How to Make Motorcycle Battery Terminal Extensions

Some motorcycle batteries can be difficult to access in order jump start or attach a trickle charger. Removing parts of the bike to get to the battery is not always practical, especially in emergencies when the right tools may not be available. This article will explain how to create terminal extensions so you can jump start or charge the battery without needing to remove the seat or other inconvenient parts to access the battery.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Two 5' pieces of 10+ awg stranded wire (depending on battery amperage) - one red, one black
• Electrical tape
• Two ring terminals
• Two sets of blade disconnects (weatherproofed if possible)
• Screwdriver
• Drill (optional)

1. Remove the seat or other parts necessary from the motorcycle to expose the battery. Remove the battery's terminal screws.

2. 
    
   Ring terminal and wire attached to battery

   Attach a stripped end of each wire to a ring terminal, put the terminal screw through the ring terminal and tighten back onto the battery. Make sure the red and black wires are on the correct terminals.

3. 
    
   Wires routed around battery

   Route the wires so they are out of the way, and wrap the remainder of the wire lengths together with electrical tape to keep them together.

4. 
    
   Wires threaded through bike and glove box

   Drill a small hole in back of glove box, and thread wires through the frame of the bike and into the glove box. We chose to store the loose ends in the glove box for weather protection and safety, but you may secure your wires wherever you choose.

5. 
    
   Blade disconnects

   Strip the loose ends of the wires and attach the blade disconnects. The weatherproofed disconnects hide the exposed metal nicely and offer additional protection.

6. Test the connection using a trickle charger to make sure everything is connected correctly and reassemble the motorcycle.

Tips & Warnings

• You may notice in the photos that we wrapped the portion of the wires attached to the battery with self vulcanizing tape (electrical tape works well also) for additional weatherproofing and to protect the wires.
• After the wires are connected to the battery (especially the positive terminal), do not let the loose ends of the wires touch each other or metal parts of the motorcycle
• Be sure that the wires you choose are of an adequate gauge to be able to handle the amperage!

[simpleguru]

on 7/30/2009 It is fairly common in motorcycles since they typically sit through the cold months without getting used, and automotive batteries in general tend to lose their charge over time if they are not used. Many people will attach trickle chargers to their motorcycles when they will be sitting for a while, but ending up with a dead battery and needing a jump start or a hill to do a rolling start still happens more than any of us care for!

[moonhawk]

on 7/30/2009 Interesting. Just out of curiosity, is it common to have to jump start or charge a motorcycle battery or is this primarily in case of emergency?