Hows your GS in 15 Degree weather?

[Jlittle]

Im a year round rider, when my bike will let me ride it.  It tends to be very tempramental in the cold.  What do some of you guys do when it gets this cold out to get the little GS running abit better?  If you have any problems at all...

[Turboryan]

i just have to let mine warm up a little longer and use more choke to get it started...  Hasn't failed me YET......

[LS1GOAT]

How long do you have to keep the choke on at that temperature?

[applecrew]

Out of curiosity when I read this post... I ran out to my shed to give my 2007 a shot.  I rode her a couple of days ago when it was in the low 20's, and did not have much trouble starting her.

It's a little colder right now... 14 degrees F.  Can't get her started, my oil's a little too thick (using 10W-40), she turns over very slowly (about 1 turn a second).  Oh well.  Anybody use lighter oil (10W-30) in the winter?  If I ran that, I'm pretty sure she would turn over fast enough to start.

I'm not afraid to ride when it's this cold, but I am a little worried about getting stuck at work...

Mike

[Jlittle]

Well im taking mine to the shop this weekend, im tired of tinkering with it and still consitanly not idling.  But before i started having problems i used to have to let the thing warm up for about 10 minutes before i could ride it and not sputter at that temp.

[The Buddha]

applecrew: Battery is making it spin slow dude, not oil. 10 w40 is plenty good through ~-10-15. Past that you need 5w40 or 0w40. Not 10W30.
Anyway battery is the culprit.

Jlittle - Take it to the shop, that way you will know for sure how much better you were.

Cool.
Buddha.

[Jlittle]

I hate taking any of my vehicles to shop. I'm pretty good at working on them and have been able to maintain them up until i started having problems with this GS and keeping it idling. IM A FAILURE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO =( All well maybe ill find out after spending a few hundred what i was making a mistake on...

[The Buddha]

You probably will spend more than a few 100 and probably wont learn anything.

Possibly the buddha may get pics and what not of stuff taken apart and fix it for 45 bucks and return shipping. However depends on what your problem really is, but in any case I may almost bet I'll fix it cheaper, educate you better and fix it far better than they can.
However I am a little bit subject to weather permitting, and my response times have been pityful of late (of late, when were they better - dunno). But you get pics and whatever ... just ask the 1 satisfied customer.

You'd have to yank your carbs and send it to me. And $45 includes a rejet. If you've done that already, 25 bucks and return shipping is what it will cost. I am assuming your bolts etc are all intact, cos you seem to have got into it like you said.

In a way, you do need a second set of eyes to tell you what you're doing wrong, its possible to make the same mistake several 100 times ... but a shop will not document it the way I do and have pics to show you and explain. Also post the histore to me, year (89-00 or 01-02 or 04+), mileage (350,000 miles and never done a valve adj), condition (extrordinary condition except it uses more oil than gas and the cam chain rattles and the transmission doesn't get into gear), history (like previous owner rescued it from the bottom of a river and it was in a shop that had a fire in it and I got it after it had burned to a crisp) as well as mods (like I tow this trailer and I have a twin turbo charger running on it and ocassionaly I do nitrous).

Cool.
Buddha.

[Jlittle]

I would be more then happy to let you handle my GS. I trust you more then some guy at the shop.(that sounded creepy)  Its the 10-20 degree weather that we have right now that is keeping me from pulling anything much less my carbs off the bike at the moment.  I will prob hit you up in a month or so to rejet my carbs though if your still willing to do that. =D  Heres the specs anyway...  Its a 05 GS500F  15,754 Miles on it.  One valve adjustment over the summer not sure what the milage was im guessing 12k.  It has had the idling problem for awhile before the valve adjustment, can sometime smell gas when sitting still so i believe its running abit rich but it wont even stay running if i turn the idle down.  Ive cracked into it once for valve adjustment and pulled the carbs to clean them out once.  Thats about it...

[The Buddha]

Yea wait till this arctic weather back off a little ... prolly when some of the global warming kicks in. Once weather is better, I'll do it faster too.
05 and sounds like your valves etc are prolly good, not much remarkable with 15K miles. Just hovering idle ? rejet ? Both doable, easy. Maybe it would be an idea to get into it when its still frozen ... then you can ride on every warm day you get ... and if I take an extra few days you wont be on my case.
Cool.
Buddha.

[average]

Im a year round rider, when my bike will let me ride it.  It tends to be very tempramental in the cold.  What do some of you guys do when it gets this cold out to get the little GS running abit better?  If you have any problems at all...

Easy fix; leave it hooked to the tender while your trying to start it(if you don't have one, shame on you ) or get out the ol' trusty jumper cables and hook it to the car but don't start the car. The amps from the battery alone are plenty for the gs.

[bill14224]

I don't ride in winter here as we use salt on the roads, but I have started it when it was below freezing.  It took full choke and about 10 seconds of cranking to get my 1994 GS 500 started, (18k miles) and reducing the choke to about half several seconds later caused it to stall, unlike when the temperature is above 40.  I had to keep it on full choke and let it run for about 2 minutes before I could back-off on the choke and keep it running even though it was running at about 5000 rpm.  Yes, 10w-40 is the correct oil for this bike and yes, it makes it harder to start and keep running until it warms-up in winter.  It's thick when it's cold and it wants to stop the engine from spinning.  This is my experience and my battery is A.O.K.

