Voting causes engine trouble :-)

bobl

I had a little newbie trouble this morning.

I left the house and it was about 40 degrees outside. I only went about 2 miles on the 2010 SG and stopped to vote.

Voting took only about 5 minutes.

I then jumped back on the bike to take off. Not sure exactly what I did, but she did not start the first time (possibly a small backfire?). I may have simply come off the starter to quickly. Upon trying again, she did not want to fire up. I thought I smelt gas, and guessed I flooded the engine. I was concerned about further cranking against the battery on a cold morning, so I decided to just wait 10 minutes and try again.

She started up fine after the 10 minutes and I started on my way again. A few hundred yards later, she stalled as I was coming to a red light with the clutch in. The light turned green and still in third, I poped the clutch and she started back up and away I went. For the next little bit, I just made sure I stayed on the throttle a little when the clutch was in.

Anyway, aside from possibly coming off the starter too quick as I mentioned, I'm looking for advise to avoid such difficulties in the future as this is my primary commuting vehicle.

I don't usually sit and warm up the engine after initial starting. Should I? If this is not really required, what about on colder days?

Was it bad of me to have shut off the bike on a cold morning after only about 2 miles of riding?

Do my symptoms sound like flooding? How can I avoid this?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advise.

Bob

Dr. Doolittle

I'm no expert but I don't think you can flood a fuel injected motor in the traditional sense of the word.

First, make sure when you move the kill switch to run, you allow the yellow engine light to cycle on and then off before you engage the starter. You should hear the fuel pump run for a few seconds and then stop as it primes the lines.

Yes, you should allow your bike to warm up until the idle drops to normal range. Usually shouldn't take more than a minute or two. Do you jump out of bed in the morning and immediately do a couple 100 yard dashes? Not if you're my age you don't!

Oh, and thanks for performing your civic duty and voting!

__________________
2008 Street Glide

glider

With only 2 miles of riding and the possibility of coming off the start button too quickly, it's possible the engine wasn't warm enough to eliminate the cold start enrichment and this was part of the problem, even why you smelled fuel because it kicked back from a short start button time.

Shouldn't be anything to worry about IMO.

__________________
Psssst!
Please stop by the "self help section" for maintenance tips, diagnostic codes and much more.
click me!>>Self Help Information and Tips<< click me!

ultrat

I hear different ways of starting bike, i do wait till eng lite goes out & pump shuts off. But i only use key switch to start eng i dont do any thing w/ run off button i leave on run. is it better to use it as pert of starting seq.

Breeze3at

I can't remember ever using my off/run switch on the handlebar on any of my bikes. Use it if you want or not, it makes no difference. I warm my bike only till the idle comes down, then ride gently until it's at operating temp.

__________________
Different rides for different reasons, and knees in the breeze in all four seasons.

ultrat

Thank you Breeze3at/////

Jack Klarich

Warm her up , I always use my kill switch I guess its there for a reason on the handle bars where our hands are most of the time

Dr. Doolittle

This was discussed at length a while back. Manual says to use the run/off switch. MSF course teaches you to use the run/off switch. I think it's a good idea to program your right hand muscle memory as to where that switch is. However, it's your bike so do whatever you feel most comfortable with.

__________________
2008 Street Glide

peddler

I've read alot of posts on this and other forums about using and not using the kill switch on the right side of the bars to start and stop your motor. Not sure if there is a right or wrong. My question is if you never use your kill switch to stop your motor, what practice/reaction will take place when you are in an emergency situation and have to immediately kill the motor? I would think the chances of you reacting in a split second in an emergency situation by shutting the motor off using a kill switch you have no history of using would be very remote. Just my .02.

Dr. Doolittle

That's the point I was trying to make about muscle memory. Guess I shouldn't use medical terminology so much!

__________________
2008 Street Glide