motorcyclebloggers.com

I finally finished the building of my new (to me) dirt bike.  I decided to go through the entire chassis and start over.  I also did a full service / maintenance on the bike because the previous owner was a tool even though he should not be touching them.

For new parts, I added a full exhaust system, an autoclutch system, a desert tank, brush guards, other protective wear for the bike, new rubber, and had the carb rebuilt by ZipTy Racing.  For maintenance, I changed out the fork oil, engine oil, coolant as well as greased all the chassis bearings.  I figured that I should draw a line in the sand for a fresh start on everything - knowns versus unknowns.

I got the bike all together this past week and finished the autoclutch install on Saturday morning.  I rode the bike around the neighborhood to confirm all was well.  It was.

When we got out to the trails this morning, the bike fired up within the first couple of kicks.  Oddly, the idle was not as high as it should be with the choke on.  I decided to apply the slightest bit of throttle - DEAD.  The bike stalled.  I kicked that SOB for ten minutes with no luck. 

The guy I was with sat on the bike and held the throttle at WFO for about two minutes.  He then went to cycle some air through the intake and VROOM the bike started.  Odd I thought - give throttle to drain the fuel?  Basically, by opening up the throttle, it gave a pathway to fresh air and evaporated some of the fuel.

I rode around our parking area just to check and stalled the bike again…fuel off.  This was not the original problem, but I forgot to turn it back on after some tinkering.  Anyway, I turned the fuel back on, waited a couple of seconds, and VROOM it started up.  Whew.  That’s over with.

We rode a high(er) speed section of wash to get to the songle track trails and wow was I happy (albeit still a little pissed from the start of the ride).  The bike ran very well and the jetting was on.  The power was crisp and plentiful.  When we arrived to the single track trail head, we took a short break. 

As we went to head up the single track, I could not get that friggin bike to start again.  Kicked and kicked and kicked.  As I was varying my kicking attempts with and without the hot start, I think frustration led me to pull the lever too hard and dislodge the cable from the plunger. 

So, again, hold the throttle open again for a couple of minutes and nothing - three times.  I decided to turn the idle way up on a hunch from the previous day’s tuning.  Something was odd at how the idle seemed way low, but since it idled fine at the time, I left it.  On the fourth attempt with the adjusted idle, it fired right up with only a slightly increased idle rpm.

Between us, I think we pieced together the problem.  My hot start cable did not have a return spring when I took it apart and it should have.  I think it was stuck open and the compensation from the previous owner was to adjust the mixture and idle.  That would definitely explain the crappy fueling problem from my first ride.

After that revelation and what seemed to be a closed hot start plunger, the bike started on the first kick for the rest of the ride.  Not only was that a relief, but damn my new bike runs great.  I ate up the single track stuff probably faster than on any other bike that I have tried.  The torque was very nice and well matched with my gearing of 13/50 (note: I am allowed to gear a little taller for the tight stuff due to the cheater I mean autoclutch).  The pipe sang a sweet low frequency song that I could feel in my chest.  Oh yeah, and this thing is a wheelie monster.

Funny.  Within the first half hour of the morning, the bike was for sale…not really but you get the point.  I have to say that I am very pleased with my decision at this point.  Gobs or torque, sweet suspension, and a package that I will not tire of for quite some time.  Yeah, I need to do a little suspension & carb tuning (and add that damn hot start return spring), but its close.  Now all I need is for an atypical unseasonal desert rain and I would be in heaven.