It doesn't sound to me like there's anything wrong with your bike.  It apparently wasn't designed with sub-freezing temperatures in mind, and when you think about it, it makes sense.  It's a motorcycle!  My last bike was the same way and I bought it brand new.(1982 Yamaha Seca 650)  It didn't run smoothly in winter for about 3 minutes either.  Every bike I ever had acted like this, except the 1973 Yamaha DT 125 two-stroke I had when I was a teenager.  It started pretty easily when it was cold, but 2-strokes are a whole different ballgame, a chainsaw with wheels!

I also think you're messing with your bike too much.  A 3-year-old bike with 15k on the clock shouldn't need anything to this point but one valve adjustment, 5 oil changes, 3 air filters, a new set of tires, and maybe new plugs.  That's assuming you put fuel stabilizer in the gas when you store it for the winter, lube your chain regularly, and take the battery out for cold weather storage.  If not, you just learned a lesson!  I'm not telling you not to let the guru re-jet your carbs, but while you're at it replace the stock exhaust with a Vance & Hines system so it'll be worth it. ($272 from .BikeBandit.com)  If you've been using fuel stabilizer or draining the carb bowls when in storage, I'll bet you a paycheck your carbs are fine.  I recommend fuel stabilizer because it's easier and prevents fuel from turning into gum and varnish in your entire fuel system.  If you've done that and want to keep your stock exhaust, having your carbs serviced now is a waste of money.  So are battery tenders.  Your battery will last longer if you take it out and store it inside where it's warm, and it doesn't cost any money.  I learned all this by doing it for 30 years.  I killed several batteries by keeping them in my bike over the winter and topping-off the charge once a month.  Two years later, they were junk.  Take them out for the winter instead, and they'll last 5 or 6 years.  I've even heard of people making them last 10 years although I've never experienced it and think they're exaggerating.

[5thAve]

washers under the needle clips and a richer pilot jet go a LOONG way to easier starting and cold weather running.  Buddha can help you if you aren't feeling adventurous.   

[Eric_in_OR]

Anybody use lighter oil (10W-30) in the winter?  If I ran that, I'm pretty sure she would turn over fast enough to start.

10w-30 won't help as the viscosity is the same as 10w-40 at those cold temperatures. Besides, all 10w-30 oils that I am aware of have evil friction modifiers. I use 5w-40, which does seem to make for somewhat smoother cold-weather starts. However, if it's not starting with 10w-40, I doubt 5w-40 is going to make a difference. They do make 0w-40, but seriously... who's riding at 40 below?

+1 for the battery tender.

[gsJack]

Been fighting this battle for 24 years of winter riding here in NE Ohio trying to start first my 4 Hondas and then my 2 GSs in temps down to 15-20F.  I ride if the roads are free of ice and snow splashing thru zillions of gallons of salt water.  Bikes are made to be used and then used up and discarded.  Bikes are not made to start under these conditions, just don't have enough battery capacity to do the job when the battery is cold and turning a engine full of cold oil.

I had a CM400A (Hondamatic) I used for a winter bike for some years and I could grind that battery down to a growl without it starting and then give it one or two kicks of the kick starter and it fired right up.  Turning the starter over in the cold doesn't leave enough voltage to start it up but kicking it over does leave starting voltage to fire it up.  I've never failed to get a bike started with a jump from a car in the winter.

I think a Battery Tender or other trickle charger would do the job but I've had garages without electricity most of the time as I do now.  One day last year I ground the battery down after the wife was already gone with the car so I carried the battery back to the apartment and put it on my trickle charger for an hour and took it back and put it in the bike and it fired right up.  The trickle charger couldn't have done much more than warm it up like a Tender does in that short time, that's all it needed.

FINALLY, the solution to the winter starting problem for bikers with non electric garages.  Santa (JP) brought it Christmas day:



I've used it 4 times since Christmas, just clamp it on and the bike fires instantly.  It's 18 amp battery added to the bikes 11 amp battery does the job.  It's still on it's first charge showing green on the test light and looks like it will go all winter on one charge.  It recharges by plugging it in a household 110V outlet overnight.  Has an accessory socket to plug in a light or an air pump.  I have 15W-40 oil in my 02 GS.   

[LS1GOAT]

Is it ok to start the bike with the Battery Tender still attached to it?

[flynlo]

YES! My battery tender has some loops that get screwed onto the battery terminals then a small wire and plug go from under the seat to get zip tied to a spot accessible for the "other end" of the plug that then goes to the battery tender a/c adapter into the wall.  I will try to get a picture to post, but don't forget to unplug it before pulling away!!!! The battery tender if the best thing for cold climates or if the bike is going to sit for more than a week i think.  It's really cold in NJ at the moment.  MY bike took a few good cranks at full choke to start but at least i know the battery wasn't to blame. 

[Pigeonroost]

Turning the starter over in the cold doesn't leave enough voltage to start it up but kicking it over does leave starting voltage to fire it up.
I

That observation gets overlooked often.  When a battery is low, the engine often starts just as the driver releases the starter motor switch (voltage jumps back up).  Now we have, with more modern designs using fuel injection, the similar problem.  The battery can crank the starter motor, but voltage is too low to trip the FI pump.

prs

[Eric_in_OR]

Is it ok to start the bike with the Battery Tender still attached to it?

Yes, but don't ride off with it still attached! Personal experience: it's a good idea to leave something as a reminder. I always leave the box on the seat, which seems to do the trick for me.