Can i kickstart a motorcycle without a battery

No bike gets it spark from the battery. The spark is from a voltage dramatically higher than any lead acid battery can produce on its own. Same goes for getting spark from alternator. Now a magneto is different. That can produce the power needed to start a mototcycle without a battery installed. It uses permanent magnets to help generate the power.

For your Yamaha, you have already stated that you know the bike starts a lot easier when the battery is fully charged. Why not just charge the battery and see if perhaps it does indeed start easier this way. For a CDI ignition system, it requires power from an external source, like a battery, for it to work. The battery is not suppling the spark, it is suppling the power to the ignition system, so it can provide the spark. So, as others have suggesting, charge the battery, ensure the carb fuel bowl has fresh fuel in it, set the choke to the suggested setting for a cold engine, make sure the kill switch is not in the off position, make sure the bike is in neutral, pull the clutch in if your manual says to do that, and kick away.

This is not rocket science, it is simply starting a motorcycle, even girls can do it. Tripletrouble Well-known member. On older bikes the alternator uses magnets to create the field which in turn creates the electricity. On modern bikes the battery supplies the power to the alternator coils instead. Simple, reliable and no magnets to become weak. The downside is that with a flat battery the alternator cannot produce a charge.

Eventually it will get stronger and charge more but you are far better off charging the battery first to ensure a strong spark and save a lot of effort. You must log in or register to reply here. Now a dead battery still holds some charge, which might be sufficient for the ECU, these electronics require very little current, but are voltage sensitive.

Hero Honda bikes have been using it for ages; you can remove the battery and throw it away, the bike will still start and run! Last edited by Gansan : 11th January at Sorry for missing the critical piece. The bike in question is Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark model. I believe it has TCI ignition system. If it requires starting voltage to power transistor, how does that voltage is provided during push start? Last time the battery was dead, I was able to push start successfully.

View My Garage. Your Thunderbird not wanting to start with a bad battery has most likely nothing to do with CDI. Your Thunderbird has an ECU that amongst other things, controls fuel injection and ignition. It needs a steady voltage to work properly. Kick starting with a bad battery won't provide that steady voltage. If you had used a jumper cable, it most likely would have fired up properly. Push starts might work a little bit better as you tend to get several firing cycles in sequence with the alternator running along as well.

A kick start is just to short a duration. Modern cars suffer from the same problem. Low battery voltage often leads to problems starting. Not necessarily because the engine won't crank sufficiently, but because the electronics don't work properly at a too low voltage. Re: Why does my bike need a battery to run while kick-starting? Originally Posted by simplynitin. Appreciate your inputs. Originally Posted by Jeroen.

The Thunderbird is a carb one with a TCI system for ignition. It does not have an ECU. Enfield sold few models with CDI units for a span of 4 years in early When you do a kick-start, the alternator runs for that short period. But the issue with the alternator is that it doesn't produce a constant voltage. Many devices in the electric circuit including ECU need a constant voltage without spikes to work properly. Battery is used to stabilize this voltage. So where the battery normally protects you from variations in voltage, a direct draw from the alternator could potentially damage sensitive electronics.

Of course, if you are only driving your lights, this probably isn't too much of an issue. I don't know the S90, but I'm guessing it doesn't have any complex electrical systems on board. The real problem is that not all alternators "self start" some do due to residual magnetism but some don't. Unlike dynamos which were capable of charging from very low voltages and eventually completely recharging a battery that was flat.

Driving motorbike with an electronic dashboard and all necessary indicators including coolant temperature, oil level, fuel level, and all other indicating things The battery acts like a "sponge" or a capacitor to the excess current, soaking it into itself.

If there is no battery expect death to the dash-board, and potentially to other electronic devices on the bike. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Downsides of running a motorcycle without a battery Ask Question. Asked 4 years, 6 months ago. Active 1 year, 10 months ago.

Viewed 4k times. How does it work and what are the downsides of running a motorcycle without a battery? I'd appreciate if someone can shine a light on this.