Start-up procedure

[WhiteBeard]

I'm interested in what the start-up procedure looks like for your bikes.
How long do they idle on choke?

I have an 85, so I have the handlebar mounted choke lever, with two "clicks" on it; full choke and half choke.

I start the bike off on full choke (no throttle needed) and the RPM's rise very quickly, so I immediately take it down to half choke.
If I don't touch the throttle the RPM's stabilize at about 1500, where it stays for, say, 15 seconds, before they fall down to about 500 and the engine finally stalls.
So I need to keep giving it throttle, and sometimes if I give it a lot of it, RPM's climb and stays at about 3-4000 RPM.

I feel bad letting the bike idle too long without cooling, but it usually takes about 2 minutes before the bike can idle on its own, without any choke. Still, the idle is very low at that point, maybe 5-600 RPM, so I still need to give it some throttle while I ride away.
Is this the way these bikes normally work, or do you have a different procedure? I realize that all bikes are different, but still curious... 


Nat

[FJmonkey]

When my 86 was stock it needed full choke for 1 to 2 minutes, then I could back it down and ride it down the hill (about 1 mile). Going down the hill I could take the choke off and idle at the stop light. Now with #40 pilots, 112.5 mains, UNI pods and SupperTrapp slip-ons, I need about 1 minute of full idle before it wants to stall, choke then goes full off and down the hill I go. The FJ lump needs time to warm up, you described what sounds normal to me for start up.

[markmartin]

Full choke (pull lever), Blip the throttle as it's catching--2 or 3 revolutions.  As soon as it catches it's breath, after a few seconds and the RPM's start to climb, I bring the choke lever back to keep it under 2000 rpm the best I can.  As it warms it wants to surge to higher rpms, so I baby sit it, using less choke as the rpms want to climb .  I let it idle like that for a 2 or 3 minutes.  If I'm ready to leave, I just go from there, shut the choke off and keep it running and ride off. I'd say it takes 3 or 4 minutes for mine to be able to idle without choke if I'm starting it from dead cold.  

[Rhino]

I just start and go.
I don't think my choke works properly so i get my gear on, get on and start.
As soon as it fires i hold the throttle open so it'll run for about 30 seconds and let the oil get around and then head off.
Never use more than minimal throttle until i know its warm.

[Firehawk068]

No need to worry about letting your FJ idle for 3-5 minutes to warm up with no engine cooling............
It takes about 20-25 minutes or so for it to even warm up to normal operating temperature.

I usually pull 2 clicks of choke, hit the starter button, and put on my gear while she's at a high idle......
Once I got my gear on, I ride through the neighborhood  out to the first traffic light I encounter, then push the choke in 1 click........Once I am underway from that light, I ride about a half mile down the road and push the choke completely off...........She usually idles fine at the next traffic light I have to stop at.

[McKilla Guerilla]

I don't care for my bar mounted choke cable set up, I can lube the thing to the heavens, everything works smooth on the rack & the cable but when I put it together it seems to get real tight like the cable is gonna snap, then other times it's smooth as butter.     I digress

Sounds pretty normal to me. I have an 85 also. Have you done a coil mod on your bike? Before I did mine it took a little longer to warm up & idle, I was only getting 10.5v to the coils @ idle & as low as 7v-8v @ crank. Now it starts & idles a little easier. And I must agree with FJ Monkey, the #40 pilot was a help too.

[1tinindian]

Make sure your idle screw is adjusted to read 1000 - 1100 RPMs on the tach, after the engine has reached normal operating temp.

My FJ can be a little cold-blooded, but warms up in short order, no worries.

Leon

[CatTomb]

Great post! 

I have been wondering what is "normal"

On my '87 I pull the choke all the way out, crack the throttle and push the button. After it starts, I massage the choke to keep the revs under 2K, give it about a minute while I squeeze into my helmet and gloves and then take off.

I usually have to keep it choked for the first mile or so as it stumbles and chugs through the neighborhood. After I hit the highway and get to speed, I disengage the choke and it's kookaloo.

Thanks for the input, great to hear what others are experiencing. 

Jeff

[WhiteBeard]

Cool. Thanks for the answers guys, at least I'm not too far off the mark.

