| Author | Message | ||
     Mmmi_grad |
Canadian air has dipped down into indiana and gave OH a freak heavy snow storm yesterday, Saterday night we got light slow here with rain and it rained all day saterday. Sunday morning I got out to garage it was prbley 35 degrees and I think the nights low was about 30 32 degrees. I hadent started the bike in a couple days and since this was the coldest weather it had seen with me I thought Id see how it started. Well not good I had to hold the starter button in and work trottle for about 10 to 15 seconds cranking the motor while it tried to stay running, finally when I could stop useing the starter I started to blip the trottle and started testing it. It ideled eraticly around 1000 rpm a couple time briefly before shutting down then giving me another hard start, after a couple times cranking the trottle and holding throttle at 1500 or 2000 rpm for about 15 seconds I started getting a miss and backfire in the muffler so I shut it off. Looked around the bike and noticed that it was a little humid in my garage and still cold! I walked away continued to get ready to leave town for a day but could resist to come back to the bike thinking things might have warmed up a bit, so one last test. She fired right up and instantly gave me a smooth responce and a smooth idle. after about 30 secs i held the trottle at around 2000 grand for about 10 seconds and she was like cheery pie!!! I know the temp sensor has a bike play in start ups and the OS too . I curious about anybodys experience of this and weather or not it means anything. I know if it was a carborator motor I would expect to be chocking and maybe assisting the motor to a decent idle in very cold starts but I guess my question is about design too. Maybe a MAP sensor would have help the cold start. I know my F Injected car can idle at start up a little funny if its hummid or alot of moisture in the garage. Bad thing is if it was any colder I dont think I would have been able to get to run, or at least really be working the starter hard. Ideas? | ||
| Bomber |
I think you should likely lay off the throttle altogether (sounds like you have an X1 or S3, FI) -- the tubers are all a bit cold blooded, so, yeah, it's likely normal, but working the throttle can't be good | ||
| Doughnut |
held the trottle at around 2000 grand Holy ••••! What is red line?   | ||
| Whodom |
Mike, I have a stock 2000 S3, and it's generally a little sluggish to start when cold (say below 45 degrees). It'll usually fire right off, but requires a little steady throttle to keep it running until it warms up a bit. I'll fire it up and try to hold it around 1800-2000 RPM for a minute or so, and then let it drop to idle. It will idle a little slow at first (~900 RPM) but will gradually settle in at its normal idle of 1100 RPM. It surges and bucks while riding at steady speed, especially around ~2500 RPM, for the first couple of minutes until it comes up to operating temperature. I'm pretty sure I've read that the race ECM goes a long way towards making the FI tubers less cold-blooded. | ||
| Ftd |
I didn't think that the FI tube models had a cold start circuit?? Then a week or so ago someone posted that the race ECM eliminated the cold start function that the stock ECM had. Anybody know for sure what is the deal? I use my Vista Cruise throttle lock to keep my X1 (race ECM)running after start up when first started (cold or not). Frank | ||
| Oldog |
cold start sounds about right. My x1 has to laungwish out side some nights apartment living SUCKS! on one realy cold night (20 f) I lit it and just let it turn over, there was quite a grind on the starter to get it going, same thing have to open it up just a tad when it catches it settles down in under a minute and just like Whodom describes. One thought the heads warm up in 3 or 4 minutes the oil temp takes about 5 to 10 miles of riding in below 60 f weather (I have an oil temp gage on the bike) if your bike starts running rich all the time it may be the et sensor on the aft head.  | ||
| Bob_thompson |
I know this may sound funny but I start my M2 every few weeks during the cold winter months and I use a small electric space heater for an hour just prior to starting. A beautiful sloowww warmup to equalize everything. I face it to blow directly on the cylinders and carb. starts like summer. Practically no warm up and fires immediately. Better yet when the weather allows for a short ride. I do this until temperature reaches a steady 50 degrees overnight. You may not think its worth the trouble but I just turn the heater on and have one more cup of tea. Bob | ||
| Mmmi_grad |
Yeah this is an 2001 x1 just got it a few weeks ago. 1200 miles on it. ok so far this sounds normal, anf fyi I had to twist the throttle if i didnt work the trottle i dont think it would have ever fired I dont know, note though my garage can be damp and when that happened my car will stutter for about 5 seconds at some point within a few minutes of starting and taking off. If this is common Im a little disapointed though with Buell. Personally its not a big deal to me and at this time I cant bring myself to say that the stock 4 year old battery had nothing to do with it. But if everything was ok and this is common I wonder why it wasnt taken care of long time ago. If I wasnt a mechanic i could almost imagine myself being pissed off in a incontrolable panic haveing to do so much work to get a FUEL INJECTED bike idle right after a night in the freezing cold. just a thought. Im no fuel injection expert either | ||
| Koz5150 |
Mmmi_grad I just had my bike dyno tuned. Last year it was running terrible, and the colder the weather, the worse it ran. Since having the tuning session I went to start my bike the other day and it is like night and day. It runs so smooth and starts very easy. Even if it only has 1200 miles, it may just need to be tweaked abit by a professional tuner? | ||
| Simond |
My 2000 X1 has never idled from cold. I always have to hold it on the throttle until it warms up a bit. Changing from the stock to race ecm made no difference - if there is a cold start facility on the stock ecm, I never noticed it. It's just one of things that you get used to. A little annoying, I know, but don't let it get in the way of enjoying the bike. It's a shame - the X1 can't idle and I wouldn't dare leave the S2 idling on it's sidestand!! I'm a firm believer in getting the things up to temperature quickly and that means riding them (gently) as soon as possible rather than leaving them idling for ages. | ||
| Blackbelt |
My 2002 X1 was doin that, until i got a brand new battery and what a difference.. She used to take a bit to start, same problems you were having... and once i got the new battery ($72.00 at the local HD dealer) she runs and starts like new you might want to have a load test done on your battery to see what your Amp rate is at right now.. might not have much juice to run the pump, Ecm, sensors, and get spark down to the plugs.. take it to your local Autozone and test the load on the battery, or if you have a multi meter you can do it yourself... just a thought | ||
| Mmmi_grad |
blackbelt how are you testing the load with a meter. I have always turned on all lights and hit the brake light .........if voltage drops more than 1 volt from no lights on then the battery is bad. This is what mmi taught us. |
