FIRST AID; WHEN YOUR MOTORCYCLE WON’T START!

For a beginner, there are few things more disappointing than getting psyched up to go riding only to be hit with the realization that your motorcycle won’t start.  The engine is turning over, but nothing is happening except for the fact that your frustration level is rising.  Before you decide to give up on your bike or worse, you can try to troubleshoot your bike to see what the problem really is.

Unless you have one of those new all-electric motorcycles, your bike needs three main things to run:- Spark, Fuel/Air mixture and Compression.  Your bike will either run rough or not start at all without the proper amounts of any of those elements.  You can break these elements down and troubleshoot each one until you find the reason why your bike is not starting.  Below are some of the basic steps that you can take to get your motorcycle started and back on the road again.

Spark/Ignition

Electrical problems are often the most frustrating thing to troubleshoot for everyday riders.  Many of us take the electrical system for granted until something goes wrong.  If you have no experience, it can be puzzling to figure out.  Before you go tearing things apart, though, it’s not a bad idea to check for the “Duh” issues.  Make sure that your key is turned to “On” or “Run” and that the kill switch is in the “Run” position as well.  Also make sure that the bike is in neutral and that your kickstand is up.  These may sound like no brainers, but if you go to doomsday mode right away (which many of us do), you can easily overlook the simple things.

With the “Duh” issues resolved and your bike still not starting, it’s time to investigate further into your engine spark.  A great place to start is at your spark plugs.  When you start here, you can keep tracing it back until you find your ignition or spark issue.  To test your spark plugs, remove them from the cylinder head and then plug them back into the plug cap.  Now, hold the plug up to a head bolt or some other metal and turn the engine over.  You should be able to see a spark from electrode traveling to the metal.  No spark or weak spark?  Try changing out your plugs to see if the results are any different.  If not, then you will have to test further.

You can start by checking out your plug wires and caps.  Your bike will usually still run rough if these are bad, but you can visually inspect them fairly fast.  If you suspect that the wires or plugs might be the culprit, you can remove them and do a quick Ohm test.  Next, you will want to check your ignition coil followed by the CDI box, rectifier/regulator and all other electrical components.  Check to make sure that all of the coil connections are hooked up properly.  Troubleshooting these components require a more involved process that would be covered in a whole other post.

Air/Fuel Mixture

Yes some superbikes still have these

These aren't common but yea some bikes still have them. Once again, you will need to check for those “Duh” issues with your fuel.  Is your fuel petcock turned to on or reserve?  Is there even gas in the tank?

The most common time that you will encounter fuel problems is when you try to start your motorcycle for the first time after being stored for a long period of time.  After a while, the gas can break down if it was not properly stabilized and will lose enough octane so that it will not combust.  Gas blended with ethanol seems to break down even faster.  Fresh gas can make a huge difference in your engine’s ability to start and run.

Sitting for long periods of time can also dry out your fuel system.  Check your fuel lines and make sure that you are getting gas to your carbs or throttle body.  Fuel lines can dry out and crack.  Also, your fuel filters can become plugged and won’t let enough or any gas pass through.  Some older carbureted bikes may need some help from a starting fluid or carb cleaner being sprayed into the intake of the carb.  Once the bike fires on the starting fluid, it will usually help draw the gas through the fuel system.  If your bike continues to die after running on the starting fluid, you should try to troubleshoot elsewhere.  Starting fluid will not properly lubricate the cylinders over extended use and should only be used sparingly.

A clogged vent tube on your gas tank can also restrict the gas from flowing through the system.

Another fuel issue is that your bike might not start because it is flooded.  To un-flood the engine, you will need to remove the spark plugs.  Once they are removed, turn off the choke and turn the motor over until the excess gas has dissipated or if you have time, you can just let the bike sit until it evaporates.

If you are still having problems with the flow of your fuel, you will need to clean the carbs.  When the old gas breaks down in the carburetor, it can leave some junk and block your jets.  Once your carbs are clean, you will want to make sure that your fuel pump is working properly as well.

Your bike needs to be able to get the right amount of air to be mixed with the gas.  A broken or loose vacuum line can result in too much air being drawn into the combustion chamber, which will alter the air/fuel mixture and not allow the engine to ignite the mixture properly.  Check your vacuum lines for cracks and holes.  Conversely, too little air can be the culprit as well.  Make sure that air can pass through your air filter/intake.  A dirty filter is an easy fix.

