SuzukiSavage.com - Fair Weather Bike

KWKaletta

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The Savage Cycle

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Zanesville, IN
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Fair Weather Bike
11/10/07 at 10:56:35

The ol'e bike dose not like cold weather. It will not stay started below 55 deg When it is warm it runs fine 60 deg or warmer it runs fine. I can keep it started with the throttle kind of and when I am going about 30 mph but if I stop it dies.. I started it yesterday and let run with the choke out and let it idle and it seemed ok for about a minute or two. Then it started spitting and died. ??? :'(

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barry68v10 Serious Thumper Offline Posts: 955 Maryland Gender:	Re: Fair Weather Bike Reply #1 - 11/10/07 at 12:28:04 You'll need to tell us what's up with your bike for us to help you. How old? Mods? When did you last ride it? When did you last fill 'er up? etc...
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vtail Senior Member Offline life's short, ride fast Posts: 408 Portland,OR Gender:	Re: Fair Weather Bike Reply #2 - 11/10/07 at 12:44:49 My '07 starts with half choke at 40 degrees. After 5 seconds turn off choke and keep at 1200-1400 rpm with throttle lock for a minute or so while putting on earplugs, helmet and gloves. Then drive of gently and keep rpm down for about 4-5 minutes. Oil= 15W50 ext MObil One. Have mods below.
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KWKaletta Full Member Offline The Savage Cycle Posts: 101 Zanesville, IN Gender:	Re: Fair Weather Bike Reply #3 - 11/10/07 at 20:05:39 87 30000 mi no mods. Ran great a couple of weeks ago when warm got plenty of gas ive put aprox 600mi since end of August. it was burried in the shed. When it got cold it started acting up. I am the worlds worst mechanic. http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?board=RubberSideDown;action=display;n...
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barry68v10

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Maryland
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Re: Fair Weather Bike
Reply #4 - 11/11/07 at 03:46:23

KWKaletta wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:11:

87 30000 mi no mods....I am the worlds worst mechanic.
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?board=RubberSideDown;action=display;n...

Hmmm. How close are you to Washington State? Greg lives there...

Anyway, start by draining the float bowl and check for water. Check the vacuum lines for leaks and/or gas in them. Simple stuff first. Experiment with different choke settings, there should be different choke settings than just "in, out."
Bottom line: There are lots of posts here with folks with similar problems, search function will help you find all this stuff. With due diligence you can shed the "worst mechanic" moniker. Let us know what you find.

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petc0ck mod, white spacer removed, 150 main jet, 12.5" shocks, 16" turnout muff, oil cooler mod, chain conversion, Tkat brace, external fuel filter, fuel screen removed...

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Savage_Greg

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SW Washington State
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Re: Fair Weather Bike
Reply #5 - 11/11/07 at 04:39:00

barry68v10 wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:11:

Hmmm. How close are you to Washington State? Greg lives there...

Yeah...shop work has slowed down. Tongue

Anyway, the Savage is not a Fair Weather Bike. It is a Cold Blooded Thumper. May want to richen up the idle with the air screw, and then leave the choke on the first notch position when riding at slow speeds.

Like I said before, seems like we get a lot of these posts this time of year.

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thumperclone Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline PGR rider riding with respect Posts: 6058 Grand Junction Colorado Gender:	Re: Fair Weather Bike Reply #6 - 11/11/07 at 07:18:55 going into second winter with my 06 not one prob last winter i ride if its 40 or above and no ice on roads..(40 mph at 40 deg = 28 deg ) choke at start up bike rpms tells me when its ready for no choke, any time below 50 i warm er up in the drive way as i finish puttin cold weather gear on good 3 mins or better..
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Savage_Greg

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Re: Fair Weather Bike
Reply #7 - 11/11/07 at 07:30:41

thumperclone wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:11:

going into second winter with my 06 not one prob last winter i ride if its 40 or above and no ice on roads..(40 mph at 40 deg = 28 deg )
choke at start up bike rpms tells me when its ready for no choke, any time below 50 i warm er up in the drive way as i finish puttin cold weather gear on good 3 mins or better..

That's another important thought...one that people should remember when starting their car too.

All too often people start up and drive off. That's sometimes called a "dry start", especially if the vehicle has been sitting awhile.

In cold weather the oil is thicker and slower flowing. Need to let it warm up longer for a couple reasons in cold weather. It'll make the clutch and tranny smoother acting too.

