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Reasons to Kick-start Your Two Wheeler or Bike Every Morning

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Kick-starting a two wheeler - How does it work?

Most two wheelers come with both kick-start and auto start features. Kick-starting prompts the crankshaft to rotate, which in turn pushes the piston against the piston head, generating friction. It builds up pressure and a mixture of fuel and air pumped in from the valves gets ignited. The engine thus comes to life and the bike starts. The idea is to get the mixture of fuel and air in the engine motor at the proper pressure to get the engine started. A choke is used for this in the carburetion system, but once the engine starts, there is no further use of the choke.

Reasons why most advise kick-starting the bike before using it in the morning

The main reason why people advise to kick-start your bike in the morning is the cool temperature that makes the fuel get stuck to the cylinder. During the night, a cooler temperature makes the ambient temperature of the bike low and that makes it difficult to start. In absence of friction, the starter requires extra effort to draw current from the battery, which puts extra load on the same. Moreover, the battery also cools down during the night, making it difficult to awaken it from its dormant state.

When the bike sits idle for a long time, all the liquid tends to settle at the bottom, leaving the upper portions of the gear dry. Moving the bike a bit to grease up the gears also helps in getting the bike started with lesser fuel. Once the bike starts, it is again advised to let it warm up before you start to ride it. These tips to get the bike started are for the carburetion system, as the modern fuel injection system already takes care of this aspect through the various sensors and programming in the ECU, installed in the bike.

What if you don't kick-start your bike in the morning? Is it necessary to do so?

Technological advancements, like the transition from carburetor to fuel injection systems, have changed the way bikes can be started. While it used to be a good practice to kick-start the bike with the carburetor system, it is not necessary nowadays as most bikes come with the efficient fuel injection technology. So, no, you don’t have to kick-start your bike in the morning, as the fuel injection system takes care of it through the programming in its ECU.

• The fuel injection system sets the fuel – air ratio to an ideal one (range is 14.7 to 1 usually) and automatically uses the information from various sensors to gauge the condition of the bike.

• In simple terms, the fuel injection system sprays the fuel into the engine for the required duration and with the required pressure, as per the state of the engine. The state of the engine in turn is gauged via various sensors on the bike, to let the system know about the fuelling requirements.

• In the mornings, when the temperature is low and more fuel is required to start the bike, the FI system automatically adjusts the setting and the bike user gets a smooth experience of a perfect start, using the auto-start button provided.

Also, in bikes with fuel injection technology, better batteries do not easily enter the dormant mode. So, it is unnecessary to kick-start your bike in the morning. While these technological advancements burn a small hole in your pocket, the long term benefits ensure good value for money.

Just like we follow the above discussed methods to keep our two wheeler functioning well, we need to ensure that it has two wheeler insurance coverage at all times as uncertain events don’t inform before striking.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

This blog has been written by

S. Gopalakrishnan | Motor Insurance Expert | 40+ years of experience in insurance industry

A veteran in insurance industry. S. Gopalakrishnan is a name to reckon with in the field of reinsurance, he has headed the Reinsurance department and has rich experience in other fields of motor insurance. He loves to share his opinion on latest topics in the insurance industry and how he can help people in safeguarding their assets using insurance products.

S. Gopalakrishnan recommends "HDFC ERGO for your vehicle insurance needs, it has always put customer’s interest at the forefront, with round the clock assistance to deal with emergency breakdown issues and hassle free claims process. You can be assured of complete and reliable guidance through the whole process".

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