Compression

You might want to save testing for compression until it’s the only thing left to troubleshoot.  The results of this can be the most devastating.  If one or all of your cylinders have low or no compression, your engine will not fire properly or at all.  The air/fuel mixture needs to be compressed to raise its temperature to a point where it can become combustible.  Without enough compression, the mixture will not ignite.

To check the compression, you will need a compression tester.  Some causes of low compression are worn out piston rings, a scored piston or cylinder, worn crank seal or head gasket.  Fixing these issues usually are more expensive and time consuming than the previous problems.  

From this point on.... Dial your mechanic's number....

We would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions below...

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Fancy a bike by Keanu Reeves? For a 'fee' of course!

Some of us mistake Keanu Reeves for some nice-guy actor cum motorcycle dilettante.

He doesn’t care about your trendy Scrambler-riding blue jeans or your fashion-forward “motorcycle” jacket. And he definitely doesn’t want to ride your pretty little sport bike.

He is, on the other hand, more than happy to talk with you about the Arch Motorcycles KRGT-1 superbikes which he makes with his longtime friend, Gard Hollinger, a revered designer in the motorcycle world. These motorcycles are based on a prototype Hollinger made for Reeves years ago; each of the 2,032cc, V-twin-engine beasts are made to order in Hawthorne, Calif., an hour south of Los Angeles.
Reeves is known for his love of Norton motorcycles, but he also has owned Suzukis, BMWs, Kawasakis, and a 1984 Harley Shovelhead.


“Building that [first] bike is where we got to know each other,” Reeves said in July during an interview at their shop. Unlike most experienced riders who started riding from a very young age on dirt bikes, scooters, and Groms, Keanu learned to ride as an adult. But he has already logged tens of thousands of miles on the backs of Nortons, Suzukis, a 1974 BMW 750, a Kawasaki KZ 900, a 1984 Harley Shovelhead, and a Moto Guzzi racer—all from his own personal collection.

 

Reeves first approached Hollinger in 2007 with the request to modify his Harley with a “sissy bar”—the backrest you can attach on the rear seat of a motorcycle so your passenger can lean back. Hollinger refused. “That wasn’t really my thing,” he told me with a wry grin. That’s when they started talking about building a completely new bike that would look beautiful and cruise, a gleaming silver prototype with thick tires and a gas tank curved like the fender of a Bugatti.

When Hollinger finished the bike, Reeves loved it so much he wanted more. A lot more—some for himself, and some to share with friends. He wanted to start a motorcycle company.
"Form doesn’t follow function,” Hollinger, left, said in L.A. His childhood in Hollywood and the Pacific Northwest gave him a unique view on design; he talks about welding aluminum the way a sculptor would describe clay. “They should exist together.”
"Form doesn’t follow function,” Hollinger, left, said in L.A. His childhood in Hollywood and the Pacific Northwest gave him a unique view on design; he talks about welding aluminum the way a sculptor would describe clay. “They should exist together.”

“It was really riding the prototype that was the proof of the business concept, even though we didn’t know it,” Reeves said.

They never planned to start a company—he had commissioned the prototype just for laughs and long rides. But the bike was so fun, Reeves said, that he couldn’t get it out of his mind. That’s when he started bugging Hollinger to make more.

“It was this idea of a big V-twin, a long wheel base with modern grade suspension and the telemetry that Gard had designed and the ergonomics,” he said. “It was this package that I wanted from the first time riding that bike. I’d never ridden anything like that.”

“It has to make you giggle when you ride it"

Hollinger wasn’t convinced. His company, LA County Chop Rods, already generated plenty of business; the former motocross racer had developed a cult following of riders who loved his ability to coax beauty and power out of raw metals.

But Reeves the A-list actor wasn’t used to hearing “no.” He asked Hollinger three more times—after long dinners and booze-filled nights brainstorming how good it could be—before winning him over.
Reeves and Hollinger often dip out for 100-mile rides up the highway from their bike shop in Hawthorne, Calif.

“I told him, ‘OK, the reason we should do this is because the machine is amazing, and we’re going to die’ [anyway],” Reeves said, laughing. “Let’s make something.”

Hollinger finally agreed. He would design the bikes himself based on Reeves’s vision, and the actor would road test them. It took them three years between finishing the prototype and getting the final result to production. They called the company Arch because it "sounded good in the mouth," Reeves said: "Arches, doorways, bridges, beautiful, functional—it made me think of tunnels and bridges and connections and journey. It was the rider to the bike, the experience of riding a motorcycle, our relationship, the idea with connecting with the company and our client."

“The original bike was the result of Keanu expressing what he was hoping for in a motorcycle,” Hollinger said.

