Push starting is like crashing a motorcycle, sooner or later you're going to do it. Like it or not, it might be function that may save you from the side of the road. Last week I helped a guy push start his bike, and it dawned on me how simple it is, but yet people don't know the basics.
So first, this will likely not work on a bike that is super cold/been sitting. The starter does a few things to motorcycles along with turning the motor. So, now you know.
* Turn on the choke if it's cold, turn the fuel to PRIME if you have it. That will get fuel going even if you have a vacuum operated petcock.
* Ignition on!
* Put the bike in SECOND gear and hold in the clutch
* PUSH! Get the bike up to 5-8 mph if at all possible. Use any hills or grades to your benefit.
* Drop the clutch like its hot. DO NOT FEATHER IT. The torque will slow you and stop you if you feather out the clutch.
* Give it some throttle a la dirt bike style (think braap braaap braaaaap)
Hopefully you've gotten the motor to crank a few rotations and it's catching. Make sure you have good balance because it can be a rough ride when that motor catches. I've had to do it to goldwings over the years and it's never fun, but it can keep you from being on the side of the road.
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
There are no tags yet.
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
by DerickPush starting is like crashing a motorcycle, sooner or later you're going to do it. Like it or not, it might be function that may save you from the side of the road. Last week I helped a guy push start his bike, and it dawned on me how simple it is, but yet people don't know the basics. So first, this will likely not work on a bike that is super cold/been sitting. The starter does a few things to motorcycles along with turning the motor. So, now you know. * Turn on the choke if it's cold,...
-
Channel: General Motorcycling Articles
04-28-2017, 01:45 PM -
-
by ClairMSF Class, T-CLOCS, FINE-C, ATGATT, and more So, back to riding related posts ... For the new people, potential new riders, returning riders, and people who've never taken it ... The MSF class (BRC) is your best bet to learning how to ride safely and living to ride another day. What, you say you've been riding 20 years anddon't need the MSF Class? Take the ERC class anyway, it can't hurt and you might learn something. The MSF Class ... sponsered by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation ... is...
-
Channel: General Motorcycling Articles
01-30-2017, 11:37 PM -
-
"In a Perfect World" by Todd W. Cox In a perfect world, we’d all have the built-in insulation to be the right temperature no matter where we were standing. While we’re at it, we’d all get to enjoy the rivers of chocolate that wound across the perfect land. Sadly our imperfect chocolate-river-free world likes to throw extremes of hot and cold at us. That’s where wearing the right clothing comes in, and wearing the right clothing means layering. It wasn’t too many years ago that lay...
-
Channel: General Motorcycling Articles
01-30-2017, 11:37 PM -
-
by KatI have been riding for 2 seasons now. I wasn't sure when I started my journey as a biker whether or not this was the right thing for me to do. I was uncomfortable and felt scared every time I thought of getting on my bike. But that is all changed. This is the reason why. First off, I love classic cruisers!! I love the look of the big beefy bike. So, when a friend of ours decided they were selling their Honda ACE 750cc with all the trimmings for a great price, we jumped on it. My hubby (who ...
-
Channel: General Motorcycling Articles
01-30-2017, 11:36 PM -
-
by GuestYou want a WHAT????! By Christy with additional material by Jeff (aka Ranger) Once you've decided to take up riding you will face what may be the most challenging part of your entire motorcycling experience - explaining your desire to ride to your loved ones. Riding entails undeniable risks. Through proper training, safety gear, wise motorcycle choices, and practicing skilled riding techniques those risks can be mitigated. Still, for many of us, our choice to ride means we are asking our ...
-
Channel: General Motorcycling Articles
01-30-2017, 11:36 PM -
-
by YamBriI am a beginner rider that at my age wasn't ready to jump on a big bike. In fact I started a little over a year ago by purchasing a China made pit bike brand new for $300. It was a 110cc small sized bike that I cruised around with my son on his Honda CR50 on the property I live on in the Angeles National Forest in CA. It was fun but I wanted a "real" bike that I could trust to last so I bought a 2005 Yamaha TTR125 LE. This seemed more like a real bike and it was fun to trail ride but when I...
-
Channel: General Motorcycling Articles
01-30-2017, 11:33 PM -
1980 XL500S,
1983 XL600R,
2016 FXDL.
First 2 Hondas don't "allow" bump starting. I tried every gear, down a 30% concrete slope, 2-up, and the wheel locked like I was applying the brake. Something internally won't let it happen...Oddley though, they were kickstart only...
The last one is a Harley, and they're programmed to not fire until the 3rd revolution (ok, 6th revolution of the crank.) Something to do with minimum rotation speed and the compression release. Because of this, a kicker is out of the question.
The old Harley bumped very easily. Must have been the Crane cam holding the valves open longer or sumpthin'. It would fire on the 1st available rotation. Always wanted to put a kicker on this bike. Just to mess with people!
Technically it's still 5 points for stalling the engine, but I felt pretty good about recovering without putting a foot down.