Any tips for starting in the cold?

[vavision]

Ok-

So today the V wouldn't start on it's own. Instead of totally running down the battery I had the bright idea to take her down this hill conveniently by my house and pop the clutch while in second. Got some spluttering but not enough. So I climbed the hill, got my jeep down there and jumped her. 20 seconds worth had her going.

Anyone have any tips or tricks for getting this thing fired up in the cold? I won't have my jeep all the time.

I'm thinking about running heavy wire with alligator clips on one end and a cig adapter on the other so I can get a jump off a car without having to go under teh hood. I see so many of those jump kits that go to a cig lighter so I'm guessing the wiring on a car is enough that I'd be able to get a decent charge?

[zore]

Seeing as my m900 has no choke, i've become quite the master at cold weather starting.  On the vision, put the choke on, give it 3 shots of throttle, hit button, repeat as needed.  It usually stalles 2 or 3 times and then it's fine.  You may also need to hold the throttle a little.

[Lucky]

It seems each Vision has it's own favorite starting procedure, mine likes a jump start off an F-14 in the cold weather...

[Superfly]

On those cold Los Angeles mornings, Blackie likes half-choke, 3-4 twists of the throttle, and a strong battery!

[h2olawyer]

Biggest help in cold weather is a good battery & clean electrical contacts.  I always keep it connected to a battery tender jr. when I'm not riding so the battery stays fully charged.

In warm weather, mine needs about 1/2 'choke' & a twist of throttle.  When the temps cool off, I have to set the petcock to prime for a few seconds, use full 'choke' & 2 or 3 twists of throttle.  Always fires up in less than 5 seconds.  Like Lucky said, each Vision seems to have its preferred starting procedure.  I'll just add that it will likely change with temperature.  You need to find the method that works for your particular V.  Guess that means you just have to ride it more - dang!

H2O

[louthepou]

One sign that your bike has character:

If you were to die tomorrow, your bike would never start again, for you're the only one to know exactly what procedure is required to get it going.

My red V: choke half to 3/4 open. Push the start button, hold the throttle ever-so-slightly opened, when it's firing a bit, open more, and voil?. Let idle with choke on for a while.

Lou

[vavision]

One sign that your bike has character:

If you were to die tomorrow, your bike would never start again, for you're the only one to know exactly what procedure is required to get it going.

My red V: choke half to 3/4 open. Push the start button, hold the throttle ever-so-slightly opened, when it's firing a bit, open more, and voil?. Let idle with choke on for a while.

Lou

So it's like Biff's car from back to the future... neat.

Ok F-14 it is then. Time to move back by Oceana. Actaully, it's nicer to live by Langley air force base... any chance a f-15 or 16 will do in a pinch? Maybe a stealth bomber?

[silicon_toad2000]

you just gotta get enough fuel atomised in there and a nice strong spark to ignite it. In the cold weather, fuel atomisation is the problem. you gotta get enough fuel in there so that there is enough atomised in the air fuel mixture to ignite, but not so much that its flooded.
A strong spark will help matters, any excuse you need to check the leads and plugs.
I just use the choke and a few twists to get the accel pump squirting and move the throttle around to stir up the airflow a bit.
Actually the YICS should help cold starting a bit by stiring up the air.

[vavision]

... and my bike didn't have a yics when I bought it.

anyone have an extra they don't want?

[Extent]

And BTW I wouldn't go with the cig. lighter for a jump start.  That's going to be fused for an accessory line, and the wiring is probably only good for 10 to 15 amps.  I can barely run my laptop w/ an inverter in most cars (yes it's a monster machine) so I defenatly wouldn't trust it to crank a crank-y (tee hee) bike.

[hfarley]

First you go out and start by talking to your bike. Tell it that you know its cold outside but you would really appreciate it if it would start up for you. Then you coax it a bit more by telling it that you will give it a nice polish job, new oil, coolant, etc... Then as you are talking softly to it twist the throttle a little and then try to start it up. LOL!

Seriously though, my bike needs to have the throttle twisted about 3 times and then the start button pushed in. On really cold days I may use the choke a little but my bike generally does not need the choke to start.

Like everyone has said each bike has it's own personality and needs to have the right sequence of events done in order for it to start right.

Just think of your bike as a woman, you need to hit all the rights spots to turn her on. LOL!
-Heather

[vavision]

And BTW I wouldn't go with the cig. lighter for a jump start.? That's going to be fused for an accessory line, and the wiring is probably only good for 10 to 15 amps.? I can barely run my laptop w/ an inverter in most cars (yes it's a monster machine) so I defenatly wouldn't trust it to crank a crank-y (tee hee) bike.

Well I currently don't have a cig. lighter on the bike. The idea was to add one just for that reason so I would have run wiring heavy enough to take it with a switch for jump/accessory. Jump being unfused and accessory fused for protection.

[vavision]

First you go out and start by talking to your bike. Tell it that you know its cold outside but you would really appreciate it if it would start up for you. Then you coax it a bit more by telling it that you will give it a nice polish job, new oil, coolant, etc... Then as you are talking softly to it twist the throttle a little and then try to start it up. LOL!

Seriously though, my bike needs to have the throttle twisted about 3 times and then the start button pushed in. On really cold days I may use the choke a little but my bike generally does not need the choke to start.

Like everyone has said each bike has it's own personality and needs to have the right sequence of events done in order for it to start right.

Just think of your bike as a woman, you need to hit all the rights spots to turn her on. LOL!
-Heather

The three twists, a thirty second wait/pleading and then hitting the starter with just alittle gas gets her fired up instantly. It's my new favorite way to start the V. Worked it 35 degree weather.

Would you care to elaborate on the spots to hit? You know, for educational purposes  ;)

[Superfly]

Va....
that is a topic for another forum!!!!

[Extent]

Well I currently don't have a cig. lighter on the bike. The idea was to add one just for that reason so I would have run wiring heavy enough to take it with a switch for jump/accessory. Jump being unfused and accessory fused for protection.

I meant the wiring in the car.  I don't know what kind of products might be around on the market, but I defenatly wouldn't trust something like that for that application.  Most jumper cables are 8 gauge or larger, which supports about 70 amps.  most of your accesory wiring is more in the neighborhood of 16 gauge, which is only good to about 30 amps, and it's likely to be fused at 10 or 15 amps.  The smallest motorcycle battery I found in a quick search still provides 85 CCA.

[VisionMeister]

I swithced to Mobil One 0/40w synthetic and it makes a world of difference in the ease of cranking for the starter. I've had good luck with this oil in my Ducati 900 and swear by it (no valve adjustments required in 16k miles for an air cooled two valve desmo).

If the bikes been sitting for a long time, the carburetor bowls may be leaking/evaporating down. Switching the petcock to prime position will help improve the time to fill the float bowls. If your petcock is in the on position, it will take some time of cranking to draw a vacuum to flow the fuel required.

I've made some consideration to installing a headlight switch so I can turn off the headlight to improve battery cranking power for this same situation.

[VisionaryDan]

... and my bike didn't have a yics when I bought it.

anyone have an extra they don't want?

Do a search in the tech and General section for YICS. A number of us fabricated our own YICS chambers out of Copper tubing. I have used these on both my bikes and they worked really well. Just keep the hose to the chambers as short as possible.