Practicality and extreme design are often mutually exclusive when it comes to expensive bikes (just look at the awkward angles of the extreme choppers that cruise up and down the 405 every weekend). But that is what Reeves wanted.

At least, that’s the official story for why two 40-somethings continue to spend countless hours and their own money building a brand. (Reeves declined to say how much, other than noting they have no outside investors.) But there’s a much simpler explanation: They’re searching for a feeling.

“It has to make you giggle when you ride it,” Hollinger says.
Each KRGT-1 is customized exactly to its owner, from the measurements of the handlebars to the engraving on the tank.

The Numbers

Arch has sold a handful KRGT-1s since 2014 (the guys won’t specify how many). Hollinger says he expects to make roughly 30 or slightly more a year—exclusivity is important.

The bikes are made of more than 200 individual parts, most of which he fabricates with a small team of workers in the Hawthorne shop. (Arch is possibly the first motorcycle brand to be completely assembled in L.A. since a company called Crocker made V-twins there in the 1930s.)

Each is bespoke to its owner, so speed and power specs are subject to change, but in general they weigh around 538 pounds and, at 121 hp, can cruise easily at 100 mph. With their six gears, scooped-out insides, ultralight carbon fiber wheels, and aluminum bodies, they’re heavier than, say, a 485-pound Ducati xDiavel S but much lighter than something like a 640-pound Harley-Davidson V-Rod. Their five-gallon gas tanks will take you 200 miles before a fill-up. Each requires a $15,000 deposit even before that $78,000 price tag.

Similar to buying a custom suit, buying your own KRGT-1 requires multiple sessions of measurements

“It’s a bike that’s really confident feeling going straight,” Reeves said, rattling off engine specs and power calibrations like a true gear head. “Our bike has a lot of torque—115 pounds—so whenever you get on the throttle, you really feel the pull and push of the motorcycle. It can turn and handle.”

If you see an Arch motorcycle on the road, you’ll know it in a second. They’re rounded at the front, with a dip in the middle for the single seat before curving up again at the rear. (This is a lone-wolf bike, no passengers allowed.) They have a single LED headlight and low, short handlebars. The rear Michelin tire is fatter than the front but not so wide as to distract; their reflective aluminum rear cowling makes them unmistakable at night.
Hollinger keeps his design studio as clean as a museum, which is no small feat when you're manufacturing motorcycles there.


Similar to buying a custom suit, buying your own KRGT-1 requires multiple sessions of measurements—Hollinger fits the pedals, the handlebars, and the seat angle to your exact size. The proprietary Arch suspension is also adjustable according to riding style and preference. Once you settle on your model, delivery time takes 90 days or so—the Arch billet aluminum swing arm requires more than 17 hours of machining alone—though most of that time is spent working with outside vendors for finishes such as custom paint, engraving, and metal finishes to personalize the bike for the customer.

In actual work time it takes only a couple weeks to build the bike. Then Reeves takes it out for a test drive.

“It has to work,” he said, laughing. “After that it’s aesthetics and feel and taste. The bike started off as a classic American big V-twin, but because of the way it handles and the ergonomics and the telemetry that Gard has designed, I feel like it’s in a new class of motorcycle which might be called a ‘performance cruiser.’”

Whatever you call them—that term is a new one—they’ll keep even the most experienced rider occupied. The bikes are not fat and low like a hog, nor are they flat-seated for extra passengers like a café racer. For urban riding and highway cruising they hit the Goldilocks sweet spot: just right.

Better yet, they will hit 60 mph in the time it takes to read this sentence.

“We went for a ride a while ago, for 400 miles,” Reeves said. “I’m still thinking, ‘Let’s go ride, let’s do that again.’”
Reeves said he hopes the company can reach as many people as possible to build a community of Arch aficionados and collectors.  

Whollup! Whollup!! Whollup!!! Did anyone see that $78,000 tag? Let me sha mind my business....

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Abeokuta Bikers Converge 2016 in pictures (2)

Ok so we decided to turn it up a notch and show more of the faces present at the Bikers converge 2016... Remember these are from people's private collection and aren't the official pictures. Henjoy... (in chi gurls voice).

So I decided to have a lil fun at the Buhari estate sign....

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Abeokuta Bikers Converge 2016 in pictures (1)

Ok so the annual convention of Nigerian bikers popularly known as the Abeokuta Bikers Converge has come and gone for this year, and boy was it lit or what? Venue was... Yea you guessed right. Abeokuta! But this year's event had a tang to it. I'd sit back and let the pictures speak for themselves. Remember this is part 1 and these are not the official pics.... Henjoy (in Falz voice).

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