed to be back riding! (I didn't ride it for about 8 months) let alone be back on the TriumphRat...cause these forums are just great .

[Tri-oomph!]

So now the second order of business is to take out the seat bolts and chuck em' down the road so you never see them again. Oh wait, that would be littlering. Many people don't even put them back in.

[limeyfreek]

finally i have an owners manual now thanks u guys......carefull riding with no seat bolts it cracked my plastic

[oldndumb]

farina, you are making it more difficult than need be. There is plenty of information here about charging through the accessory jack.

As for not seeing any info about the jack, it is on page 39 of my manual and page 41 of the online version. It also states that compatible plugs are available from your dealer. And, if you read the charging threads, you will learn that the plug is a Powerlet, not a BMW.

Powerlet has site plus they are also available from other vendors as well as your dealer.

http://www.powerletproducts.com/

+1 re Tri-oomph!'s advice to bin the seat bolts.

You are welcome, limeyfreek.

[farina]

You know...after f'ing with the seat bolts for about 5 hours, I figured out how to put them in using finger tightening (at least to get them threaded). They are still a horrible design...but are no longer the bane of my existence.

As for the BMW jack...I know I can buy some stuff to jam in it, but my real question was, can I jump the thing using it? Sounds like you can with the right accessory.

[champ87]

Originally Posted by farina

As for the BMW jack...I know I can buy some stuff to jam in it, but my real question was, can I jump the thing using it? Sounds like you can with the right accessory.

I would strongly advise against using the accessory socket to jump start your bike.

There's nothing to say you can't do it but that is a 10 amp circuit and you can figure the wiring is sized to suit. It's fine for charging but trying to jump start through the accessory socket could fry your wiring.

Why not fix your bike so it doesn't need jump starts?