FAO: Those who have disconnected the choke

[stageonesimmo]

My chokes have been disconnected for a good few months now and I'm not riding her anywhere near as much as I now work from home in a company car - but when she does get fired up all I need to do is take up the slack on the throttle then turn it a couple of millimeters and crank - she then fires up fine, hold the trottle steady and the she ticks over after a couple of seconds light throttle - even when 'Scottish cold'.

i dont miss the chokes as my MPGs have gone up and the miss-firing is well down.

I may be so bold as to suggest that your by-pass screw tinkering may be to blame here?...............

The choke is dead, long live the non-choke.

[YEN_POWELL]

Question for people who have disconnected their choke.

WHY would you NOT want a normal operating choke on your AT?

Is it about $ or is it the grief they cause?
I realize the cable and plungers can stick..but geez..it's really quite a
simple system with a cable that splits to a couple of plungers in a bore. Remove tank..clean and lubricate.
Parts are readily available (albiet a bit pricey), but it's a small price to pay on a chilly morning when your cranking and cranking until that sound of a battery going dead.

I just got sick of the continual worry about using the choke in case it didn't return correctly, despite cleaning it more than once. The bloody salt they use here is half the problem. Also the fact that one wrong move when removing the plastic choke body could result in it breaking (at £50 each).

I disconnected the choke in about April 07. Done over 40k since then in all UK weathers.

I have actually got a brand new cable and two choke bodies antime I want to refit them but until I get problems they are definitely staying off.

I honestly don't crank the motor for ages, it usually fires up as the button is touched.

[GSPD750]

I just got sick of the continual worry about using the choke in case it didn't return correctly, despite cleaning it more than once. The bloody salt they use here is half the problem. Also the fact that one wrong move when removing the plastic choke body could result in it breaking (at £50 each).

I disconnected the choke in about April 07. Done over 40k since then in all UK weathers.

I have actually got a brand new cable and two choke bodies antime I want to refit them but until I get problems they are definitely staying off.

I honestly don't crank the motor for ages, it usually fires up as the button is touched.

I can see how that salt would cause problems, and I've seen pics of rusty frames on xrv.org after a stripdown. I guess I'm a bit spoiled here in the desert like weather of S. Alberta. Thanks for that post.

[chronyx]

Why don't you take it to someone with a dyno and get them to test the exhaust gases and set the pilot screws?

Had it dyno'd at the tailend of the summer mate - operator said it was a bit lean on pilot. Bingo, thinks I, but richening the mixture just resulted in sooty plugs and a bike that is a pig to start

How much difference does a quarter turn on these screws make?

[chronyx]

My chokes have been disconnected for a good few months now and I'm not riding her anywhere near as much as I now work from home in a company car - but when she does get fired up all I need to do is take up the slack on the throttle then turn it a couple of millimeters and crank - she then fires up fine, hold the trottle steady and the she ticks over after a couple of seconds light throttle - even when 'Scottish cold'.

Yep, exactly how mine was! Literally open the throttle a nat's nacker and it fires, hold it at a steady idle for a minute or two, then it will tick over fine.

I may be so bold as to suggest that your by-pass screw tinkering may be to blame here?...............

Well that's what I'm trying to find out

[stageonesimmo]

They can amke a big difference so may well be the root of the problem. Did you mark them before moving them, or keep a record of how may turns you've made? I cant remember what the factory average setting is meant to be to use as a start point.........

[AIRWOLF]

My RD07a with chokes disconnected starts like your's. I don't use it in winter so can't say if it's worse in the cold, but i expect it would be. ( I find it better if i leave the fuel tap in on position. )

RD04 still has chokes connected and starts very easily, but only does about 35 to 40 mpg.

I should add that if i use it every day in summertime it starts easily, . . if left a week or more its similar to your description.

I did try to richen it up on slow running but the head of one of the adjuster screws just crumbled away.

[chronyx]

They can amke a big difference so may well be the root of the problem. Did you mark them before moving them, or keep a record of how may turns you've made? I cant remember what the factory average setting is meant to be to use as a start point.........

It's 2.5 according to Honda, and 2 and 3/8s according to Haynes! I didn't record it as I just twaked each one open a bit (The same amount) and thought that would sort it!

How easily can float height etc go out of whack?

I'm wondering if it could be something electrical?

[stageonesimmo]

Mmmmmm, float heights - if they are low (which I doubt as it normaly takes something drastic to alter them such as a strip down of the carbs) it would explain why it needs to crank lots to start as the carbs need to fill up before the fuel starts getting drawn in, but it could also point to the non-return valve in the fuel line after the pump - if that's shot and letting the fuel drain back down then you have the same problem - but TBH with the amount of fuel a 'good' stock pump or an aftermarket type delivers its a matter of seconds to lift enough fuel to fill the carbs back up and not the lots of seconds we're on about. Its where I'd start though - check the valve is still a one-way-street and check the delivery rate from the pump - nothing to scientific, just make sure its giving a good surge of fuel at cranking. Then you'll know you've got carbs that are full within seconds of starting to crank and you (we) can go from there.....

[Maverick]

Mine worked the same as Yen's and almost immediately started and I took off down the road

We have just done the mod on Lootch's bike and will see how well that performs as it's been standing for a couple of months in my garage not used. Already when it fires up the motor sounds much sweeter and runs smoothly. I popped the carb balancers on and they are spot on and never been touched before

The caliper pins also look quite neat where the choke bodies are supposed to go