Hello everyone,
Ok so my bike has been great, and the maintenance has been going well, (thanks to this site!), but lately I have been having a hard time with bike during the idling/warm up time. Now as soon as the bike is warmed up, I have absolutely no problems, bike rides and sounds awesome. But when I first turn on the bike to warm up, the bike has to be constantly watched and adjusted. Here is a typical episode I go through before riding my bike..
I pull the choke down all the way, flip the key and then turn the on switch and push the starter. The bike turns on right away and idles at 1500. After about 20-30 seconds, the bikes idle starts to climb to about 3000 when suddenly it drops down and will actually die if I dont decrease the choke.. If I decrease too fast, the revs will start going up and I have left it go to 4k before adjusting the choke to drop the rev's. So what I do is just sit by the bike and as the rpm changes I make adjustments till the choke about 3/4 the way back up. Then it is fine till its time to ride. If I turn the bike on with no choke though, it dies shortly after so I am assuming I need the choke.
I would like to solve this problem instead of constantly eyeing my bike. This didn't affect me when I first got the bike, but all summer its been happening. Any ideas on what to look at?
Thanks!
In warmer weather, you may not need the full choke to start the bike. Perhaps try starting the bike at half choke?
If its warm outside (read: 90 degrees in FL), I don't need to use the choke at all. My bike is new. The bike will die if I let it chill but if I give it small throttle inputs to keep it running and warm it up for ~30 seconds it's good to go. What year is your bike? In general though if it's cold outside and choke is needed for the bike to start give it just a little bit of choke just enough to crank it and run for ~5-10 seconds and then turn off the choke and give it some gas to get it warmed up. You could do like berto said as well. I find choke to not be needed in large amounts or for more than a few seconds. 20-30 seconds on full choke might be too much and you need to just give it gas to warm it up. At that point the engine is already warm, but it's being starved for air and fed a rich mixture so yea it might cut off.
I'll agree with using less choke. That's a standard sign that you've got too much choke when the RPMs climb up, but go down when you decrease choke.
Quote from: VSG on July 24, 2008, 12:30:29 PM
I'll agree with using less choke.
+1
I found that I can avoid the choke when it's warm. I'm riding a '99 so it's not new. It usually takes a second push of the ignition button to get it to catch (less than 1k rpm) and then some very gentle throttle to keep it from dying. I put on my gear while it warms up. Give it a few quick throttle inputs (like otownrider407 said), usually bringing it up to 5-6k. By the time I'm all geared up and ready to ride, it's usually right at the 1k line. A few minutes on the street and it's good to go. :thumb:
Just be patient...it's why you got a baby G in the first place right? :laugh: :laugh: ;) :laugh: :laugh:
I live in LA and never need full choke to start the bike. I usually can get away with something between a quarter and half of the way down. There is also an interesting point with the choke around half open where the bike will rev really high if left there. If you just start the bike with way less choke, you should be fine. Also, my bike is a '94 with more than 84K on it, so bike age doesn't seem to be an issue...
Thanks guys. I guess I just wasn't thinking. Its 80+ weather here for the summer lucky for clouds. Haha I have been waiting 5 min for it to warm up. Silly me. Ok less choke and less worrying.
If you are not heading out into stop and go traffic, you can warm it up for 10-20 seconds, ride out onto the road with choke still on, and take the choke off as soon as you get into second gear. If it's a mile or so before the first stop, it'll be all warmed up when you get there. My warm-up time is as long as it takes to put helmet on, put glasses back on in helmet, and put gloves on - then I'm out on the road.