sharing my embarssing bike starting issues...

[Hannahguy01]

so.....first commute on the 125 through a city center.

Choose to play safe and get up early at 5.30am to brave the quiet roads. Only been out on it three times, in the sunshine. So of course is windy as fook and starting to rain.

Try to start bike - bike wont start - try again and again - swear at bike - but it wont start.

Wheel bike down road, try to start bike but wont start.

Cue humiliation - nice man stops - do you need a hand?
Me - oh yes please it wont start
Nice man - have you tried the choke?
me - what's a choke?

Eventually get bike started and head off - after mumbled thanks to the very helpful stranger!

Happily had a very uneventful journey (which is good) apart from the fact the Birmingham need to resurface all the roads - pot hole nightmares everywhere.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? i literally had no idea what a choke was or how to use one or even why i needed it.

Is there anything else i should be aware of mechanically with my bike? does anywhere do a basic biking mechanics course? - as i think i may need one

[Skudd]

The choke just helps cold starts, even on a warm day, after about 5 minutes you can usually turn it off. The other thing to look out for is the kill switch, usually on the right hand bar by the throttle. Sometimes this gets knocked and then prevents you from starting. It is like a safety switch to stop the engine if you fall off.

Reading the owners manual will help an awful lot when dealing with bikes if it has one. I'm surprised the our CBT instructor didn't mention it, he may have but you just forgot as there is so much to take in when first starting out. Don't worry though as most if not all have been through what you have done and what you will do in the future.
____________________
Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[Baffler186]

And if you have a fuel tap - make sure you know where to position it in order to select ON or RESERVE.

There was a thread on here not long ago about daft things noobs (or anyone actually) have done. Including trying to start your bike with the kill switch on, trying to ride off with a disc lock/chain still on, to name the most common.

I also had a panic once when I tried to start my 125 and I got nothing, then realised that it wasn't in neutral. Different bikes will have different safety features, I think only Suzukis require the clutch to be pulled in to start. Others won't start if the side stand is down, and others won't start unless it's in neutral.

As for mechanical knowledge, read through the workshop threads and you can glean a lot from there. You could get a 2nd hand Haynes manual and have a scan through that, I've found them very useful but YouTube can be equally as useful if you have a fairly common bike that someone has done a video on. It's safer to watch how it's done and then consult the manual in case the uploader of the video is doing it all wrong, but it does help to watch someone doing it.

I would recommend finding out how to service your bike (plugs, filters, oil change, chain adjustment, brake pads etc). You may not have to do it for a while but it's good to read up on it in advance. Also, it's worth having some spares, there's nothing worse than needing your bike but not being able to ride it because you're waiting for parts in the post. Also check things like if you have removed something do you need a new gasket/seal/washer before you put it back again.

And my final thought is: If it ain't broke, don't fix it unless you know what you're doing! Though it's nice to take your bike apart to see what's what, you can seriously inconvenience yourself if you put something back wrong, or plain can't get it back on/in.
____________________
Current: 2009 SV650 S, 1990 Kawasaki GT550
Previous: 2009 CBF125, 1998 GSF600, 2004 FZ6 Fazer, 1978 CB400a Hondamatic

[Hannahguy01]

[Rogerborg]

If your CBT was done on a fuel injected bike like a CBF or YBR then they won't have needed to tell you about either the choke or the fuel tap.

Did they at least cover the kill switch though?
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Andy_Pagin]

Immobilisers can be equally entertaining.
____________________
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[Commuter_Tim]

[northernsky]

learning myself, first few times i tried to take off on my 125 it kept shutting off as soon as i put in in first.


stand was down, its a safety feature

got about half mile down the road once and realised my chin strap wasn't buckled!

easy to get flustered with all the bits n bobs but its a learning process

oh, another one, went into a shop and grabbed a 1litre of water, came out and thought where the hell am i going to put this!

[joncwl]

[J.M.]

I think a lot of us have non-start issues that are stupidly simple from time to time. I recall two personally;

1) Running down the street, trying to bump start my bike. Getting to the bottom of the hill, and realising that my kills witch was set to kill.

2) Riding around, then the bike choking and dying. Forgot to turn on the fuel tap when refitting the fuel tank!

Keep an eye out for camera vans in Birmingham. There seem to be plenty - though the actual cops don't seem to care about speed.
____________________
2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[Tamsin]

In my time I have rebuilt many carbs from cars and I couldnt work out the choke on my CG. I even stripped and rebuilt carb and still couldn't work it out.

Then I realised my bike was of a year where they reversed how the choke worked

[PT1989]

Definite +1 on learning your fuel tap positions

Had little automatic 125 mopeds for ages before getting on a real bike, then got hold of a Suzuki gp100 going cheap and went to pick it up. Noticed there was no fuel gauge, which was new to me, but checked the tank with a good slosh and thought that'd be plenty. Fast forward 2 hours, and I'd got lost, soaked, and then the bike spluttered to a stop at the edge of a dual carriageway. Thought it sounded like it'd run out of fuel, so again, check tank, plenty in there, started it back up again and it ran fine... For 10 yards, rinse and repeat. After 5 times I gave up, phoned RAC, and hated myself for buying a knackered bike.
Sat there cold, wet and miserable for another hour or so and my orange van driving saviour appeared!
"it's not getting fuel, but I have got fuel in there, obviously the lines are blocked or something"
He tries to start the bike, fails
"see what I mean, knackered"
He appears to stroke the underside of the tank, then fires the bike straight up
"what kind of voodoo magic is this?! "

Never been so embarrassed in my life! He found it hilarious of course.

I think at the time when seeing bike specs I thought" reserve tank size" was like a bolt on aftermarket part, I have no idea?

[blurredman]

[deadwolf]

[Hannahguy01]

part 2 in the list of embarrassing newbie experiences....

First trip into Solihull town centre on my bike:

1) parked bike for first time in town, parked it too close to another bike and couldnt get off the bike, so had to try and re-park the bike - in front of a town full of busy shoppers
2) old man in costa asked if i was going to rob the place as i had a motorbike helmet (not on) with me and then asked what a nice girl like me was doing on a bike
2) tried to leave on bike, forgot to put fuel tap onto on. Stopped down the road and then remembered

Generally, i may avoid taking the bike into town again!

[MC]

You don't need to turn the fuel tap off, only if your leaving the bike sitting for months.

inb4 long debate on fuel taps
____________________
Yamaha MT-03 '08 (crashed)
Honda XR-125L '04

[Hannahguy01]

[dandelion]

Look for the owner manual either online as pdf or on eBay. Knowing every bit about your bike will help in future situation / maintenance and will only come as an experience/knowledge boost. It will give you some satisfaction to know these things too...

These things do happen though. To this day I never found how to pop the fuel cover on my dads old Benz. Only found that the reverse gear was one of those push down mechanisms, by accident, at the lights.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Tierbirdy]

Regarding fuel taps and chokes + CBT. Ive done 2 CBTs now and both were wildly different. First CBT was on a FI CBF125, our instructor made us go through the drills of fuel tap & choke even though the bikes had neither, as they knew most of us werent going to be buying brand new FI bikes and were probably going to be getting older carbed bikes.

The second one I did a few years later was on an old knackered yamaha something 125 with both fuel tap & carb, neither of which were even mentioned at any point throughout the CBT

[Hannahguy01]

having a rubbish day.......almost dropped bike, while out with my only biker bud who lives near me!

Pulled into pub car park, accidental rolled on a little throttle, so had to brake a bit sharply, bike started going over and with superhuman strength (and some swearing) managed to heave it back up (to a round of applause from my mate, who was pissing himself laughing)

Also apparently i cant corner left to save my life

[joncwl]

[Hannahguy01]

[Clanger]

We were sharing 'kill switch' faux pas the other night. Between six of us, we had a few to share...
____________________
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[MC]