Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Choke setting

Ok this is probably a dumb question but here goes.
When starting a bike that is cold, what is the most beneficial place to pull the choke to. If I pull it all the way out it revs very high and I feel this isnt great for a cold starting engine. About half way out it idles smoothly but a little higher than a warm start idle. The reason Im asking is that I also own a Morris Minor 1000 that requires full choke just to keep it going when I start it cold.

Derek

Dont know if its the best or not, but cold starts I always use full choke. AND DONT TOUCH THE THROTTLE WHEN STARTING.

what he said

That kind of touches on a question that I've had.
Depending on whether it's hot or cold, I'll start with half or full choke respectively. Once it's started, I'll ride the choke until it idle's nicely around 1000 RPM. The choke position varies but I can always find a "happy medium". Is that a normal procedure?

I fully choke to start then after a min or 2 back it off a little then about 1/2 mile up the road I push it in all the way.

Thanks Dog, that's pretty much what I've been doing. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke and that I'm doing it right. Not used to a choke quite yet.

not sure right or wrong just what works for me.

Do what works.

If I need to choke, which is never in the summer, I pull it out all the way and let it run for about a minute, then push it in all the way and let it idle for another minute or two before I ride.

That makes two of us!
Thanks.

Thanks Bill.
Didn't use a choke on the previous bike, so this is new to me. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't screwing anything up.

I start with full choke, no throttle!! Then I put on my jacket and helmet and gloves. Somewhere in there I back it down to 1/2 choke. Usually by the time I'm ready to roll I can push the choke in all the way. Longer on colder days, but then I usually have more gear to put on.

I apply the choke in 1/4 increments from 0 to full depending on the temperature of the engine. Once the engine is running, I try to adjust the choke to keep the engine running near or just above the normal idle speed.

It's not really a choke but instead it just dumps a little extra fuel into the carbs. I just pull it out full to start and ride it for a minute or so until I figure it will run ok, then I push it back in. It's like having a huge idle jet, not a real choke, so the worst that will happen is a little extra fuel consumption while it's pulled. Real chokes can cause a stall, and will always cause terrible performance and fuel mileage, once the bike is warmed up. Our pseudo choke doesn't do that. A few years ago I went about 130 miles with the “Choke” pulled and the only thing that happened was I got a mile or two less per gallon. A real choke would have had me surging and sputtering within a few minutes of startup.

Thanks guys for the replies
Wasnt such a dumb question after all. Glad I asked.
I have been doing similar to you Sandmann with maybe a bit more on first start.
Thanks again

Derek

willyrover, what these guys are saying,do what works. Depending on how cold it is, and how cold the bike is, I just use whatever choke keeps the bike idling steadily. As it starts to stumble, I just nudge the choke in a hair. After a minute of running, I normally don't need any choke at all, unless it is brrrrrrr cold (39) like this morning, and then only for MAYBE a quarter mile or so. As far as the oil thing, well, every car I've had has a high idle for the first minute at around 1200 rpm, and then settles down to the normal 750-800rpm, and I've never had any issue with oil consumption later on (except from a Turbo but that was unrelated, and relatively minor) If it works for my cars, it works for the bike in my eyes.

Another suggestion/question that's related to this. Maybe someone can tell me if it's excessive. In the morning when the bike is cold, the clutch plates stick with the cold oil, and the bike hammers hard into first gear. So before I start it I put it in first gear, pull the clutch, and rock the bike to free the clutch. I only do this in the morning, the rest of the day it seems fine.

Steve

I'm with you Greybeard, Choke/enrichener as necessary to keep the motor running. Full to start a cold engine, then I begin to reduce in a few seconds to maintain a slightly faster than normal idle. No choke for a fully warmed up engine. Oh yea, NO throttle input. You will likely have backfire (don't ask me how I know) and possibly an airbox explosion.

Goddess....you will know. The airbox eplosion is tank rattling...at best. At worst you will be sat on the bike when it happens. Scared the $hit out of me. It happened in my evenlesstechnicalthanIamnow days and even I knew what it was.

I also use full choke for a fairly short time and then push it in all of the way. It is very important to never roll the throttle will starting. When you roll the throttle you change the spark advance. This can cause serious backfires while starting. On very cold mornings I turn on the petcock. Twist the trottle a couple of times, Pull the choke all of the way out, turn switch on and push starter. After a short warmup I push the choke all of the way in and keep the engine running with the throttle. It works for me. Sometimes I am riding at 20 degress F.

Dave