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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> How-To Push start a savage
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Message started by ylwf3vr on 08/01/13 at 23:51:58

Title: How-To Push start a savage
Post by ylwf3vr on 08/01/13 at 23:51:58

Not to bring up an old thread but I left my parking lights on (doofus) and now the battery is almost dead. It cranks for a second and just clicks. Tried push starting but guess I'm too weak! :(

Tried looking in the battery compartment and the 2 Philips screws at the bottom are stripped!

I'm almost tempted to just take it to a shop and have it replaced with a better battery and have those screws drilled out.. Thoughts?

Title: Re: How-To Push start a savage
Post by Dave on 08/02/13 at 14:19:05

I weigh 156 pounds.....and I have no chance of push starting my bike. I have tried in 2nd, and 3rd and all I do is slide the rear tire. If I try in 4th or 5th I may get one or two pops.....but I can't get the clutch in fast enough to keep the engine running.

One time when I was out and my battery gave up from just being old, I was able to jump start the bike and get back home. I turned on the key, then used a jumper cable to connect directly to the starter positive terminal. You have to be very careful doing this.....as it is easy to touch the jumper cable to something other than the small terminal. I consider this a last ditch gotta get home process....not something I would do except in an emergency.

You should drill off the small phillips head screws and get your battery out to charge it. You will have to do that eventually anyhow.

Title: Re: How-To Push start a savage
Post by verslagen1 on 08/02/13 at 14:23:23

http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1337452721

Title: Re: How-To Push start a savage
Post by chiguy on 08/03/13 at 15:49:24

Okay, here's a trick that might (and I say "might", never actually had a need to try) help when it is time to jump start. I've got a trickle charger for the winter. Part of what comes with this particular set is a set of wires that you can connect (permanently) to the battery and hang out the side, then just plug in to the cable off the battery trickle charger. There is also a connection for the same connector to tie in to an included set of jumper clamps. So, what one could do, is instead of plugging the trickle charger connected to the battery, connect the jumper cables instead. Voila, an easy jump start, and no worries (if you are careful) about shorting out to the wrong thing. WARNING: since you would be using the jump cables backwards from their normal use (the way they are connected to the connector), the polarities would be reversed. Be sure to think through what is connected to what.

FWIW the trickle charger I'm using (with all these various cables and connectors) is a Duracell. Can't remember where I got it, probably an auto parts store. Highly recommended!

Title: Re: How-To Push start a savage
Post by Dave on 08/03/13 at 18:43:54

545F5E50424E370 wrote:

If you try to use the thin trickle charger wires as jumper cables.....You are probably just going to fry them as they cannot handle large current. If the wires are not as thick as the battery and starter wires, the wires are too small to use as jumpers.

Title: Re: How-To Push start a savage
Post by savagerider87 on 08/03/13 at 21:42:08

0B303D2A3B372C2A3139342B580 wrote:

I have had my bike stall a few times on me when coming to a stop and have locked up the rear tire . The most embarassing time was when i went to the dealer to pick up some parts and a bunch of Canadian Harley riders just stared at me when i tried to pop the clutch while rolling into the parking lot. funny thing is I was there 10 minutes and they were all standing around my bike and i got a ton of questions about it and a couple of what year is that questions and then a lot of compliments and then they lightened up after i told them that its my first year riding. anyhow, i ended up with a few new riding partners, Go figure :)

Title: Re: How-To Push start a savage
Post by Gyrobob on 08/04/13 at 12:34:35

One way to get it to push start is to get the piston just past the compression stroke, turn the ignition on, pull the "choke" out, push the bike in neutral (you only need maybe 5 mph), then hop on it and stab it into second gear right away. Don't mess with the clutch. Don't use any throttle until it starts. The slop in the driveline and the shock absorption in the rubber belt and the slow speed will keep from hurting the transmission when you stab it into second gear.

You can get it just past the compression stroke by putting the bike in 3rd or 4th, and pushing forward on the bike. It will slowly move the piston as the air in the combustion chamber leaks past the rings. RYCA bikes make this real easy with the lever-operated compression release.

It is important to have the bike just past the compression stroke (in the exhaust stroke), so it can spin over for a revolution and get up to an rpm where it will make it through the next compression stroke.

It is important to not turn the motor over backwards by pushing the bike in gear backwards or you might break some stuff inside.

Anyway, if the battery is truly dead and does not have enough oomph to move the compression release solenoid, trying to push start the bike with the piston on the compression stroke is impossible. The only way to have a chance is to get it just past the compression stroke so it has a chance to start turning over before it hits the next compression stroke.

Title: Re: How-To Push start a savage
Post by Gyrobob on 08/04/13 at 12:41:13

Using the wires permanently attached to the battery that would normally be used for a trickle charger are, as noted, way too small to handle jumper cable sized current.

They can, however, help in a situation like this. Just hook them up with the jumper cables to another 12v battery (car or bike) and let them recharge the dead battery for 10 or 20 minutes.

If they are REALLY thin wires, they might overheat. If they are 16 or 14 gauge, they can probably handle the current. Just don't have the charged battery in a vehicle that is running, and don't try to start the bike with the wires hooked up to the charged battery.

Title: Re: How-To Push start a savage
Post by Digger on 08/17/13 at 20:31:06

If you're thinkin' about an easy to use and safe jump start capability, here's what I did a few years back:

I modded mine for an easy, no-tools-needed jump start.

I found a used grounding wire from my old '81 GL1100. I attached one end to the positive battery cable and insulated the bejeezus out of it. Here is a pic:

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee201/Digger109/JumpStartWireE.jpg

FYI, the lower-right portion of the jump start lead is not connected to anything....it just dead-heads to a terminal under the black insulating hose I've got shoved over the end. Said terminal is easy to hook a positive jumper cable to.

Not pretty, but it works (just like my Savage) - it's the next best thing to having a kick-starter.

Had to use it in anger for the first time a few months ago, when my 9 year-old battery gave up the ghost.....

IHTH!