SuzukiSavage.com /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Is she that cold natured? /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1232065536 Message started by prechermike on 01/15/09 at 16:25:36

Title: Is she that cold natured? Post by prechermike on 01/15/09 at 16:25:36 I started to post this earilier, but wanted to try one more thing.  I have an 87, stock except for the raptor petcock. I have gotten the hang of starting her in cold weather and she idles good.  But when I get up to speed in 3rd and 4th, she starts to buck and sputter, like she is running out of gas.  If I open the throttle, she picks up and thumps right along, but cruising along she acts unhappy. I tried leaving the choke out a little longer this morning and that helped some.  I had to ride 6-8 miles before things started getting good and then it still took a few more miles for things to really straighten out. My question a are:  Is that normal?  How long does it take to get warmed up?  Is there an adjustment I should make, maybe to the carb?  I saw a thread about idleing in cold weather, that is not my problem, it is crusing speed. Thanks Mike

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by SavageGreaseMonkey13 on 01/15/09 at 17:09:39 hey mike i have the same problem. it takes mine about 10-15 minutes to warm up enough not to do that. you are close to me so i know the weather is the same for us and it was cold this morning. just let it warm up more before you leave. that seems to help me anyway. maybe we should get together a go for a ride someday?

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by prechermike on 01/15/09 at 17:16:57 Thanks for the reply.  After today I was pretty sure it was just cold, but I did not know if there might some adjustment.  I usually let it idle while I am putting on my helmet and gloves, not too long, but I am usually in a hurry.  I only live about eight miles from Washington so by the time the bike gets warm, I am about where I am going.  Yeah, a ride together would good sometime.

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by SavageGreaseMonkey13 on 01/15/09 at 17:40:10 im usually in the same situation. running late and in a hurry. i only have to go 5 miles and my bike just does get hot about a mile from work or home.

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by Digger on 01/15/09 at 21:48:23 Precher, FWIW, I ride mine in cold weather all the time (I live in Colorado Springs and do not own a cage).  My bike (see signature) has stock carb settings, except that I've richened up the pilot screw a bit.  The intake and exhaust are otherwise stock.  There are no engine mods. After I start mine, I can take it off choke about a minute after it starts.  After another 3-4 minutes of idling, I take off.  After about a mile of easy city riding, it is good to go. It sounds to me as if yours is running a bit lean.  I don't have that problem, since I live at 6500' of altitude. IHTH!

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by justin_o_guy2 on 01/15/09 at 23:25:10 Whats the hurry? If it asks for a bit of choke, give it. I run mine a coule miles before I push it in.Ususlly, just the 1/2 way click is all it needs, but it runs better if I leave it out for about 5 minutes. I start it & let it run long enough to establish oil flow, then drop in gear & ride away.

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by prechermike on 01/16/09 at 02:16:31 The hurry is life!  I am trying to slow down, but everyone keeps pushing me forward.   OK, to richen it up, I have to remove the brass plug on the carb and turn the screw 1/2 turn counterclockwise.  Is that right? Again, life is getting in my way and I will probably not get to do this or ride until the first of next week, but I want to be sure I am doing right. Thanks Mike

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by Oldfeller on 01/16/09 at 03:36:06 Have you done the white spacer in the carb slide yet?    That and drilling out the brass plug were all I had to do to get a good running Savage. I personally would stop there and consider carefully before jumping into the noisy muffler thing -- it really doesn't increase performance all that much to offset living with all the loud whapping and the blapping noise .... Plus it requires rejetting, which although I own a set of jets and a shorty Harley muffler I may never put either into place since on our mountain trips I keep up with the whapping blapping crew just fine.

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by prechermike on 01/16/09 at 03:46:04 Nothing that I now of has been done to the bike.  I did put on a raptor petcock.  I checked and the brass plug is still intact, so I know that has not been messed with. I have read about the white spacer, but an unsure of what that is, I kow it is in the carb somewhere. I am really not interested in the whapping and blapping either, I guess I am too old for that. So what is involved with the white spacer thing? Mike

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by verslagen1 on 01/16/09 at 07:32:33 Yes, I'd reccommend the white spacer mod.  What it does is richen up that portion of the throttle response.  And if idle is ok and the top end is ok, then time to tackle the middle. search the tech section. simply put, you take the top of the carb off, pull out the slide, remove to tiny, very tight screws and pull out the needle.  take the white spacer and thin it alittle or replace with a number of #4 washers.  Then put it all back together.

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by prechermike on 01/16/09 at 08:06:56 Thanks It will be next week most likely before I get around to it.  I searched and many seemed to have a bad time with the screws: http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1104205157/15 Is there a recent trick that someoen can suggest to me? Otherwise I will simply tear into it (very carefully) next week. Thanks Mike

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by prechermike on 01/16/09 at 08:18:33 OH, a couple more questions, since I am so good at that. What kind of #4 washers do you use, metal (I think the post I listed said they did not work) or plastic (what about gas eating them up) or what. When I do this do I still need to remove the brass plug and adjust that? Thanks again Mike

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by Max_Morley on 01/16/09 at 09:53:58 I agree the current #4 washers don't seem to fit. ID is OK, OD will not fit in the hole in the slide. I've sourced hem from 3 stores, but they may be the same manufacturer/wholesaler as they are in those plastic boxes. They say they OD is supposed to be 0.250" which will work but they turn out to be about 0.280". The plastic/nylon ones are OK OD and ID but and one would probably work OK. 2 are thicker than stock by a tad or two. Max

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by Jay on 01/17/09 at 01:14:11 I found number three washers at the Ace hardware here in Fort Worth. Another source for that size is hobby shops that cater to RC aiplanes, helicopters, etc. The #3 seems to fit fine. Takes about three of them. I did the white spacer mod back after break in; but returned it to stock after a few hundred miles. It didn't really help performance wise, and my mpg was suffering. Not much, but that, coupled with the lack of improvement in performance, was enough to convince me to return it to stock. A couple of thousand miles later, and the problems sorted themselves. It was fresh otta the crate when I got it. I did do the brass plug thing though. Did wonders for the backfiring.

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by Gamma742 on 01/17/09 at 07:35:49 Good luck getting those 4 screws off the top of the carb.. I ended up buying a impact driver to get them loose. I went for the washer mod (2) of them did the trick. Use the nylon ones.. Replaced the 4 screws with allen heads ;)

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by prechermike on 01/18/09 at 19:08:19 Wasn't it Murphy that said, "If anything can go wring it will?" I tried to drill out the brass plug for access to the idle mixture screw.  I was extremely careful not to drill to deep or too fast, and I was doing a pretty good job at that.  OK, so I have a nice hole there to put in a wood screw and pull the plug out, so far, so good.  Well, as I pulled on the screw, the point broke off inside the plug!  The screw was much harder than the brass and would not drill too well. After a couple of tries at drilling into the side, at an angle or whatever, I got a very small punch and knocked the tip in, I should have thought of that first.  Carefull drilled some more, to get the screw started back in and pulled the plug out.  Yeah! I turned the screw 1/2 turn counterclockwise and did not see any change in the motor.  Now things were still cold and I did not have time this afternoon to let her warm up, much less ride (It was raining as well).  Tomorrow, I hope to get this taken care of. Is there a magic setting, number of turns whatever to start with?  I expect it is really a matter of tuning, a little here and a little there to get it right. Thanks Mike

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by ralfyguy on 01/19/09 at 10:24:37 Turn it out to about two turns and see what it does then. There should be an improvement. You might have to adjust the idle too, using the knurled thumb screw on the other side ov the carb. Mine runs best at about 2 1/4 turns out, but it varies from bike to bike. I also run a 2/3 white spacer at the same time, and no bogging anymore, no matter how cold it is.

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by prechermike on 01/19/09 at 13:31:11 OK.  After a couple of rides, I think I have the problem fixed.  I turned the screw 1/2 turn counterclockwise.  the first ride I let her warm completely up, in fact I got sidetracked when I went to get my coat.  Next I let her cool completely off, cranked her, put on my helmet and took off as usual.  No more bucking or snorting. I did not mess with the spacer, I was going to take the old one to town to get a replacement, but at this point I do not think I am going to bother with it. Thanks for all the advice.  I will holler if I need more help. Thanks again Mike

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by Digger on 01/19/09 at 19:56:15 I've not tried this, but some say that you should turn your idle speed way down before messing with the pilot screw. With the idle really low, it is supposed to be easier to hear the difference when you turn the pilot screw. Of course, you'd want to increase the idle speed back to normal once you determine the best position of the pilot screw. Thoughts?

Title: Re: Is she that cold natured? Post by BurnPgh on 01/19/09 at 23:18:05 i 2nd diggers comment. I spent 20 minutes a day for the first 2 weeks I had the thing trying to tune the carb and couldnt hear a lick of difference no matter what until I turned down the idle speed. Once I did that it took about 3 minutes. Back fire on shutdown is now a "pfoot" kind of sound rather than a shotgun. '95, 15+k mi (9k when I got it)

SuzukiSavage.com » Powered by YaBB 2.2! YaBB © 2000-2007. All Rights Reserved.