Ideally, during winter you will have had a trickle charger connected to your bike’s battery to keep it topped up and healthy; you will have started your bike’s engine on regular basis; brimmed your tank with petrol, overinflated your tyres, raised the wheels off the cold garage floor or parked it on some carpet. Obviously, you will have deep-cleaned it to a professional standard, and spun the wheels every few weeks, too.
You didn’t? Ah, well you’re not alone, but we might have a problem when we come to start it after a long winter layoff, one made even longer for many of us due to COVID-19 and lockdowns.
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So, let’s look at the problems you may have, and how to overcome them. (Please bear in mind this is a generic guide and bikes differ greatly.)
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Before the start-up – The first, and sometimes forgotten, job: open the garage door and windows or, preferably, roll the bike outside onto your drive or into the garden. The start-up procedure will depend on how long your bike has been stood, and this may mean we have some smoke, and we may need to run the bike for a long period to bring everything up to temperature.
Obviously, carbon monoxide (gasses from the exhaust) can be dangerous and, equally, we don’t want to fill the shed full of two-stroke smoke, therefore make sure wherever you are it is well ventilated.
Suck, squeeze, bang, blow – Before you press the starter button, think about what your engine needs. Think: suck, squeeze, bang and blow. Your engine needs to be able to breathe air, and then get rid of it (exhaust). Is the airbox clear? Is the exhaust clear? Or has a mouse made a nest in the airbox? (You may laugh but I’ve opened an airbox to find a fully-functional home for rodents.) Have the kids slid toy cars down the exhaust? (Same…). The point is, you don’t want to turn over the engine and suck in debris, so checking is vital.
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Now to start – Turn on the ignition, flick on the manual choke if fitted, and press the starter button. Allow the starter motor to turn the engine for around five seconds… and it should start. If this doesn’t happen, try again, but only two to three times – don’t leave your thumb on the button, otherwise you can ruin the starter motor.
Once running, simply allow the engine temperature to rise naturally as the bike ticks over. Don’t rev it, it has only just woken up after a deep sleep. As the temperature rises, listen for misfires and take the opportunity to check things such as lights, indicators and horn – simulate an MoT, if you like. Moisture has a habit of creeping into electrical components.
I’d recommend letting the engine warm-up until the thermostat activates the fan for the radiator. If you have an air-cooled bike let it run until you can feel the warmth from the engine.
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Category: WHY
