can someone please advise me on the correct connecting sequence for jumper leads on a new tenere. is it the same as some of the newer cars where you connect the negative cable to an earth point rather than the neg terminal of the bike with the flat battery. cheers charlie.

Generally the instructions that come with jump leads read something like this...

1) Connect +ve of flat battery to +ve of good battery
2) Connect -ve of good battery to chassis/frame of vehicle/bike with flat battery
3) Crank it over
4) Disconnect the cables in reverse order

The main reason that connecting to a chassis earth point is the preferred choice is that it greatly reduces the risks of sparks/arcing close to the (flat) battery, which always occur when the final connection is made and the current initially starts to flow. Applying a sudden current across the cells of a deeply discharged lead-acid battery causes a rapid production of hydrogen gas. At a hydrogen concentration of just 4% in air hydrogen gas is highly explosive (which in the space above the acid level in the battery isn’t much hydrogen). As hydrogen gas requires extremely low energy inputs to ignite, any sparking/arcing near the flat battery is worth avoiding, hence the chassis earth theory. A 4% hydrogen concentration can even be ignited by the static electricity produced by a human being!

Biggest problem with connecting to the frame is finding a good earth through the paint and dirt. You also, for obvious reasons, don’t want to connect a chassis earth too near the petrol tank or its breather.

Ninety nine times out of a hundred you’ll be fine connecting both leads to the flat battery, but if it has a hairline crack (that you can’t see), or the breather is blocked or not connected, then there might be the potential for disaster?

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thanks for that.