Push Starting Your Motorcycle
There comes a time when you don’t ride your motorcycle for awhile and the battery goes out. What is one to do? Fortunately for you, yours truly have been stranded in that same situation enough time to know exactly what to do. Yes, you should try to push start your bike.
First thing you should do is find some open area so you have enough space to begin the actual pushing. This process is much easier if you have another person doing the pushing or if you find an incline so that you can push yourself while on your bike.
Turn your key to the “On” position and have your bike’s engine stop switch (the one that kills your engine) in the “On” position as well. Unfortunately I don’t have a fuel switch on my bike so I don’t know what you’re suppose to have that on. I would imagine having it at the open setting or the reserve fuel setting should be adequate.
Shift your bike to 2nd gear. That’s one click up from the neutral position. This way when the bike comes to life, you don’t get jolted out on first gear.
Grab and hold down the clutch lever and proceed to have your bike either pushed by someone else or by yourself down an incline. By the time you hit about 5-10 mph, slowly ease off of the clutch. As soon as you hear or feel the engine come to life, twist the throttle so you let in more gas to get the engine going. Make sure when the engine starts up and you twist the throttle that you hold down the clutch immediately. Otherwise serious injuries may occur if you forget to hold the clutch down and you turn your wrist too much on the throttle. That’s it!
I recommend doing this when you really don’t need to. It’s a good thing to practice and learn before you really need it.
Note: By following the suggestions on this post may cause serious injuries if not done correctly. I am not liable for any injuries that may result in this. Please understand that it is your choice to proceed. Consider yourself warned!
January 26th, 2006 at 8:50 am
I was just curious… do i not need to hit the starter button to get the engine running? i dont see how the engine would start on its own otherwise. By the way i have a 2k1 R6 and love it more than my life… also does the fact that its carbed make a diff.? i dont know if yours is or not.
January 26th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Thanks for the high praise. No you do not have to hit the starter button. The starter button uses electricity to start the engine. When the piston begins to move, the bike miraculously kicks into life when you let go of the clutch. I don’t know the technical aspects of it, but I do know that this worked for me several times. And yes, the 99 R6 is carbed as well. Good luck and be careful.
January 30th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Sweet
March 10th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
with the starter set to ‘on’ the engine now has electricity for the plugs and unless you have a seperate fuel switch then it also now has fuel. when you let the clutch out when moving, the rear wheel is now locked to the trans which then turns the engine over…same deal with pop starting a car
September 14th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I dunno if you tried this way before – put the bike on the highest gear, hold your clutch then push it as fast as u can, when its fast enough (almost same speed as u push on the 2nd gear-needs a little bit faster) then let the clutch go, no need to give any fuel to the engine or press the start key, the bike will start ifself. I found this way its a lot of easier for me due to my bike is heavy enough.