Long Warmup Time?

[comanche91]

Are the 500cc Rotax engine bikes normally real cold-natured? It starts instantly every time, but you have to choke it about half way to give it throttle or it stalls out. Forget riding it for awhile; it takes a good 2-3 minutes before I can unchoke it and operate the throttle normally to get underway. I don't remember other thumpers I've had that take that long to warm up. Have removed and cleaned up the carb, no obvious obstructions or excess dirt, and it didn't make it any worse or better. Also installed a new correct K&N air filter as per Dave's previous instructions and replaced the old NGK D8EA with the NGK Iridium DR8EIX. Is this a Rotax thing or is rejetting in order?

Thanks very much, Don
95 Silver Star

[MZCountryRider]

My Saxon Country was the same way - would fire up immediately but require a minute or two on full choke (in all but the warmest temps) before it would be ready to go. Within a mile or so I'd go to quarter choke and within another mile, none at all. I never bothered to rejet but I suppose one could.

It'll be interesting to see if the same holds true once I have the Saxon Tour engined KTM 504 project I'm working on now completed. A Dellorto will be fitted instead of the Bing, so I'm expecting quite a difference.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

does yours have the stock pipe that may cause it ..
had a wreck on mine in dec 4th of 2007 and have not started it because i have not had time to finish the repairs

also the bing cv carbs stink had them on 750 bmw and hated them r90s had Dellorto Carburetor loved it
dave

i was told by past owner to use choke and start it and go turning choke off in stages over a 2 or 3 min time frame

[comanche91]

Thank you David, kind of goes along with replies on the same question I had posted on the thumpers forum. Rotax 500's w. the Bing CV carbs flat don't run for 2-3 minutes w/o choke then gradually backing off. Kind of like my Jeep stroker in closed loop. Have had BMWs with Bing carbs too in the past, but don't remember long warmups like this. Hmmm. Glad to hear this is a normal thing though I'll probably have to live with. As far as I can tell I have the stock pipe too, but a non-stock muffler. Hope I never have to make a fast get away.......

[DAVID THOMPSON]

fast get away is only necessary if wife is knocking on the door at your redhead girl friends house ....
and your there...
dave

[comanche91]

Always liked blonds myself................

[nikitino]

The two rotax engines that i've had on Country 500's with bing carbs usually require only about 20-30 seconds of full choke, then about 10 with half choke, then it's ready to go.....

[comanche91]

Thanks nikitino. Still getting used to this bike and prolly am not using the correct starting technique yet. It's been sitting for over two years and needed a lot of piddling work just to get it going again and ready for state inspection. I feel it's a good solid low kilo bike, and it's getting there. Plus I'm learning a lot about it at the same time. You guys have been a big help.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

watch it when you ride it the fork stops on my saxon tour make it turn a bit short and it will scare you
if you get it into the stops in a slow sharp turn
i was riding mine and turned into the driveway and almost took out the mail box----
it may be the tires on mine but it stinks on wet pavement and heavy rain
dave

[comanche91]

watch it when you ride it the fork stops on my saxon tour make it turn a bit short and it will scare you
if you get it into the stops in a slow sharp turn
i was riding mine and turned into the driveway and almost took out the mail box----
it may be the tires on mine but it stinks on wet pavement and heavy rain
dave

Discovered the short fork stops immediately on the center stand on the first day and wondered why? Then again on a 180 switchback at slow speed testing. Weird quirk. And also almost took out my own mailbox too. Have been out on the wet pavement sorting out the fuel delivery problems I had, seemed to handle okay, but was not at any real speed though. I think I still have the original tires, what were the OEM tire brand on these bikes? Interesting fun bike so far.

[vme250]

I raised the needle in the (bing) carb a notch, makes it a little richer. It seemed to improve the running after starting business, or maybe I'm just getting the hang of it... I read a road test from a 1995 magazine and they mentioned it! They were trying to keep the emissions down by running them lean, probably good for the gas mileage also.

[comanche91]

I raised the needle in the (bing) carb a notch, makes it a little richer. It seemed to improve the running after starting business, or maybe I'm just getting the hang of it... I read a road test from a 1995 magazine and they mentioned it! They were trying to keep the emissions down by running them lean, probably good for the gas mileage also.

Did the same, raised it to the #4 slot, and it helped a lot. I also noticed that it negatively affected my previously great WOT response (too rich), so I went down one size on the main jet on the advice of the Tom Woods guys. This did the trick - it's running super across the band now.