PDA

View Full Version : Ari’s winter farkle projects part 2 (jumper cable hideaway)


pozo_izquierdo
Apr 3rd, 2006, 12:54 pm
Now this one is a small snack between the bigger tasks but I thought maybe someone could have use for this.

I got the idea for this ghetto mod last summer when I was riding in Lithuania with my workmate who has a new R 1200 GS. We were on a work trip and we left his bike sit one day at the hotel and went to do our business two up on my bike.

Next morning when we were supposed to start heading 650 km north to Estonia to catch our ferry to Helsinki his battery was totally dead. It was early August so it was extremely hard to get access to jumper cables in Kaunas, Lithuania. Everybody seemed to have them at home…Finally one friendly cage driver went and picked up the cables from his home some 20 minutes away.

All this jumper cable hassle took more than an hour but luckily we had some slack in our schedule to the ferry.

So I decided that I or my riding buddy will not get stranded because of lacking jumper cables. Of course one could just toss them on the bottom of the trunk or side case but usually you could use that cargo space for more important and especially more frequently needed things.

I found a suitable shelf on the top of the exhaust pipe. This is obviously some kind of a heat shield and there seems to be just perfect space for a (motorcycle grade) jumper cable set. At least the space seems suitable in my bike with the Remus exhaust system and I strongly believe that this shelf does not get so hot that the cables would melt. But, with stock exhaust with cat the case may be different. So make sure before doing the same...

Anyway, I made connectors in both ends of the cables, connected the ground cable in one of the ground terminals (but did not connect the positive cable of course). I did not have space for the clip-on connectors so the round ones will have to do.

Now the cables are just behind three allen screws that hold the passenger floorboards plus some copper wires that hold them on the shelf. (I did not want to use the zip ties just to make sure if the heat gets too high for them and the cables would fall under my rear wheel…)

I’ll keep you informed in case the heat has some effect on the cables.


To be continued

Regards

Dezrae
Apr 4th, 2006, 6:41 am
Well Jumping Jupiter...

or is it...

Well Freaking Farkle!!!

Man i have seen some farkles in my time, and even manufactured a few myself for various motorcycles i have owned and then some...

but never seen this before...

Top work!

Keep farkeling!!!

hschisler
Apr 4th, 2006, 6:54 am
Well that's pretty cool, and so practical when you really need the jumper cables! Why not find room for one of those pre-charged battery jumpers? :D

Did you say "ghetto mod"? See the attachments for some others.

pozo_izquierdo
Apr 4th, 2006, 8:38 am
Did you say "ghetto mod"? See the attachments for some others.

Thanks Howard,

I really don't know who invented this term "ghetto mod". I acquired it from Ron Miller and if I remember correctly there was a small discussion on this forum about the contents of the term. The way I have understood it is that you do a mod using some "leftovers" in your garage. The other condition could be that the modification is not commercially available.

Your pictures might meet the second condition at least. I don't know about the first one, though.:D

Regards

NOGILLS2
Apr 4th, 2006, 8:58 am
I have been wanting to build a set of jumper cables and wondering what gauge wire did you use, or what gauge should you use? I am sure that commercial grade for auto would not be necessary and they would be too large to carry. Also what length would you recomend?

Dick
Apr 4th, 2006, 10:36 am
I have been wanting to build a set of jumper cables and wondering what gauge wire did you use, or what gauge should you use? I am sure that commercial grade for auto would not be necessary and they would be too large to carry. Also what length would you recomend?
Hey, hey Floyd ---

If you're near a Northern Tools, or a Tractor Supply, or maybe even Harbor Freight, ax 'em if they have the leetle round, plastic carrier about the size of a CD, with a set of jumper cables inside. I bought several of 'em at Northern Tools, butt I've seen 'em at other places too. Not much thicker than an inch or so and packs in nicely in front of the top box 'tween it and the passenger's lower backrest thangie. $6.00 or so.

pozo_izquierdo
Apr 4th, 2006, 11:40 am
I have been wanting to build a set of jumper cables and wondering what gauge wire did you use, or what gauge should you use? I am sure that commercial grade for auto would not be necessary and they would be too large to carry. Also what length would you recomend?

Hi Floyd,

this is a good question...The set I had laying around in my garage is one of the "cheapos" meaning that the cable looks quite thick, but it is actually the thick plastic isolation that makes it look like it. (That´s why it is nice and flexible...)The copper wire inside is probably only some 10 gauge wire.
I discussed this thing once with Tom Russell (aka "russte") and his idea was that in case of emergency even smaller gauge wire could be helpful by giving the charge current to you or your buddy. I have never used this cables to actually jump start a car or anything for that matter.

I can share you a secret what I used them for:

Years ago I did some torch-fishing on our little lake. I had a leftover car battery that I used for giving power to a Hella halogen driving light for which I had built a handle. I used these cables for the power supply of the halogen. Didn't catch any fish, though...:p

And Dick:
The space you suggested for the cable storage is already reserved for the rain gear. Unless you ride in a climate with no rain...:(

Regards

LTsaddledance
Apr 5th, 2006, 9:07 am
Hey, hey Floyd ---

If you're near a Northern Tools, or a Tractor Supply, or maybe even Harbor Freight, ax 'em if they have the leetle round, plastic carrier about the size of a CD, with a set of jumper cables inside. I bought several of 'em at Northern Tools, butt I've seen 'em at other places too. Not much thicker than an inch or so and packs in nicely in front of the top box 'tween it and the passenger's lower backrest thangie. $6.00 or so.

I checked my Northern tools catalog. Available in 4 gauge, 6 gauge and 10 gauge.

I just made up a set myself using 10 gauge wire. I've learned that Jumpers are just as occasionally necessary to a bike as a car.