Hi everyone, first time post here - thanks for allowing me to join up!
I apologise for the long setting-the-scene here, but it's probably worth a grin.
Ok, a newby when it comes to pit bikes, I bought my son a second-hand generic Chinese 110. Goes like a scalded cat.
The seller told me it had electric start but it needed a new battery. Fair enough.
I replaced the battery, but still no electric start.
Now here is where my dopy-ness starts to shine:
We forgot about the electric start, but had to replace the front brakes a bit later. I bought a complete lever/piston/pads set and successfully fitted. The only thing was, I found a switch attached to the old front brake lever...I had no idea what it was for, so (yikes) I cut it off. The bike still started (kick start), ran and switched off no worries so "obviously" the bike didn't need it. Or so I thought...
Fast-forward a couple of months and we bought another, larger Chinese bike. An Elstar RS250. It also has electric start but didn't have a battery installed. So I bought a new battery and still no electric start. Rang seller ane he asked "did you hold the front brake lever in when trying to use the electric start?"
Light bulb moment, right there.
Held the brake in and the bike succesfully started.
So, in hindsight, the switch I cut off the other bike (which I also think is used for brake lights if a bike is fitted with them) was to allow the electric start to work.
Dummy.
So my dilemma is, although I still have that switch and attached cables, I have no idea where it was connected to. There are no obvious leads remaining on the bike that have been cut that I could try to reattach to.
So, can anyone please enlighten me as to where the two wires should be attached to? Or are there two wires somewhere that I can simply join to bypass the switch?
I had a look on the Elstar and without pulliing the wiring loom apart, I cannot see where its wires attach to the bike.
Many thanks in advance.
I apologise for the long setting-the-scene here, but it's probably worth a grin.
Ok, a newby when it comes to pit bikes, I bought my son a second-hand generic Chinese 110. Goes like a scalded cat.
The seller told me it had electric start but it needed a new battery. Fair enough.
I replaced the battery, but still no electric start.
Now here is where my dopy-ness starts to shine:
We forgot about the electric start, but had to replace the front brakes a bit later. I bought a complete lever/piston/pads set and successfully fitted. The only thing was, I found a switch attached to the old front brake lever...I had no idea what it was for, so (yikes) I cut it off. The bike still started (kick start), ran and switched off no worries so "obviously" the bike didn't need it. Or so I thought...
Fast-forward a couple of months and we bought another, larger Chinese bike. An Elstar RS250. It also has electric start but didn't have a battery installed. So I bought a new battery and still no electric start. Rang seller ane he asked "did you hold the front brake lever in when trying to use the electric start?"
Light bulb moment, right there.
Held the brake in and the bike succesfully started.
So, in hindsight, the switch I cut off the other bike (which I also think is used for brake lights if a bike is fitted with them) was to allow the electric start to work.
Dummy.
So my dilemma is, although I still have that switch and attached cables, I have no idea where it was connected to. There are no obvious leads remaining on the bike that have been cut that I could try to reattach to.
So, can anyone please enlighten me as to where the two wires should be attached to? Or are there two wires somewhere that I can simply join to bypass the switch?
I had a look on the Elstar and without pulliing the wiring loom apart, I cannot see where its wires attach to the bike.
Many thanks in advance.
Last edited:
