Starting
 

Hi,
New XT600 43F owner here. Bought her as a non-runner but eventually got it going and now targeting an MoT soon.
Is there a technique to kickstarting? It usually takes me a few goes but it's a bit labourious and would be slightly comical in public view.
Cheers

Yes there is a technique to it. If you get it right it can be first or second kick and you'll look like a motorcycle god to spectators, particularly if you're wearing shades :cool4:.

If you don't you can be there for a while .... :blushing:

Rather than typing out the whole process here's a link to a discussion / explanation from here a few years back :

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...starting-66461

Only thing I'd add to it is from my own experience. If you've not used the bike for a few weeks the "ingredient" in petrol that will fire the bike up can evaporate leaving you with a carb full of stuff that's not spark plug friendly. If you don't drain the float bowl and fill it with fresh fuel even with good technique you can be kicking for quite some time.

Great stuff. Thanks

I struggeld with my 43F for ages with it starting poorly. The next owner put another set of carbs in, only then would it start "properly" (first or second kick).

One of the things that had the biggest impact (and a thing I learned the hard way) was if it is going to stand for more than a day or two, turn the fuel off at the stopcock at the end of a ride. That made the difference between it starting after a few kicks (half a dozen maybe) and 20 or more. Eventually it can becomes war between the right leg and the bike - the leg does not always win.

I don't know but I assume that fuel was seeping past the needle in the float chamber and flooding the carb. (I fitted a new needle and seat to it and that made no difference).

For my kicker bikes I generally will ,before turning the ignition on, turn choke on full then kick 2 or 3 full kicks , put on tdc , turn ignition key on, then with no throttle give an almighty kick , they usually start , if it sat for a bit I'll kick over a couple extra full choke kicks before turning ignition on. Always remember to find tdc while turning it over slowly so it won't spark .

Surprising up till a few years ago it didn't matter if one of my bike sat for 1 day or 3 weeks , they started pretty much the same , never turned a petcock off or drained the carb(still don't do this last part) Recently I found even my E start bikes will pop off almost instantly when used daily , but after 4-5 days or more they'll crank over like there's no gas in the carb . The modern fuel around here anyways seems to go to crap in a few days . Even the bikes with FCR's and their accel pump requires only 2 squirts to start normally cold , but after a week I have to pump them 5,6,even 7 times along with full choke while it cranks to get them fired up.

Both efi equipped toys fire up same always , even after 3-4 months, no small bowl of fuel all on its own to go sour.