Why Won’t My Motorbike Start: 10 Possible Reasons & Solutions

Picture this, it's a nice sunny day, the weather isn't too hot but it isn't cold either, the roads are bone dry and the traffic is light as it's still early morning, it is absolutely ideal weather to go out and ride your bike.

Gleefully you gear up, you put your riding gear on, get your gloves ready and get your bike out of the garage to head out on a ride, however there's one issue, your bike won't start. Absolute disaster.

Maybe when you turn the key the dash doesn't even fire up, or you've turned the key and the bike kicks over but won't fire, or it won't even do that. Suddenly your plans are absolutely ruined.

Thankfully it may not be as bad as you may think and there may be a way to quickly fix the bike so you can head out on a ride, we've made a list of items for you and things you can do to fix them.

1. Dead Battery

If your battery has died, you may find that the bike struggles to turn over and the dash may not even light up, this is quite easy to diagnose using a multimeter to check the voltage, from here you can either charge the battery using a trickle charger or simply replace the battery.

2. Empty Fuel Tank

If you have no fuel, your bike will not start, it's not exactly rocket science we know however it's always best to be prepared with fuel at all occasions. Simple move the bike from left to right and you should be able to hear fuel sloshing about in the tank, if you do not, then you have no fuel.

Other ways to check include shining a torch into the tank, checking the fuel gauge if you have one, or checking to see if you are in your reserve fuel load yet.

3. Kill Switch Been used?

One of the most common reasons why your bike won't start, the kill switch is on. I remember when I first started riding, I was coming home from a nice ride out when suddenly my bike died on me, for ages I was sat at the side of the road wondering why it didn't start even though it had fuel. 

It wouldn't even kick over on the kick start, it was only when I looked at the kill switch after 20 minutes that I realised it was engaged, once it was turned off it fired straight up, never made that mistake again.

4. Neutral/Clutch Engaged?

Some bikes will only start when in neutral and the clutch is engaged, however you should know this by now if you are riding your own motorcycle.

If this is the case or you are riding a new motorcycle, try to make it a habit of always engaging neutral and pulling in the clutch lever before starting the engine of your motorcycle to ensure a safe start and release.

5. Kickstand Stowed?

Another problem that is quite common, most bikes have a switch on the kickstand that will prevent them from starting if the kick stand isn't up and out of the way, firstly make sure that the kick stand has been moved out of the way. If your bike still doesn't start you may have a faulty kick stand switch.

6. Blocked Exhaust

Your exhaust port is the place where all the fumes are released from the motorcycle, if the exhaust is blocked for whatever reason you will find that the bike will struggle to start. Most offroad bikes have a plug that is plugged into the exhaust preventing them from starting, it's unlikely to be this, but best to check anyway.

7. Blocked Air Intake

How does an engine start? Simple, fuel, spark and air, if it's missing one of these three components your engine will absolutely not even kick over, this is a good one to check especially if you have a naked style motorcycle without fairings as dirt can accumulate within the engine.

8. Fuel Tank Vent Blocked

As we said in our last point, an engine needs fuel, spark and air to start, if your fuel tank vent is blocked your engine will not be receiving any fuel and will not be able to ignite to fire up the engine and get those pistons turning.

9. Wiring Issues

Maybe you've had a go at some DIY, you've installed some mods to your motorcycle like heated grips and have directly installed them into the wiring loom, or you've a new headlight that you've done the same to. However when you've come to test them out you find that the bike won't start at all, in this instance you may find that there are some issues with your dodgy wiring.

The likelihood is that there could be something within your wiring loom that is shorting out and stopping the motorcycle's circuit from being complete and firing up your motorcycle.

Using a mulimetre you will be able to work out which parts of the circuit are working and which ones are not, and diagnose the issue from here.

10. Spark Plugs

The job of a spark plug is to ignite the fuel using a spark as it heads into the main part of the piston, if your spark plug isn't working well you may find that your motorcycle starts to misfire, splutter and generally just not work very well, this includes not starting.

The best way to find out if it's the spark plug is to remove the plug from the engine and check the wear and tear, if it's incredibly black then you may find that replacing it with a new one could fix your problems.

There temporary fix to start your bike if the problem is the spark plug, simply give the plug a wipe with a clean clock to remove the dirt and debris that may have accumulated on it.