Question for the cold climate riders

[ryanschoebel]

Hey all, its been in the low 40's, rainy, and just cold here for the last few days. My question to those of us who regularly ride in cold weather climates, how do you combat overcooling of the bike? When its cold here, my bike will always act like I'm riding it ice cold, only marginally better over time. Any tips or tricks to help??

[CutterBill]

Overcooling? Not gonna happen; certainly not at a balmy 40F.  Maybe if it was 50F below zero; but not at 40F. Just use 10W30 oil as specified in the FSM and don't worry about it.
Bill

[balky1]

I never change to that 'winter' grade oil. 20W50 always in the engine.

[ryanschoebel]

Overcooling? Not gonna happen

The bike certainly feels like its overcooling. It bogs, will try and stall if I pull the clutch too fast, and has a slight knock or rattle that always goes away when it warms up. I run 15-40 oil,because thats what I had readily available. None of which were issues I had before the temps dropped. .

[T Legg]

Does it run smoother with the choke on even after it should be warmed up?It's probably a carburetor problem.I ride mine down to twenty with no issues.I think it runs snappier in cold weather.

[Firehawk068]

I ride mine sometimes below freezing here in Colorado..................I have never had an issue with the FJ not warming up.
Yes it does take longer for the oil temp to come up to 180-200+ when it's that cold outside, but I have never experienced the running issues that you describe.

[red]

Hey all, its been in the low 40's, rainy, and just cold here for the last few days. My question to those of us who regularly ride in cold weather climates, how do you combat overcooling of the bike? When its cold here, my bike will always act like I'm riding it ice cold, only marginally better over time. Any tips or tricks to help?

Ryan,

I'd think there may be a minor carb problem, or maybe (not likely) wetness or dirt in the air filter.  Run a can of SeaFoam carb cleaner (fuel dryer) through the gas tank, mixed as per the label directions.  Bring your air filter inside, and see if it seems damp after a while.  If so, let it dry out indoors overnight, then try it out on a ride to see if that fixes the problem.  If the air filter is dirty, replace it.

Keep us posted.
.

[ZOA NOM]

Mine absolutely loves the cold air. I would expect you have a carb issue if it doesn't run smoother in the cold.

[aviationfred]

I ride year round and I work nights so I often ride at the coldest temps of the day. The temps are often in single digits, teens and the 20's. I have a short ride and I let the bike run on choke for about 2-5 minutes while I get my helmet and gloves on. I do have the RPM oil cooler and an oil temp gauge. Often the oil temp does not get above 160°F. I agree with the previous comments that there may be a fueling issue. Riding in the cold temps has no noticeable performance problems.


Fred

[balky1]

Does it run smoother with the choke on even after it should be warmed up?It's probably a carburetor problem.I ride mine down to twenty with no issues.I think it runs snappier in cold weather.

I've noticed the same.

[FJ Flyer]

Ride year round.  No real issues.  One time had a tendency for the idle to stay a bit high after a long highway run.  Sync'd the carbs and it went away.

[Millietant]

Does it run smoother with the choke on even after it should be warmed up?It's probably a carburetor problem.I ride mine down to twenty with no issues.I think it runs snappier in cold weather.

I've noticed the same.

The colder the air, the denser the air, the more oxygen the engine gets on each intake stroke.....more power  

[ryanschoebel]

Thanks for the input everyone! Looks like I've stalled long enough, time to send the carbs to RPM again!

[f4fwildcat]

Not sure if it applies to FJ1200's but could possibly be carburetor icing where condensation ices up on the jet needle and reduces fuel flow. Some bikes have carburetor heaters which mitigates this but couldn't say for sure as I've only had an FJ myself for a short while.

[bigbore2]

I had the same problem with my engine, it needed to really warm up fully to ride thru the pilot jet range smoothly.
[ idle - 2200 rpm ]  When cold, once the needle hit and above that rpm it ran fine there.

I set it up as RPM says, pilot 40  needle 2.5 turns out.  That made it start better/quicker and got rid of the running problem when cold so I didn't need to warm it up anymore.