Stuck Choke -> Engine Turnover issues

[alanmcorcoran]

I don't think leaving the choke on is what caused the bike to stall. If the battery is charged, I'd try and start it again.

Make sure you put the choke on to start it!

Then if it doesn't start, check the plug.

In your case, I would let the bike warm up a lot before I took off the choke - like 7-10 minutes either sitting or riding.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by virati

Charged battery, highly unlikely that its a battery issue.

It was adding enough gas while I was riding around to stall the bike 2-3 times which is what makes me suspicious.

OK, fine. Don't call it a battery issue if that makes you feel better but the fact IS that the electronic ignition will stop making a spark before the starter stops turning over, as the battery starts to become weak.

If there is nothing else wrong, the "choke" will NOT "add enough gas" to make it stall because it is not a real butterfly choke.

At this point, I think it is possible that the choke cable is not connected at one end or the other and you really are not getting the choke action that you think you are.

[mr. softie]

That was my first thought too Easy Rider, when Virati said he had removed the cable I was concerned that everything got put together correctly. to start cold it all has to be operating correctly. There is a small spring and a plunger and an o-ring and... well anyway. I also thought Virati may have inadvertently pulled the vacuum hose loose that controls the petcock while working on the cable issue...happened to me once and had me scratching my head for a while...Why wont it start? Something to check as well is all.

If my bike has the "choke" on too much when it is warmed up, it will run ok at speed but race or stall at idle, depending on engine temp and ambient air temp.

[alanmcorcoran]

Hey, Mr. softie, what are the conditions that make it stall while "ON" at idle? My experience is that it mainly stalls when it is OFF, and races when it is on. But, it doesn't behave consistently.

ALso, is this vacuum hose reasonably accessible for newbs?

[mr. softie]

On a hot day and warm motor at idle I can stall the bike if I pull the choke on all the way, not that I would do that on purpose. I tried it once to see what would happen. On a cold day it just makes the idle really fast.

The vacuum hose is a small diameter black hose that goes from the back side of the petcock down to a fitting on the carb, easy to miss should it become dislodged from the petcock.

[virati]

Decided to see if I could finagle my bike to at least start. Somehow or another I remembered switching the petcock to prime could help -> did it and it started magnificently. Rode around the apartment complex but didn't take it elsewhere. Later in the day came back and rode it around but it shut off on me when i put the choke back to normal. I figured it just wasn't warmed up quite yet so I'm not too worried about it. I kept it running for 5-10 minutes and everything sounds pretty good.

Thanks for the help everyone! If someone has an explanation for what could have been the problem/normal occurance I would love to know but right now i'm just glad its running.

On a side topic: due to my heightened sense of paranoia I finally realized that i have a very VERY uneven idle. It's very regular/periodic and can go all the way from almost dying to revving comfortably within the period of 3-4 seconds. I saw a separate topic about that earlier so I'll just go check that out.

once again, thanks folks!

PS. Easyrider: I didn't mean to seem like I was waving your advice away, sorry if it seemed like that. What i meant was, I did indeed plug the battery back into the charger and after 5-10 minutes the 'charged' light was on. Usually it takes me 5-7 hours to fully charge a dead battery so I didn't anticipate the battery losing charge to be a problem. As for the cable: everything is back into place how it was before, sans the cable zip-ties... I'll put those back on another day.

[alanmcorcoran]

Virati, you are experiencing some of the same symptoms I was with my bike. Unfortunately, I gave up on fxing it myself, took it to the shop, got it back, it was still effed, so I took it back. It's ready to be picked up again, but my driver is out of town, now until at least Wednesday, so I don't know if it's really fixed this time or what they did to fix it. When I find out, I will post in my original thread.

My "survival" mode with it was to bump up the idle a tad (but not too much, just a tiny), let the bike warm up for a few minutes before taking off, leave the choke on for longer than usual (seven to ten minutes) and wait until the bike is fully hot before taking the choke off. If I get a little nervous, I'll keep the throttle on a bit at lights. If the engine starts to race at stops, I let the clutch out a smidge. Not really a solution to the problem but it reduced my stalls.

The tech said something about cleaning out my "emissions." I don't know exactly what that is.

[music man]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

The tech said something about cleaning out my "emissions." I don't know exactly what that is.

Hey Alan, I bet "Emissions" is really a code word for wallet.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by virati

Somehow or another I remembered switching the petcock to prime could help -> did it and it started magnificently.

Have you since switched it back to "ON" ??
If not, you may have another problem brewing.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

The tech said something about cleaning out my "emissions." I don't know exactly what that is.

Most of MY emissions end up in.............. :oops: never mind! :biggrin:

If it DOES appear that they actually did something to solve the problem, PLEASE try to get some more (believable) details. I think several of us would find the information useful.