Cold starts

[the captain]

Anyone on here able to share an oppinion as to why my bike wont start when its cold (like today!!)

Everything lights up fine, fuel pump works, starter motor turns and all that, it just wont fire into life!!!

Now i dont have the luxury of a garage so its always covered and connected to a trickle charger, but ive never had this problem before (with the gixer anyways) and bex's R6 starts up fine and its kept in the same way as mine (outside covered up)

any ides?

[Lateshift]

Seems strange that on a fuel injected bike really but bear in mind that fuel injected bikes tend to need a specific amount of cranking power from the battery, even with a trickle charger or optimiser connected to the battery in sub zero temperatures the cranking power from the battery can be reduced massively ;)

My battery might tell me its sat at 12.89 volts but after a couple of cranks in this weather i can pretty much guarantee that if it doesnt fire up by the time the battery has drained to 11.9 volts i will be wasting my time as any lower than that it wont have the power to actually fire the ignition circuit, work the pump, keep the lights going and energise the start circuit.

The best way to get round it normally is go for an uprated battery (the standard one on mine is 12ah but most go for a 14ah battery to give it the extra cranking power, thats not to say you need to leg it out and buy one, if the bike is secure overnight and you are confident its safe, you could try keeping the battery indoors overnight to try taking a room temperature battery out the next day to see if she fires up ;)

[harriebird]

mine lives in a garage, and started ok this morning but stalled while i was leaving it to warm up on the drive

(fortunately it fired up again no probs though)

[the captain]

you say that...i was thinking about changing the battery a little while ago when it first happened.... (thats why i went and got the trickle charger)

I probably will go get one, but i think i'll try the battery indoors bit first......its just hassle removing it and putting it back in all the time!

[NitroDaze]

Give those sparkies a brush and you should be alright.
(use fine sand paper on the gap)

[Lateshift]

Thats called trial and error Shane, if it works by keeping the battery warm then you could also try insulating the battery compartment if it fits, just a bit of felt wrapped around the battery can sometimes do the trick to stop the battery getting too cold ;)

I remember on our trucks (bit different i suppose because we worked in Arctic conditions :D ) we use to use padding around the batteries to insulate them as much as possible, if we were staying on the mountains for any length of time the battery would be removed and put inside the truck out of the elements (hence why i suggested that).

However the one thing we always did, was deploy with a higher powered battery specifically for better cranking power because of the conditions :)

(that being said it didnt always work for us especially with -67 wind chills :D :D :D )

[Lateshift]

Ere Shane, talking of cold starting

Does the bike eventually fire okay and just takes time to get going?

[the captain]

sometimes it does....but this morning it just wouldnt fire at all...nothing, to the point where the battery started to die!!

so this leads me onto my next question...you know where to go for an uprated battery.....i guess im looking at the same voltage but a higher amp ...my standard is 12V, 10Ah

[Lateshift]

my guess is you are looking for a 12v 12ah battery then however,

Bear in mind that oil is thicker when its cold and that clutch plates tend to stick a bit with thicker oil, try pumping the clutch a couple of times then holding the clutch in while hit the start button, leave the key turned for 5 seconds before going to fire it up and dont use the throttle until you think its about to fire.

The weight of the clutch applied to the crank can be enough to stop a bike firing up in this weather too so by applying the clutch it may well lighten the load a little :)

worth a try ;)

[the captain]

This is why i love you!!!:laugh2

i'll give all this a go!

[SDM]

................The weight of the clutch applied to the crank can be enough to stop a bike firing up in this weather too so by applying the clutch it may well lighten the load a little :)

worth a try ;)

Shane when you said you never had that trouble with the Gixxer, you had to pull the clutch in when you started it...........like Mick said 'worth a try;) '

[Lateshift]

A little tip i found is that the priming cycle on these 02 R1's for the fuel system is around 2-3 seconds and that pressing the start button for more than 4-6 seconds without it firing up is just wasting your time, Yamaha use a system that drains the injectors so it doesnt leave fuel to clog the injection system.

Everything i have now read on the 02 R1 suggests that pumping the clutch in colder weather 6 times quickly to loosen the clutch plates up, keeping the clutch pulled in, turning the key and then waiting 3 seconds before trying the starter for 4-6 seconds, should see it start by 2nd or 3rd attempt.

It appears mainly to be down to the cranking power being just about able to cope so if it works but gets on your tits find someone on here that doesnt use their bike in the winter (one that has a 12v 12ah battery) and see if it will crank up from cold easier before you go wasting the filthy lucre on something that may not be needed :)

[NitroDaze]

You probably want to invest in Optimate II to keep the charge up during idle periods.
I had a similar problem on my GSXF600, when it started (that is after a long go on the starter button), it did not run smoothly and other times it would refuse to run idle for longer than 2 mins. l cleaned the sparkies and left the battery over over night on Optimate repair and charge mode. After that it started repeatedly at first attempt and ran very smoothly.

The sparkies had condensation on them and some deposites. The battery ran down from attempts to start it. Mind you, your situation may be different from mine.

If you park your bik outside normally, a good idea will be to remove the battery and have it trickle charged in doors untill you need it.

[the captain]

Shane when you said you never had that trouble with the Gixxer, you had to pull the clutch in when you started it...........like Mick said 'worth a try;) '

on the gixer i had a real life choke as well, not one of these automatic jobbies!!!!

[the captain]

well, ive just been outside and it started okay after the clutch pumping idea!....but i dont know if it was just down to that considering its been sitting in a sunny ish garden all day, so its warmed up a bit since this morning.

ive wrapped the battery up and re isntalled it, so we'll see if that helps over the coming weeks...still gonna uprate the battery though. its gonna get a service soon as well, so i'll be sorting the plugs out then!

cheers for all the help!!...id kiss you all if you wernt so ugly!:laugh2

[Lateshift]

on the gixer i had a real life choke as well, not one of these automatic jobbies!!!!

if it was an injected bike it would have been a fast idle not a choke ;) :D

[the captain]

yeah same difference!!!

[SDM]

..............cheers for all the help!!...id kiss you all if you wernt so ugly!:laugh2

OI.............