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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Do I need to re-jet?
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Message started by Evanswv on 12/28/21 at 10:42:12

Title: Do I need to re-jet?
Post by Evanswv on 12/28/21 at 10:42:12

I live in the Mid-Ohio valley of West Virginia, and it's pretty low elevation, about 600 feet. My new (to me) 2004 Savage seems very cold natured, and is very lean even after it warms up. When cold it will start with the choke pulled, but won't take gas unless I push the choke back in a notch or so. Do you think this is just the cold weather, or do you recommend a jet kit, and if so what pilot, and main combo would you recommend for a stock bike ? Thanks

Title: Re: Do I need to re-jet?
Post by ckahleer on 12/28/21 at 12:48:41

1526313E236967500 wrote:

When cold it will start with the choke pulled, but won't take gas unless I push the choke back in a notch or so.

Title: Re: Do I need to re-jet?
Post by Evanswv on 12/28/21 at 13:26:30

6E666C656168687F0D0 wrote:

[quote author=1526313E236967500 link=1640716932/0#0 date=1640716932]When cold it will start with the choke pulled, but won't take gas unless I push the choke back in a notch or so.

What you described above sounds like it is too rich.
Have you fiddled with the mixture screw yet? Do that before digging into the carburetor and changing jets.
A carburetor can be too lean at one spot and too rich at another.
I like doing 3 plug chops, one at idle, one at 50mph, and one at WOT
[/quote]
I should elaborate more. It had to have the choke pulled all the way out to start, and it would idle like that, and when I would try to slowly crank the throttle a little to get some rpm it would die. It would start right back up with the choke knob pulled all the way out, but then I would have to push it in just a hair till so it would start to take some throttle, and as it ran it got progressively better. I took a short ride up the road, and came back in the driveway, and did mess with the mix screw a little, and then I went to town about 4 miles away to get gas. I took my screwdriver with me,and messed with ith the mix a hair more, and even though it was close already, it did pick up the idle speed a little. It ran fine after warm, but still has a lean "pop" in the exhaust on deceleration. I am tickled at the low rpm pull of the bike. It pulls away from a dead stop effortlessly. I usually don't ride in cold weather, but, like a child, I just had to play with my new toy. LOL. I haven't pulled the plug, but may tinker around on it in a few days. Thanks

Title: Re: Do I need to re-jet?
Post by ohiomoto on 12/28/21 at 16:36:31

Completely normal when the engine is cold. That's exactly what the knob is for.

I always do the following (unless it's like 100 degrees outside):

Full choke to start a cold engine. Even when it's warm outside.
Partial choke once started and while riding to warm it up.
DO NOT let the bike sit on the side stand and idle to warm up. This takes longer and you risk burning up your cam due to lack of oil.
Push the knob the rest of the way down once the bike runs properly and idles normally at stops.
This might take a mile or up to several depending on how cold it is.

Modern EFI systems handle this for you. Older cars had chokes on them to handle this for you (and when the car wouldn't start, it would flood.) Really old cars had knobs connected to a cable that did this for you. Small engines have some form of a choke to do this for you.

You only jet for performance when the bike doesn't run well AFTER it has reached full operating temperature. You NEVER jet a bike to start in cold weather. That's when you use the choke.

A few other items:

Make sure that the bike idles around 1100 rpms AFTER it is warmed up.
A lot of people set the idles too low.
DO NOT use the idle to compensate for a cold engine. It will just idle high after the bike warms up.
I live at a similar elevation and I have my bike jetted pretty close to stock. Probably a little leaner than most.
My bike runs fine down to temps in the mid 30s. At that point it's a tad lean, but it mostly just takes longer to warm up.
My bike runs well until it gets into the high 80s and above. At that point it's a tad rich and will backfire a bit when shifting and deceleration if I'm pushing it a little.
I know I'm in the minority here, but I recommend NOT jetting the bike for the average person. I think the bike will perform fine for most people under all but the most extreme conditions.

Title: Re: Do I need to re-jet?
Post by Gary_in_NJ on 12/28/21 at 17:12:18

If you only ride occasionally during the winter, then wait until warmer weather to rejet. Cold air is more dense than warm air. A bike jetted for winter weather will run very rich in the summer.

Title: Re: Do I need to re-jet?
Post by Evanswv on 12/28/21 at 18:00:39

I thank you all for the advice. I will not be tuning around on it till the weather warms up. My Virago was supposed to have been re-jetted before I got it, but it requires choke on cold mornings in the fall. It has the small sliding lever on the handlebars for choke. It doesn't seem as cold natured as the Savage, but the Savage ran fine after it had been rode enough to warm up. It has such long gears, and just letting out on the clutch from a stop with little to no throttle doesn't even pull the motor down. It's almost like a diesel. LOL.