Pull the hand brake & make sure the switch behind the lever is coming out, if it's sticking it will cause this, try picking it loose & like said above try the foot brake aswell sometimes you can bypass handbrake by using foot.

 

I'm also new here and in hopes to gain some knowledge from you all, I have the same problem with my Linhai quad I recently bought from a fella where I can't start the machine, i have no brake light come on when pressing either lever, hand or foot, i have no spark either but the coil could be bad since I get no continuity reading on the multimeter and this could be a result of this machine sitting for over 4 years that something went on the coil? I've jumped the solenoid and it clicks so this tells me it's good and the fuse on the solenoid is good too. Has anyone figured out where the problem lies?