Difficulty starting

[ELIMINATOR]

Once started the bike runs well. But, I don't seem to be able to judge the amount of choke to give it. I sometimes get it right by just opening the throttle. Sometimes it catches and then dies. then a few seconds spinning over and it starts.

the valve clearances where done last summer, and the carbs were balanced.

is it just me being rubbish?

I have a set of iridium plugs, must put them in soon.

[racerman_27410]

when the FJ needs to be choked, it needs all of it.....

"normally" the FJ only requires full choke with no throttle first thing in the morning.... no choke required for the rest of the day with temps in the 70+ range.

if its cold outside and the bike allowed to fully cool then full choke would be required again.

    slow hot starts can be helped by cracking the throttle a bit while starting.





KOokaloo!

[winddancer]

Check your battery I just had to change mine due to that same problem. Hook a charge to it and if it starts right away then that is your problem

[markmartin]

My guess, emphasis on guess; dirty pilot jets.

[ELIMINATOR]

racerman is spot on. Just got in from work, after having changed the failed LED bulb brake / rear light on my 900 Diversion. ( I bought an LED to have piece of mind against this exact problem ) and it was complete failure on both sides!

Anyway, I got the FJ keys, full choke, a whiff of throttle and it started straight away, just me being a dork! Alternating between 3 bikes, and OK, I'm going senile.

Thanks for your replies, I was thinking that it might have been something more serious! I was already thinking about the thread I read on here, about powering the coils via a relay.

[Pat Conlon]

racerman is spot on.........

Even a blind squirrel finds an occasional acorn..... 

[fudgejerkin1188]

racerman is spot on. Just got in from work, after having changed the failed LED bulb brake / rear light on my 900 Diversion. ( I bought an LED to have piece of mind against this exact problem ) and it was complete failure on both sides!

The bulb fitting in the housing may be wearing slightly allowing a bit of vibration in the bulb. Could be worth making a gasket out of inner tube rubber then re fitting a new bulb so its held snugly. Worked  on an old FJ of mine that regularly blew its tail lights.

[Skivvy]

Not to get the thread too far off topic but I may be able to offer some insight to LED lifetimes. First off LEDs are semiconductor devices and just like any electronic device, heat kills them deader than dead. The trick is to keep the active light emitting part cool.

This is very misleading though because that part of the LED is buried in a plastic housing and may be only a few hundred microns across. It all depends on the way the parts were designed and how efficient the heat path is to the outside air. Unfortunately this not that easy to do especially in low cost high output devices. If you hold them in your hand you may not feel a thing but the diode could be up around 100C.

Add a little outside heat or put too many of these too close together and things get very toasty inside. Once they go over 150C or so the lifetime goes almost to zero.

LEDs are nifty devices but in order to benefit from their unique advantages you really do have to keep them cool. Something not mentioned in the ads is that they may not be completely practical in automotive applications without fairly expensive exotic materials and large efficient heat radiators. Or as Scotty says "You cannot change the laws of physics."