Cheers!

[keand3]

When my 86 was stock it needed full choke for 1 to 2 minutes, then I could back it down and ride it down the hill (about 1 mile). Going down the hill I could take the choke off and idle at the stop light.

My start-up procedure is somewhat similar to Monkey's. At least it used to be. My engine seems to get more happy if I start driving her straight away, calm and smoothly, and reduce the choke after some time. This was when the carbs weren't synchronised. After the rebuild the valve's would bee adjusted, and the carbs synced, so I might find my self in a hole other ballgame..

Cheers
Ken

[VaughanCustoms]

Yeah mine did the exact same thing but I had popping out the exhaust too because she was a little lean with the full Vance and Hines. I am glad this tread is out there because I would run my huge box fan on her while she idled because it just seemed to get so hot but I guess thats pretty normal from hearing you guys saying they need to idle around 2-3 minutes. I also had the same issue with mine though that if choke was on and I tryed to move the bike giving it throttle the throttle would shoot up which was scary and I am not sure why that happens when some of you guys are saying you can start riding on choke still.

[ribbert]

Yeah mine did the exact same thing but I had popping out the exhaust too because she was a little lean with the full Vance and Hines. I am glad this tread is out there because I would run my huge box fan on her while she idled because it just seemed to get so hot but I guess thats pretty normal from hearing you guys saying they need to idle around 2-3 minutes. I also had the same issue with mine though that if choke was on and I tryed to move the bike giving it throttle the throttle would shoot up which was scary and I am not sure why that happens when some of you guys are saying you can start riding on choke still.

Nothing wrong with riding off still on the choke. In fact the best way to warm up your bike (any engine) is to ride it.  It warms up faster, better combustion, oil warms faster, plugs don't load up, less condensation in the exhaust, gearbox helps warm the oil. Just don't thrash it.

[Dads_FJ]

Here's my starting procedure:

I have an 85 84, so I have the handlebar mounted choke lever, with two "clicks" on it; full choke and half choke.

I start the bike off on full choke (no throttle needed) and the RPM's rise very quickly, so I immediately take it down to half choke.
If I don't touch the throttle the RPM's stabilize at about 1500, where it stays for, say, 15 seconds, before they fall down to about 500 and the engine finally stalls.
So I need to keep giving it throttle, and sometimes if I give it a lot of it, RPM's climb and stays at about 3-4000 RPM.

I feel bad letting the bike idle too long without cooling, but it usually takes about 2 minutes before the bike can idle on its own, without any choke. Still, the idle is very low at that point, maybe 5-600 RPM, so I still need to give it some throttle while I ride away.

I think it's an FJ thing.

[Flynt]

I'm close...

1. One twist of the throttle so the FCRs squirt once.
2. Starter and roll throttle, fires immediately
3. Stabilize by goosing throttle to hold at 1,200 RPM
4. Hold at 3,000 RPM for 10-15 seconds
5. Ride to taste

Of course mine's hardly stock.

My buddy's stock '86 with crapped carbs starts with 3 clicks.  Once Idle shoots up, you drop to 1 click and ride off releasing choke as you get to 10mph or so.  Works well and is a bone stock with dirty carbs, valves that need adjustment, and some unidentified gas that was in it when he bought it.

Doesn't sound like you guys are done tuning.

Frank

[ribbert]

I think it's an FJ thing.

The starting procedure of cold motors with a manual choke is universal, with a minor difference for CV or pumper carbs. The reason you need choke applies to every motor with carby's.
On the FJ, and other similar bikes, this process is relatively short because the aluminium head, air cooling, short distance from carb to motor and rubber mounts all contribute to faster warming up.

The procedure on CV, SU and knock off carbs is as mentioned above. No throttle, full choke until it fires, immediately back off to approx half choke then feed it in progressively maintaining it's sweet spot.

For some reason this habit of letting your engine warm up before riding off is a bike thing, no one does this with their car.

As previously mentioned, there is no advantage to this, in fact, the opposite. The best thing you can do for you motor is to ride off within 30 secs of starting.  You don't have to worry about the revs being all over the place either.

Noel