Push starting a motorbike?

[YaelD]

So, the other half managed to leave her rv125/vanvan's park lights on from about 1pm today (i don't get park lights on a bike) and now I think the battery's dead - the headlight glows faintly but the display doesn't light up and the bike's not turning over.

Question: is it possible to push start a bike - i don't fancy trying if there's no chance (we'd have to push it back uphill to secure it for the night).

... And now it's started raining... Deep joy!

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Yael

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[rictus01]

yes it is, especially if you have a hill, take out the fuse for the main lights or turn them off if possible, select second gear; clutch in,ignition on, push the bike as fast as you can and then jump onto the seat (side saddle fashion), at the same time release the clutch lever and the weight on the seat and momentum should kick the engine over and start it ( you can try a stab at the start button to if you want at the same time).

where are you if home or near by I have jump leads on the bike and could pop round ?

Cheers Mark.

[Epic Monkey]

Put bike in 2nd. Pull clutch in. If there's someone to push you then get them to push while you ride. Get up speed and let out clutch. Should fire up.
If its just you and the road is flat then run next to bike while holding clutch in. Then you can jump on and let
Clutch out. If on a downhill pretend someone's pushing. :)
Good luck

[Epic Monkey]

Got in there while I was typing Rictus ;)

[Sid Squid]

Yes. Seeing as it's a 125 it will be easy too. Ideally get an assistant, although a small bike won't be too much trouble on your own.

The process is exactly the same as starting normally, only the engine will be rotated by muscle power rather than electricity, so use choke as you would normally if cold, or a crack of throttle if that's what your bike needs when hot. If you have a bike that's a fussy starter it can be difficult, but all else being equal and if the only reason it won't go is that the battery is flat then:

Switch on ignition.
Make sure it's in neutral.
Set choke or throttle as normal.
Push hard and make it go as quickly as you can, this where an assistant really makes a difference as you can sit on the bike rather than pushing it and jumping on.
Stand up on the footrests.
Now the tricky bit: Quickly pull in the clutch and select second gear, then bump your bum down on the seat as hard as you can at the exact moment you release the clutch, this will get you as much grip from the rear tyre as possible.
If you did it right the engine should fire.
So as not to stall it, as soon as it does fire pull the clutch in and give it a bit of throttle, don't stall a slightly running engine by coming to a halt with the clutch out - your assistant will be upset and give you a Paddington Bear hard stare at least.

[missyburd]

I had to do this once in winter when I had my 125, well it turned out I had to do it twice, had to stop at a junction halfway down a big hill, I let the bloody thing stall didn't I? If I can do it though... :)

[Bluefish]

Just don't do what my bruv did years ago, running along side the bike started it, then the bike went off on it's own, how i laughed lol

[P-J]

All the above but what I found to be the best solution are some motorcycle specific jumpleads from Halfrauds for a tenner that fit under your seat! One of the best investments I've ever done :grin:

[Sid Squid]

There are jump leads in the bike's own toolkit.

[YaelD]

Thanks all. The rain started getting quite insistent so we decided to try the push start before all your responses came in. Failed first time, but the little engine showed willing and we managed it the second time (pushing a bike uphill isn't fun).

Basically applied a similar technique to push starting a car and the bike was away.

The OH is new to biking so riding in the rain, in the dark and on a bike that she claims let HER down (it left itself in the park position all evening, obviously) made for a very slow ride home.

Thanks again for all the responses - lesson well learned, methinks.

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[P-J]

Well done on getting it going! Fills you with a degree of satisfaction when you hear it pop back into life :grin:

There are jump leads in the bike's own toolkit.

Which bikes come with jump leads Sid? I've never encountered them before until I saw them in halfrauds.

[rictus01]

he's talking about spanners, it's possible to jump a bike from one battery to another with them.

[YaelD]

I'm not even going to ask. Leads already frighten me, spanners sound lethal.

An aside: how comes the lights (head and tail) still worked on a flat battery?

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[rictus01]

bulbs on a small capacity bike are very low draw and will work with virtually no amps and little voltage (they were probably a bit dim) as opposed to the starter circuit which is the highest single draw amp wise thing on the bike, even the solenoid requires a good 12v to switch in the circuit.

Cheers Mark.

[_Stretchie_]

It's not much fun doing it on a BlackBird I can tell you, especially in the work car park when everyone is watching

[yorkie_chris]

I had to do this for a while on the XJ900. All 240 dry kgs of it when the starter brushes wore out.
Worse, no choke cable so you have to hold the choke open with left hand after dumping the clutch and getting it spinning.

Was interesting at work on frosty car park.