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forrest Serious Thumper Offline No matter where you go, there you are. Posts: 986 Kennesaw, Ga Gender:	Re: Fair Weather Bike Reply #8 - 11/12/07 at 04:19:00 I ride mine regardless of the weather; 26 degrees the other morning. When it is cooler I do have to ride with it in the "prime" position. Otherwise not a lick of trouble.
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T Mack 1 - FSO Serious Thumper Alliance Member Offline sold 2001 LS650 for a 1986 XLH1100 Posts: 2919 Emmaus,Pa Gender:	Re: Fair Weather Bike Reply #9 - 11/12/07 at 05:51:44 Along with Greg's suggestion of adj'ing the mixture, you may also want to tweak the idle up a little in cold weather. Idle is probably the easiest thing to adjust....
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T Mack 1 - FSO

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Re: Fair Weather Bike
Reply #10 - 11/12/07 at 05:57:36

Savage_Greg wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:11:

That's another important thought...one that people should remember when starting their car too.

All too often people start up and drive off. That's sometimes called a "dry start", especially if the vehicle has been sitting awhile.

In cold weather the oil is thicker and slower flowing. Need to let it warm up longer for a couple reasons in cold weather. It'll make the clutch and tranny smoother acting too.

Also agreed with Greg on this one. At my 50 deg F self imposed riding limit, the Oil preesure gauge at stratup is 30 PSIG because how thick the oil is. Poor little gauge is just about pegged...... I wait till it gets down to 15 before riding.

Here's the gauge this past August. Big difference in pressure.

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Engineers design things, Technicians make them work.
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30% of being mechanical is confidence/30% is knowing to go slow when needed/30% is looking repeatedly at what you have/10% is dumb luck Wink

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firsts40

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South Mississippi
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Re: Fair Weather Bike
Reply #11 - 11/12/07 at 10:23:52

I do almost the same thing as Thumperclone. If it is in the 40's, I start with a full choke for initial start then knock it down to half choke for a minute or so, while I am getting suited up. When it is below 40, I let it run a little longer on half choke then let it idle for a few minutes to get the oil thinned a little. My 06 loves the cool weather once it gets warmed up. It don't get real cold here on the Mississippi Gulf coast, but I have run it as low as 35 degrees with no problems once it warmed up. Had to start it a little before everyone else so I would be ready to go though. Temperature "sweet spot" is in the 50's.

Ride safe

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Dana from Misissippi
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astrolin

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Re: Fair Weather Bike
Reply #12 - 11/27/07 at 16:05:44

I know this may sound stupid, but when thumperclone said "choke at start up bike rpms tells me when its ready for no choke" is that when the RPMs drop. I ride my savage all the time and whenever I start it cold (even if I just rode it a few hours ago) I start it with full choke and then when the RPMs drop I the choke off to half. After I do this it dies about 15 seconds later. I have tried turning the choke completely off and completely on, but anything I do it dies. Any suggestions? I am riding an '01 with 6600 miles.

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thumperclone

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Re: Fair Weather Bike
Reply #13 - 11/27/07 at 17:00:02

astrolin wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:11:

I know this may sound stupid, but when thumperclone said "choke at start up bike rpms tells me when its ready for no choke" is that when the RPMs drop. I ride my savage all the time and whenever I start it cold (even if I just rode it a few hours ago) I start it with full choke and then when the RPMs drop I the choke off to half. After I do this it dies about 15 seconds later. I have tried turning the choke completely off and completely on, but anything I do it dies. Any suggestions? I am riding an '01 with 6600 miles.

yes thats what i meant..think all you need to do is raise your idle speed a bit,no problems once shes fully warm ?

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J Mac

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Laissez Les Bon
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Louisiana, USA
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Re: Fair Weather Bike
Reply #14 - 11/27/07 at 17:28:01

I took off today about 7:00 AM, and I think it was in the low to mid 40s (yes this DOES happen in Houston). Half-choke worked fine while I was getting my gear on. In fact, my bike always likes half-choke, and I usually turn it off 30 seconds after I roll. The cool wind was another issue. The liner on my leather jacket was near-useless, as were my gloves. I think I need some Thinsulate stuff if I'm going to do this morning stuff very often. I had to warm my hands on the cyl. head at a light Undecided

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