Hard Start After Ride

realgoodtexan

realgoodtexan

XS650 Enthusiast
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Tell me what this means boys.

1979 F stock except for pods
Starter disconnected so kick only

Starts reliably when cold. Twice now she didnt want to start after being ridden. The most recent time was at a gas station. Added fuel. Had a smoke. Then kicked furiously with no results. Choke on and off. Had a rest. Tried again choke off with the throttle cracked and boom.

Rode home and shut it down for 5 minutes. Kicked it choke on and off with no result. Turned off the choke, cracked the throttle and boom.

Should I just crack the throttle when it's warm? I thought that was a no no with the "choke." That's what the enrichener does right?

Awaiting sage advice.
 
Assuming proper Voltage it is a mystery sometimes how to kick start
Warm don't need choke normally
Sometimes the kick trough empty ignition off 2 times and then switch on and go for it.
is the method
Last year in the summer it was weird no choke and no touching the throttle and it started
Hesitantly but started .
I have read that the warm position of coils is not optimum above cylinder head .
And the method switching off taking a breather and go for it I have noticed helps

Spark plugs changed according to service. ??
 
realgoodtexan said:
Should I just crack the throttle when it's warm? I thought that was a no no with the "choke." That's what the enrichener does right?
Click to expand...

I always crack the throttle... cold or hot. Habit from over 50yrs of running carbureted engines. Hell, I even crack the throttle on my lawn mower. :rolleyes:
 
Quick story... Rotax aircraft engines have an "enricher" similar to ours. First time I flew behind one, had a dickens of a time getting it started. Same the second time. Third time a guy was with me that was familiar with 'em. Same same... couldn't get it running. Guy finally sez... "pull the throttle back to idle." Pulled it back and the Rotax lit right off. Turns out that to get the engine certified, they designed the carbs so that moving the throttle off idle deactivated the enricher (prevents accidental activation in flight). Just out of habit I was cracking the throttle to start it. :doh: :laugh2:

Guess I shouldn't have skimmed through the flight manual. :rolleyes:

Our enrichers don't work like that... Try full choke and try to rev it.... enricher makes it chug sumpin' fierce.... stays engaged.
 
Sounds like a "hot flood" Yeah in general, crack throttle. that "just a tiny bit open" becomes second nature for carb guys, like Jim it's an automatic reflex. All stock?
couple things. ditch points for electronic ignition...
Or REALLY go though that ignition system.
a scenario; vacuum petcocks work, kinda leaky float valves.
the petcocks stop flow but leaky float valves will flood a warm or hot engine, this "goes away" after it sits for a while.
Remember when your bimetallic spring activated choke would close on the V8 that you had run for just a couple minutes then restarted, but you had TOUCHED the foot feed? zero throttle kept the choke open but ANY throttle would let the choke close cuz the bimetallic hadn't warmed up yet. Have to go out and wedge something in the choke plate to get r going.
 
I also crack the throttle hot & cold when I start, wife's CJ360T (factory kick only) manual actually calls for this. I have found that its best practice to actually turn the idle up before I kick it when its cold, like a fast idle cam. I actually plan to put a friendlier thumb screw on the idle adjustment knob on that bike because its become SOP on starting that CJ from cold iron. If you suspect your bike might be flooded after its been warm twist it WOT and kick, that usually clears any minor flooding.
 
On Flooding
Saw an old army Motorcycle trying to kick start don't know what country and make around WW2
Full choke cold start .Did not work
Pushing the choke in and kicking did .It --- took some kicks
The bike was probably flooded and the first kicks cleaned it out and after 4 .6 kicks it started
Idled fine.
 
Starting procedures on the few that I've had seem to have differed from bike to bike in little ways.
Finding the procedure that works throughout the conditions of hot, cold, lukewarm etc. can take a little time, but once that's established and consistent any fail to start is an alert to a possible problem.
 
I also have the habit of opening the throttle when starting most motors. I had starting issues with my wife’s Subaru (fuel injected) and when my buddy, a Subaru tech checked it out, he said the hard start was being caused by me applying partial throttle while cranking. Took my foot of of the gas pedal and no hard starting now. But that’s a fuel injected car…

As Rustie suggests, I usually turn my idle up slightly for warm up and installed this. Easy to adjust even with gloves on.

23C74F8F-F0B1-46EB-A42F-A1E8168B121C.jpeg
 
jetmechmarty said:
View attachment 202875
I really like that! Did you make it or buy it?
Click to expand...
I made it. The brass knob was one we used to use to hold down control panels on the equipment we manufactured. Pretty sure you can buy them at McMaster Carr. Drilled out the the threads. Iirc they were 10-32. Then I chucked the stock idle adjustment screw in my drill (since I don’t own a lathe), and filed the screw to an interference fit to the hole in the knob. Added some crazy glue and pressed them together. Works well.

FED822ED-E49C-46E0-BBB5-CA451DEB02F7.jpeg
 

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