Hello, it’s tiring to crank the kick stater too many times but the still motorcycle won’t start. If the motorcycle is with an electric starter, until the battery runs out, the answer is that it still doesn’t want to start. So how do you start the bike that has been stored in your garage for a long time? maybe a week, months, or after sitting for a year.
Well, I’ll try to explain one by one how to use either a geared motorcycle or an automatic motorcycle which refers to a scooter, and I’m assuming that you’ve reached here, it seems that you want to try to solve the exact same problem yourself, if not, of course, you will send the motorcycle to the workshop for sure.
5 things reasons why motorcycles won’t start
Generally, these 5 things always need to be checked in attempting to start a motorcycle that is not running for a long period of time, like 1 month, six months, and maybe years. the reason it won’t start is all about the fuel or the ignition failure.
Simple things like stale gasoline, the carburetor/Fi getting clogged, or a flat battery can cause the problem. You can fix this, It’s easy to be done even if you are not a mechanic.
The engine compression
Before you go, you must test the engine compression. When you kick start the engine, you must feel heavy as before you parked the motorcycle. If you feel nothing/ loosely then that means the engine has no compression. First, look at the spark plug, if it is still there and tight well thus the engine needs to rebuild to fix the piston ring, or the valves(4-stroke). For a two-stroke motorcycle, it also might happen cause of the Crankshaft’s seal
If your motorcycle doesn’t use a kick starter, test the engine compression as I do :
- Charge the battery
- Take out the Spark Plug
- Press the starter button while putting your finger at the spark plug’s hole, and feel the air pressure (no pressure means no compression”
- Be careful the ignition coil is not touching you
So, If all is good then we can step further
1. Replace the stale gasoline
The motorcycle has been stored for a long period and if you want to try to start the engine again, you should get rid of all the stale gas and replace it with fresh, since the stale gasoline cannot be consumed by the engine correctly and will make the engine difficult to start.
To do this, the body cover must be taken apart first, and the carburetor’s fuel hose pipe must be removed. Which one is it? surely that one that connects to the tank
If there are two of these, the one attached to the carburetor intake is for sucking the gasoline, and the gasoline is released from the second instead of this one.
2. Cleaning the Carburetor
Cleaning the Carburetor parts – If you use a carburetor system, it needs to be serviced to clean the internal components. Usually, old gasoline reservoirs in the carburetor will cause sludge-like lumps that will cause the holes in the carburetor to become clogged. This is the cause of carburetor failure.
cleaned the pilot and main jet as well as all other internal motorcycle carburetor parts to ensure that there were no clogs. Install them properly afterward to prevent oil leaks later.
3. Battery power
How about you remove the battery first and send it to the repair for charging while you clean the carburetor? If it can no longer be utilized, kindly replace it with a new one.
A common question is ” My motorcycle won’t start but the battery is good”. must understand the old motorcycle electric system doesn’t need a battery to start the engine, even without a battery you can start the engine. But if your motorcycle runs with DC-CDI System, you need a battery to make the engine runs.
Please check the other things I mention here
4. Change the spark plugs
We want a strong ignition when we want to start the engine, therefore whether your engine has one spark plug or several, replace it with a new one. Here are some suggestions for replacing the spark plug as soon as you have inserted the battery.
While the spark plug has been removed, take a little more time to test the ignition coil plug
Remove the plug cap, bring the coil cable closer to the surface of the engine/body, on the switch, and give a kick-start to see if there will be a flame or not, if the result is positive then just install the new plug because your plug coil is still ok.
5. Change the engine oil
This is optional but serves as a supplement and gets you ready to keep riding the motorcycle if it starts.
But if the motorcycle has not been stored for a long time and the engine oil has just been changed before then there is no need to change the oil right now.
But don’t forget to check the oil level as well, since engine component damage can result from running with insufficient engine oil.
Okay, you can now start the engine after the mentioned five items are good.
Final thoughts
One more thing: if it’s a 2-stroke engine, make sure the 2T oil is still in there; otherwise, it’s advisable to change to a new 2T oil. Check the 2t pump as well; hopefully, there are no issues as the flow is adequate.
The engine will start in a few kicks or electric starts if there are no additional issues.
After starting, allow it to idle for a while to allow the engine’s oil to reach all of its components. The brakes, tire pressure, chain tension, and even the lights should all be checked before you get on the road to ensure a safe and comfortable trip. that’s it.
