The lever should move easily to the point that it contacts the rocker arm, and sometimes the valves are open and you can move it easily far enough to hold the valves open.  When the engine is in this position the exhaust stroke was in process......and the starter will be able to turn the engine over easily and get it running - even if you didn't use the compression release.

The big question is can you move the lever to lift the valves open if they are closed?  The problem in starting the engine is when the engine has decided to stop on the compression stroke, and when you hit the starter button the engine is instantly making compression before the starter has been able to get some momentum going on the crank flywheel, etc.  The starter may be able to turn a stock engine over on a warm day when the oil is thin - but the compression release is most likely required on very cold morning when the oil is thick and the battery is not as good as providing power.......we have to remember that Suzuki sells this bike to folks all over the world and the bike should start reliably when the temperature is way below freezing (not riding weather in my opinion).  So....back to the topic.....when the exhaust valves are closed, you need to be able to rotate the compression release lever enough to lift the exhaust valves off the seats and let a bit of the compression leak past the exhaust valves and allow the piston to come over top dead center just once.....after that the engine has enough momentum that the starter can continue to turn the engine over on the compression stroke.

If you ride in warm weather.....probably 99 out of 100 starts you can hit the starter button and the engine will turn over and start fine.  Every now and then the piston will be on the compression stroke when you hit the starter button....and that is when you need the compression release.  With the stock piston the starter may still be able to muscle the piston over - with the Wiseco and higher compression it can't, and on my bike when that happens the starter instantly stops turning the motor over.  I have a handlebar mounted lever and I pull in the lever, hit the starter, and release the lever and the engine fires right up.  I am not sure how easily you can reach down and manually use the lever mounted on the head...especially when you happen to stall the bike in traffic and need to hold the clutch lever in at the same time.....which most likely won't happen often.

Dave

Made some progress with wiring today. First day working on the ol girl in about 2 months.

frickin love that muffler.

We needs updates!!! And from my side, i'm particularly interested in the wiring, as i'm about to change my tank to an aftermarket sportster and i have little to no space to fit all those wires... ergo, i guess i have to re-wire at least the section that fits right under the tank... keep up the good work

Sweet work man!

Dave wrote on 07/19/14 at 05:02:35:


Is this the deal?
So if you run manual decomp and just do summer riding you can:
- 9 times out of ten, just hit start and go.
- the 1 time out of 10 the engine is stuck on compression stroke and the starter/battery can't push it over -> you have to lean over and use the manual decomp.
Weighing up decomp options and have been looking at relocating stock decomp module but if the above is true I might just keep it neanderthal and use a manual lever.
Riding London traffic, a few stalls is inevitable however.

05ss45 wrote on 08/06/15 at 07:32:46:


It has been 11 months since Dfinn last signed onto this forum - I hope is OK and just out riding way too much to post any updates.