Throttle when starting...

[midqetsex]

Sometimes when my Kat is cold, I'll need to give it a little throttle when I press the electronic starter or else it won't start. How bad is this for the bike? What could be the cause of this?

[Mojoe]

i have known bikes like that. i might be mistaken, but i think it is a bit too rich. when you give it the throttle, you are not actually giving it more gas, so much as more air. it is not like a carb on a car where pumping the pedal pumps gas. you open the butterflies, which allow more airflow....which in turn draws in the gas. but i guess you could say it is too lean in that case. too lean and more airflow draws more gas.....or too rich and the the extra airflow leans it out? it has been a long time since i had a problem like that, and when i did, i just dealt with it. i know you probably don't want to just deal with it...so i will see what others say.

[midqetsex]

I honestly don't mind it at all. I have no trouble getting the bike started, I just thought it wasn't very good for the bike to have the throttle open at all when you start it.

[Mojoe]

that doesn't make any difference or hurt anything. as long as it starts ok, there is nothing to worry about.

[BISQ]

I had to do that all the time.


My "cold day" routine was:

Turn to "prime" for a few seconds
Full choke
Quick turn on the throttle
Start button
Babysit the choke.

After a while, I got good at it, and it worked regularly. You just need to come up with a system that works for you.

[The CyberPoet]

General rules are:

Keep it at or below 2k RPM during the warm-up phase.
Use the choke for as short a time as possible, using as little choke as possible to get it to run (30 seconds is OK, 60 seconds max). If you still need more fuel to keep it running after 30 seconds, use the throttle instead of the choke.

KNOW THIS:
If you live somewhere particularly dry or particularly hot, you may have issues with fuel evaporation out of the carb bowls while the bike is parked (esp for a few days or longer). Switching to prime for about 30 seconds before starting (and then switching back) will refill the fuel bowls to their full position and will make starting easier if this is the case.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet