FXR starter problems

[JBJB]

My suggestion would be to either drain the bowls before attempting to start it, or leave it with the fuel off and give it a good shake before turning it back on.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is draining the bowls? And when you say "give it a good shake" do you mean rock the bike side to side a few times before turning 'it' (I assume you mean the fuel line) back on?

[motorbyclist]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is draining the bowls?

there is a screw at the very bottom of your carby, near a small hose also coming from the bottom. this screw, if turned out a few turns, will let fuel drain from the bowl of the carby, out the hose and onto the ground.

the bowl is where the fuel sits in teh carby. If you leave your bike still for any length of time, water in the fuel will sink to the lowest point - your bowl - and may need to be drained or pumped out for the bike to start.

ethanol blends of fuel (ie Gull 98 bio ethanol mix) don't help here, as the ethanol actually draws moisture from the astmosphere into the fuel (and eats your rubber seals and fuel lines too)

and for extra credit: fuel will "go off" after a few months, and seperate into varnish and other thick sludges and clog up the bowl and teh rest of the carby; so it pays to drain the bowls and maybe even the tank if the bike is going into storage for any length of time

And when you say "give it a good shake" do you mean rock the bike side to side a few times before turning 'it' (I assume you mean the fuel line) back on?

yep, but it probably wont that help much tbh.

fuel floats on the water that is lurking around the bottom of your tank, so stirring it up should keep the thing running on mostly fuel rather than entirely water - but although upon further thought this probably won't be an issue unless you hit reserve and leave the bike out in the rain regularly. or use mobil fuel grrrrrr

often on KB is is suggested to add a bit of meths to try and dissolve the water to similar effect

[JBJB]

Cheers mate. Have tried the last couple of days to give a slight flick on the throttle at the end of the kick and it seems to work fine. Is it very easy/possible to flood the engine?

[motorbyclist]

Is it very easy/possible to flood the engine?

yes and no.... just keep it upright and it'll be fine, and don't try to start with a wide open throttle cause it'll never work.

small bikes just seem to like the little bit of a flick and maybe some choke if it's cold - just remember that many larger single cylinder bikes will flood if you so much as look at the throttle when kickstarting; my 400cc dirtbike is a prime example of "difficult to start" unless you've got "the knack" (and remembered to turn the fuel on)

[Danae]

The 'knack' that I do not have. By complete chance I managed to kickstart it once or twice.