Cold start

4379 Views 25 Replies 10 Participants Last post by jwinker, May 22, 2015

bike1962

Discussion Starter · May 15, 2015 (Edited)

Need some input. Bought this 2002 1100 spirit about 6 weeks ago. I believe I may have a fuel delivery issue. It will turn over without choke, but then dies. It won't take any throttle off choke, just dies. If I choke it, she cranks over revs nice and then idles fine when I back off the choke. I am talking when out side temps are in the 70's. It shouldn't need choke with these kind of temps should it? After I get on and ride about the first 3 miles, she sputter and bucks a little, then smooths out, but never dies. After that she runs fine and no issues? Should I rule out a fuel filter as wouldn't that cause problems all the time and not just when its cold? I have run an entire can of seafoam thorough her in about 6 tanks of gas. I have put about 700 miles on her and she's still acting up a little. Has new plugs, air filter. I do know that these particular models tend to be shipped a little "lean" from Japan. I noticed that the a/f screws have not been exposed which means they have never been adjusted. She also "popps" on decel, but so did the other two 1100's I owned over the years. It may need to be "richened" up a bit. Is that the first thing I should try before I get into a major carb overhaul? Thoughts? Is it hurting anything to choke this bike in warmer weather? I know on nthe 1300's, over choking can load up the plugs.

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Eagle7840

· #7 · May 16, 2015

bike1962 said:
Agree, but why once its warmed up, it runs fine?

Because you're not using the choke correctly. Your carbs sound like they're in good shape if the engine runs fine after warming up. Even after a 1/2 hour of sitting I still full choke and start without using any throttle and back off bit by bit on the choke as the rpm's come up on my VT1100. Once the engine is running without the choke I'll rev the engine a bit more so, if it has been sitting overnight to speed up the warm up. Rule of thumb is never use the throttle with the choke engaged, it disengages the choke, at least for my bike model. And don't let the air temp fool you, it's not the air temp but the engine temp that determines to choke or not.

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Eagle7840

· #13 · May 17, 2015

bike1962 said:
Thanks for your input. Took her out today for about 25 miles. Let her warm up about 10 minutes under choke (75 degrees out) and she sputtered up the hill for about a mile and then smoothed out, so its getting better. Just makes me wonder if the temp was 30 degrees out, how she would act?

Your bike should warm up faster than that with the choke on and at 75*. Sounds like an ignition spark problem in one of the cylinders caused by bad plugs, wires or a loose primary coil wire. You can identify the culprit cylinder by comparing the heat of the exhaust pipes. Both should be too hot to touch. The colder exhaust pipe indicates your problem child. I had a similar problem with my Shadow, long warm ups, low power. Rear cylinder exhaust pipe I could touch without burning my fingers. New plugs with same results. Check for spark when it acted up viola no spark. Turned out to be a loose primary coil wire connection at the coil and I was only running on 1 cylinder. Give it a check.

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Eagle7840

· #18 · May 19, 2015

bike1962 said:
If I don't let it warm up, it will run like crap when I take off.

For schmidt and giggles try adding some B-12 fuel system cleaner to your gas. Follow the directions on the can on how much to add. It's more aggressive in removing gum and varnish deposits than SeaFoam and cheaper. It just may improve your warm-up time and engine performance and gas mileage. Also when was the last time the plugs were inspected and replaced? If it were me I would replace them with Honda's recommended NGK's standard heat range plugs and gap them in the middle of the gap range.

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Eagle7840

· #24 · May 19, 2015

bike1962 said:
Thanks for the input. I will try some B-12 and see if that helps. I realize its a 13 year old bike and its not perfect. I liked the quote about hitting the snooze button. Kind of puts things into perspective.

Just a weird question. Seems as though that if bikes with carbs sit for a long time w/out being ridden, the carbs get gummed up. If you let FI bike sit for the same amount of time, would there be any issues?

FI is more forgiving, but the issue is the stale gasoline that has been sitting in the tank and fuel system. It turns into gunk and varnish over time and collects moisture.

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