The Conservative Cave
Interests => Around the House & In the Garage => Topic started by: SSG Snuggle Bunny on November 17, 2009, 05:37:23 PM
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Anyone who has ever tried to start a motorcycle on a cold day knows how difficult it can be.
Any hints on improving the process?
Would throwing an electric blanket set on low over the engine be helpful or harmful?
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Anyone who has ever tried to start a motorcycle on a cold day knows how difficult it can be.
Any hints on improving the process?
Would throwing an electric blanket set on low over the engine be helpful or harmful?
Get a can of ether.
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I never had a problem with just using the manual choke on my Honda. I rode my motorcycle to work all winter and had no problems other than the cold temperatures sucking my battery dry. An electric blanket sounds like a good idea.
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Get a can of ether.
You can **** up an engine that way.
Most people garden hose that crap into their engines and precombust the living hell out of them. I can only imagine an engine as small as a cycles would just need a whiff.
I never had a problem with just using the manual choke on my Honda. I rode my motorcycle to work all winter and had no problems other than the cold temperatures sucking my battery dry. An electric blanket sounds like a good idea.
Neighbor across the road says he leaves his battery on a trickle charge. He only rides on the weekends and I'm thinking the dis/re-connecting every day would be a pain in the ass.
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You can **** up an engine that way.
Most people garden hose that crap into their engines and precombust the living hell out of them. I can only imagine an engine as small as a cycles would just need a whiff.
Neighbor across the road says he leaves his battery on a trickle charge. He only rides on the weekends and I'm thinking the dis/re-connecting every day would be a pain in the ass.
Hell's bells dude... I never said use the whole can or anything like that. A short burst will do it.
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http://www.amazon.com/Kats-22200-Watt-Battery-Thermal/dp/B000I8XD9E/ref=tag_tdp_ptcn_edpp_url
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http://www.amazon.com/Kats-22200-Watt-Battery-Thermal/dp/B000I8XD9E/ref=tag_tdp_ptcn_edpp_url
That would not have worked on the last bike I owned. Too hard to get to the battery to wrap the thing.
It was hard enough to get a battery charger hooked up.
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You can **** up an engine that way.
Most people garden hose that crap into their engines and precombust the living hell out of them. I can only imagine an engine as small as a cycles would just need a whiff.
Neighbor across the road says he leaves his battery on a trickle charge. He only rides on the weekends and I'm thinking the dis/re-connecting every day would be a pain in the ass.
MSB you can get little connectors that hang out of the battery box to hook up for a trickle charge. You can also buy heated dipsticks but I don't know how well they work.
My Harley hasn't had a problem starting in the cold so maybe the air cooled motors work better in cold weather. I know a couple of years ago out in Big Bend we had a freak cold snap .... 19 FRIGGEN DEGREES .... the only bike on the trip that had a problem was a water cooled BMW. The Harley's were a little slow to crank but once they turned over a couple of times they fired right up.
KC
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You guys said, "trickle", "dipstick" and "manual choke" :evillaugh: :tongue: :innocent:
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You guys said, "trickle", "dipstick" and "manual choke" :evillaugh: :tongue: :innocent:
Who let the skirt into our man-talk thread?
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Who let the skirt into our man-talk thread?
:rofl:
*now I have to go find a cheesecake picture to post......
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Keep the bike in the garage. It helped with mine.
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I had a motorcycle when I lived in El Cajon, Ca. It would often get to around freezing or just below. I never had a problem with it starting when it was colder. Since you are, I'm thinking that it needs some attention. When was the last time you had it in for a tune up ?? When was the last time you had the carbs synchronized?? (assuming it's multiple carbs) What year is it and what model??
When I was up in MN, I had a 79 Olds Cutlass wagon. When it got to -38°F one day, that car groaned a little when it was so terribly cold, but it ultimately fired up. Other people were stranded because their cars wouldn't start., I kept that thing tuned up as much as possible, normally twice a year I would tune it up. (It had a rebuilt 69 Olds Rocket 350 in it)
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Neighbor across the road says he leaves his battery on a trickle charge. He only rides on the weekends and I'm thinking the dis/re-connecting every day would be a pain in the ass.
If you use a trickle charger make sure that you get one that has the "float charge" capability built in, otherwise you will cook your battery eventually.......I have a Honda generator, and used small trickle chargers for years, and unless you put them on a timer, and only charge the battery for an hour or so a day, the battery will eventually sulphate or boil dry.
Float-type chargers are available from any good cycle shop, and run around forty dollars, but since batteries (for my generator at least) cost eighty, it is a bargain. BTW, float chargers are designed to sense when the battery reaches full charge, at which point they reduce the output current to almost nothing just to maintain the charge......and can be left on the battery constantly.
doc
On Edit: These chargers come with a pigtail that connects permanently to the battery, with a polarized plug that can simply be unplugged when you ride, and re connected when you park the bike.
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If you use a trickle charger make sure that you get one that has the "float charge" capability built in, otherwise you will cook your battery eventually.......I have a Honda generator, and used small trickle chargers for years, and unless you put them on a timer, and only charge the battery for an hour or so a day, the battery will eventually sulphate or boil dry.
Float-type chargers are available from any good cycle shop, and run around forty dollars, but since batteries (for my generator at least) cost eighty, it is a bargain. BTW, float chargers are designed to sense when the battery reaches full charge, at which point they reduce the output current to almost nothing just to maintain the charge......and can be left on the battery constantly.
doc
Yep, you will smoke the cathode with electron bombardment as the spontaneity of the reaction increases relative to temperature.