Cold Start Answer?

[J Paster]

OK, I'm posting this because of I bike I saw on EBay motors, an 81 GS1100 restored by Akro Motor Works. They state in their description that they always "drill the choke pulloffs to get rid of that dreaded cold start problem", among other seemingly regular GS stuff such as, repair the charging circuit. I can't say I've ever heard of this modification, but am extremely interested, since I have that very issue with a bone stock 82 GS750E. I've replaced or rebuilt everything I can think of, including rubber parts. Just a pain to start after an idle day or two below about 50 at night. Did ignition relay trick due to suspect spark at turnover. Dyna S ignition. Full carb rebuild and Dynojet kit sure made it less cold blooded, but did not help this problem. This thing fires right up, without choke, when 60s or above. I know, but it passes Arizona emissions and runs perfectly. I put a set of worn out TM33 flatslides I used to have on it, and it fired right up no matter what. Anyone out there ever deal with this issue, or have heard of this "choke pull off" trick?

[Steve]

Never heard of the "choke pull-off thing", but I have to ask you, ... when was the last time you adjusted your valves?

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[old_skool]

Never heard of the "choke pull-off thing", but I have to ask you, ... when was the last time you adjusted your valves?

.

+1
Yep, biggest cause of cold start headache, started my bike in the cold yesterday, barely touched the start button and roared to life, had sat for going on 3 weeks as well.

Never heard of that mod either.

[tkent02]

What is a choke pulloff? We don't even have real chokes, let alone a choke pulloff.

Mine starts at the flip of the button, no matter how cold it is.

[tom203]

On your next cold Arizona start, activate "choke" fully, use NO throttle, and crank it over maybe twenty seconds maximum; remove a spark plug-any sign of gas?
When you cleaned carbs, did you poke and blow out "choke" system's feed hole at bottom of fuel bowls? If these get clogged, fuel can't be delivered to "choke" plungers.

[old_skool]

On your next cold Arizona start, activate "choke" .

Sombody needs choked alright...cold weather starts...really

[J Paster]

Yeah, its not THAT cold here. Adjusted the valves about 4k miles back. I'm pretty versed at it. All float bowl passages are clear. I looked around, and it appears the tubes that project down into the float bowl area are what are sometimes called the choke pull offs. I always thought they were called a choke pickup tube. And they are all clear as well (I've taken them apart and checked twice trying to get this thing to start easier). I am going to take them apart again to verify I have the correct 42.5 pilots in it, so I'll blast 'em again. Thanks for your thoughts.

[old_skool]

Yeah, its not THAT cold here. Adjusted the valves about 4k miles back. I'm pretty versed at it. All float bowl passages are clear. I looked around, and it appears the tubes that project down into the float bowl area are what are sometimes called the choke pull offs. I always thought they were called a choke pickup tube. And they are all clear as well (I've taken them apart and checked twice trying to get this thing to start easier). I am going to take them apart again to verify I have the correct 42.5 pilots in it, so I'll blast 'em again. Thanks for your thoughts.

Maybe it's not carb related, your hard starts, maybe electrical, poor connections, weak spark, voltage drop to the coils, high resistance in some wiring, just some other things to look at.

[tkent02]

Yeah, its not THAT cold here. Adjusted the valves about 4k miles back.

If they were on the tight end of the specs, they could be too tight again.

[J Paster]

Update

Just wanted to give everyone an update. Thankfully, after only wasting a little bit of time, I've cured my cold start problem. I tried cranking over the bike for 20 seconds and checking the plugs. Good spark but #2 was a little damp. Tore the carbs off again and checked tubes, holes, etc. All clear, but I realized my float settings were too high as a result of me setting the height using the top of the float, not the stepped portion. Fixed that, then put the 42.5 pilots in. Had #40s to offset rich condition that I had due to incorrect float setting. Bike ran great, but still wouldn't start cold. Finally re-checked the valves. Every one of 'em too tight. I had to have grabbed the wrong feeler gauge. I think I mixed up my inch side with the mm side. Couldn't believe it. I've been riding for about 4k miles like this! I guess its only been a minor nuisance because its usually pretty warm here... sure am glad I didn't break a valve or something else horrible! It is 35 degrees here and it only ticked over about 10 seconds before it fired up. I've been doing all my own work for about 6 years now, and haven't ever screwed myself in such a manner! Anyway, thanks everybody for your input.

[tom203]

Thanks for update- good lesson to remind others who might be hesitant to check valve clearances. I just did mine after 4k and 3 were tight.

Edit; 35 in Gilbert,AZ ? it's 39 in S. Maine now

[mrbill5491]

Just wanted to give everyone an update. Thankfully, after only wasting a little bit of time, I've cured my cold start problem. I tried cranking over the bike for 20 seconds and checking the plugs. Good spark but #2 was a little damp. Tore the carbs off again and checked tubes, holes, etc. All clear, but I realized my float settings were too high as a result of me setting the height using the top of the float, not the stepped portion. Fixed that, then put the 42.5 pilots in. Had #40s to offset rich condition that I had due to incorrect float setting. Bike ran great, but still wouldn't start cold. Finally re-checked the valves. Every one of 'em too tight. I had to have grabbed the wrong feeler gauge. I think I mixed up my inch side with the mm side. Couldn't believe it. I've been riding for about 4k miles like this! I guess its only been a minor nuisance because its usually pretty warm here... sure am glad I didn't break a valve or something else horrible! It is 35 degrees here and it only ticked over about 10 seconds before it fired up. I've been doing all my own work for about 6 years now, and haven't ever screwed myself in such a manner! Anyway, thanks everybody for your input.

It happens to the rest of us at times. Have you looked at the age poll. Explains most of it LMAO