Robert Cole-Sackett

Even with a fully charged battery running at peak voltage, a motorcycle won’t start. This can be incredibly frustrating, especially if you’re all geared up and ready to ride! If you’ve confirmed that your battery is good, but the bike still won’t squeeze the juice and make the rumbles, we’ll help you figure out why!

After riding your motorcycle for any extended period, have you noticed that you smell like a diesel mechanic’s pocket rag? Have you gone to kiss your sweety on the cheek only to be turned away with a look of revilement and horror? If you’ve ever gotten the stink eye at any rest stop or roadside

It is an idyllic Sunday morning in mid-April; the sun is shining, and the temperature has finally risen high enough above the bone-chilling cold of winter that a motorcycle ride is finally in the works (if you’re anything like me after the cabin fever of winter, that’s about 40 degrees Fahrenheit). To escape the memory

We all know the frustration of trying to get a dead bike to start, especially on the first few beautiful riding days after the cold, unrideable winter. The motorcycle might have been garaged for the bad weather season, or you simply want to take it out of storage and dust off your riding skills, but

I cannot think of a more disappointing or frustrating thing than a motorcycle that just won’t start. If the motorcycle has power but won’t turn over, here’s help for you! Before you dig through this list of possible reasons your motorcycle won’t start, be sure to check your bike’s battery for the correct voltage. Most

When I bought my first, used Harley-Davidson, the greasy dealership salesman told me that the Dyna Wide Glide I was purchasing was bogging a little at higher speeds, but that I just needed to blow some of the old fuel out of the carb and it would be in tip-top shape in no time. Although

A common problem we see out there on the forums is grossly limited rpm and speed in the higher range. This can be devastating news for any rider, but especially for anyone who rides a motorcycle that has more power in the higher ranges, such as performance sportbikes.  So what happens if a motorcycle won’t

For safety during both the day and after dark, motorcycle lights should always function correctly. In most states, it isn’t illegal to have a headlight out, but a traffic stop for any other reason could get you a ‘fix-it’ ticket. Sometimes replacing a bulb seems like the quick fix, but a new bulb hasn’t solved

The brakes we use are fundamental to our safety while out riding on our bikes, so it’s alarming (and a bit confusing) when they won’t hold pressure. Fortunately for the reader, yours truly has spent the last week tearing apart the entire braking system on a finicky motorcycle. So let’s go ahead and dig into

You’ve adorned your riding gear and are all set to roast the pavement. After idling your iron steed for some time, you ease it onto the pavement. At the next traffic stop, you find out there’s a problem. You decelerate and try to slow the bike, only to find out it won’t downshift gears. In

Is your motorcycle dying while starting or on rides when you should be able to idle? This issue can be frustrating when you try to fire up and head out, but can’t. If this happens while you are out riding, you can be stranded or stuck pushing your bike all the way home. If your

Most older bikes were made to kick start by applying force to an external crank arm. In many cases, the kickstart was replaced with an electric motor starter, but a lot of dirtbikes have retained this feature because it is a very mechanically sound way to start a motorcycle. If your motorcycle won’t kickstart, we’ll

If your motorcycle brake caliper won’t release, your bike won’t move. Or if it does, you’ll feel the resistance when you let off the throttle. It can be frustrating to be having problems with your motorcycle brake calipers. Here is a list of reasons your motorcycle brake caliper won’t release, and how to diagnose or

Every beginner rider has had the dreaded, knock-knee moment when the first little thing feels off on your new (to you) bike.  Presumably, when we pick up a bike from a dealership or private seller, it should be running as smoothly as possible, or it will be a tough sale. But entropy dictates that the

It’s springtime and everybody’s firing up their bikes and getting ready for riding season. After sitting for a while, lots of people like to take the bike out for a short, fast rip to make sure everything is working in tiptop shape. So, you pull out onto the highway to gun it up, but the

Bleeding the brakes can be a piece of cake, but what happens if they won’t bleed out? It’s essential to the brake system that the brake line be cleaned of dirty old fluid and maintain the brake pressure. If either of those things isn’t taken care of, brake system failure is imminent!       

You hop on, turn the ignition, flip the killswitch to RUN, and hit your starter button, but nothing happens. Maybe you hear a rapid clicking or whirring, but you’re not getting a spark. Your starter might have finally kicked the bucket, you still have to get to where you’re going. So what do you do