VL250 in cold weather

[JacksDad]

Has anyone run into problems with VL250's in cold weather, I mean 0 deg cold. I have only had my bike a couple of weeks but it runs like a bucket of poo in cold weather (won't idle, stalls when I close the throtle). After talking to a coule of guys at work I think the carb may be icing. Then tonight it was backfiring and farting and blowing heaps of flame out the exhaust, which cleared after i took the plug leads off and gave them a scratch but now my nice chrome exhaust has a big dirt stain from where it was obviously very hot.

[CB ARGH]

Just a small tip for the cold weather, let it warm up before taking off. Keep the engine purring at enough revvs to stop it shakin like a wet dog until it is warm to the touch. Not sure about cold starting as I have never experienced that before.

Something that sparks in my mind is motor up. Great for icy-cold starts, and I mean great.... for two years.

Only buy it if you're going to sell the bike in a year or so, because over time the oil cakes itself on the cylinders (remember the advertisement on TV how it's so AMAZING how the oil doesn't drip down into the sump like other oil?) it requires a chisel to remove the "oil", so I've been told.

Give your baby a blanket! Keep 'er warm!

[1 Free Man]

Has anyone run into problems with VL250's in cold weather, I mean 0 deg cold. I have only had my bike a couple of weeks but it runs like a bucket of poo in cold weather (won't idle, stalls when I close the throtle). After talking to a coule of guys at work I think the carb may be icing. Then tonight it was backfiring and farting and blowing heaps of flame out the exhaust, which cleared after i took the plug leads off and gave them a scratch but now my nice chrome exhaust has a big dirt stain from where it was obviously very hot.

I have none of the above problems but then we dont get to 0 Degrees here in tauranga.
I would suggest that you either A: mover to a warmer area
Or B: take it back to the shop ASAP and get it looked at before it shit's it'self.

[Ripperjon]

Leave your choke on

(Not forever, just for a while)

Works for me

[duckonin]

Yep Jacksdad wife had one that on a cold day would fart and stop, I think it had something to do with the air mixture after that was tamperd with it came right..It was a VL250

[breakaway]

It could be a number of things

1. You're not letting it warm up
2. Something wrong with the fueling

For troubleshooting purposes, on a 0° C day, start it with choke, let it warm up until you can't comfortably touch the side of the engine. Then take off and see if you have the same problems.

Also - you should be knocking it off the choke as soon as it is able to run without stalling upon throttle closing. Failure to do so may result in fouled plugs and stalling due to being flooded with too much fuel.

If the above doesn't fix it, take it in.

[jackaubrey]

Yep - I've got a VL250 which does exactly the same thing! After a bit of hunting around I found that quite a few folk in Aus are getting the same problem and it seems to be the carb/fuel line freezing up. Apparently this can be fixed by either
1/ installing a carb heater (~ $140)
2/ using a gas-line antifreeze

I'd really like to try the 2nd option because it would be cheep-cheep but I can't find anyone that stokes it in NZ!!

Does anyone know where I could get some "gas-line antifreeze"??

Cheers!

[jackaubrey]

Well having gone off to do a little looking I found out that these gas-line antifreeze are basically Methynol or Isopropyl alcohol. If you can't get yourself a bottle of pure methynol then apparently a capful of good old meths will do the trick.

Does anyone know if the poison they add to meths is bad for the carb?

I'm going to try anyway on the next frosty morning we get and I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers