Jumpin’ Jack Flash!
Ihave tested quite a number of jump packs, but this is the first to grace the pages of this fine organ, because prior to this example, not one has been an acceptable alternative to my old and trusted Mk.1 Ferrand jump pack.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will see that it is simply the battery that refused to start my old Jeep many, many years ago, but seems more than good enough to start a recalcitrant motorcycle and even the odd car on occasion. I am truly astonished by how long it has carried on working. It’s only real drawback is the not inconsiderable weight. It’s on its second set of leads as the insulation broke down on the first set, so I cut a set of jump leads in half and crimped ring terminals on the cut ends! The bikes most likely to have flat batteries are those that live in the lock-ups I rent with no power, and at my age carrying a great big 4x4 battery down the road to them is no joke. She Who Must Be Obeyed’s Street Triple used to live down there and having a battery that wasn’t much bigger than a torch battery which had to power an alarm/immobiliser, it would reduce the voltage to the square root of feck all in a matter of weeks. The Mk.1 Ferrand jump pack (final pic) has never failed, but resulted in an aching arm and shoulder transporting it to the bike. I tried numerous small jump packs that claimed to start V8s and all manner of large vehicles, but with a properly flat battery couldn’t start a 675cc triple. Apparently if they’re totally flat they don’t work.
I was chatting to Andy at Laser Tools one day and told him how unimpressed I had been with all these tiny jump packs with their giant claims, and he said: “Try mine – it’s been in my van for many years and has started many large vehicles.” He is aware of my
deeply-ingrained cynicism, so doesn’t bother trying to sell me anything, but lent me his jump pack to try. Last year I went to register my Kawasaki Z1300’s historic vehicle status and despite it conforming to DVLA’S published rules, they said I had to wait until the following year and given the tax was well north of £100 I told them to shove it where the sun didn’t shine and duly covered up my big six for a year, so I wouldn’t be tempted to either break the law or give money to the undeserving government!
The downside of this was that by the time I remembered it had a battery on it, there was not enough power left to illuminate the neutral light. This seemed like a good challenge for Andy’s jump pack. Well, finally, a jump pack that actually does what it claims it will do; the slumbering beast roared into life despite the seriously-elderly go-juice.
It does more: it has an accessory outlet of the sort that used to contain fag lighters in old cars that we recall from our youth. I went to collect a very dead bike the other day and the tyres were as flat as a proverbial pancake. The guy had a car tyre pumper upper device that plugged into a car, but a car couldn’t be got close enough, and I remembered the jump pack in my van and thought I would try it, and, hey presto, inflated tyres. ‘Hey presto’ is a bit of an exaggeration; those little electric pumps take forever, but it did work. The other trick up this product’s sleeve is a pair of USB outlets that will charge your phone, which the car and van I have won’t unless the engine is running, and given the price of diesel… So what’s the snag? In all honesty the price. Te cheapest I have seen it is around £200 including VAT, but for that you get a seriously good, professional tool that can dig you out the doo-doo. Given my experience with both the AA and RAC, when you’re into your fourth hour at the side of the road, all of a sudden a couple of hundred quid doesn’t seem so bad. For more: www.lasertools.co. uk/product/6994/mini-jump-start-power-pack