1 Cold start issue - large amount of What the? Wed May 25, 2011 1:16 pm
Jhepburn
Silver member
Greetings,
A couple of times lately, my '84 K100RS has started having cold start problems. I mean cold atmospheric - single digits. As I work to 2am and it's winter here in not-always-sunny Queensland, this has been a nuisance, and threatened to be embarrassing at the Mingoola rally a few weeks ago. (out of four bikes, only my girlfriend's '84 K100RS started easily).
It will need to be cranked a few times before catching. Tonight, it just wouldn't catch. At all. I fiddled with the choke lever, used a touch of extra throttle - nothing. Fuel pump was spinning. I am gratified the battery didn't die - I was wondering about that (it's a sealed BMW unit that was in it when I bought it over a year ago now).
Then I tried something I could vaguely remember from Charlie Boorman's Race To Dakar - with the ignition on, slowly open the throttle all the way, then slowly close it, then hit the start button.
It started instantly, barely turning at all before catching.
Then, all the way home, it ran as smoothly and sweetly as it ever has, with no hint of the slight unevenness I've been attributing to dirty injectors needing cleaning.
Excuse me, but: What? Does anybody have any idea what just happened, and why?
Yours in bafflement,
Jonathan
A couple of times lately, my '84 K100RS has started having cold start problems. I mean cold atmospheric - single digits. As I work to 2am and it's winter here in not-always-sunny Queensland, this has been a nuisance, and threatened to be embarrassing at the Mingoola rally a few weeks ago. (out of four bikes, only my girlfriend's '84 K100RS started easily).
It will need to be cranked a few times before catching. Tonight, it just wouldn't catch. At all. I fiddled with the choke lever, used a touch of extra throttle - nothing. Fuel pump was spinning. I am gratified the battery didn't die - I was wondering about that (it's a sealed BMW unit that was in it when I bought it over a year ago now).
Then I tried something I could vaguely remember from Charlie Boorman's Race To Dakar - with the ignition on, slowly open the throttle all the way, then slowly close it, then hit the start button.
It started instantly, barely turning at all before catching.
Then, all the way home, it ran as smoothly and sweetly as it ever has, with no hint of the slight unevenness I've been attributing to dirty injectors needing cleaning.
Excuse me, but: What? Does anybody have any idea what just happened, and why?
Yours in bafflement,
Jonathan