Bandit 1200 cold starting?

[homer]

hey all

Just a question to anyone thats in the know ?

My bandit 1200 , when its cold , like not started for 2 weeks .
Gets very rough running for a while , so i dont know why . seems to sound like not enough fuel or fuel freezing , or maybe a sticky vaccumm fuel tap.
sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders and wouldnt idle with not throttle .

Im not sure

Did this a fortnight ago , but was out side in like -7 over night .
took about 10 mins of idle at 3 k and then had to ride it at 4 k for about 6 km up the road . all up about 30 mins till it cleared its self.

After it does this its good as gold and runs absloutly sweet .
only seems to be doing it in the months now its colder .

Any thoughts , or are they like this in the cold .
I had put about 200 mills of meths in the tank now just incase of moisture from the night outside , maybe it will help .

thanks in advance

[robinm]

Most of the GSX's and GSXR's I have had have been the same, it could be fuel evaporating from 1 carb, carbs possibly not being 100% balanced, 1 plug being not as clean as the others, maybe 1 choke not quite coming on as much as the others, lots of possible causes. As long as it picks up on 4 pretty quickly shouldn't do any harm.
I always start on "prime" if the bike has been sitting a while to avoid the first problem.
Have a look along the rod that operates the chokes, there are 4 screws along this, 1 at each carb, if any of these screws are loose or missing, then the choke on that carb will not operate, I found this on one of my GSXR'S yesterday.

[sinfull]

hey all

Just a question to anyone thats in the know ?

My bandit 1200 , when its cold , like not started for 2 weeks .
Gets very rough running for a while , so i dont know why . seems to sound like not enough fuel or fuel freezing , or maybe a sticky vaccumm fuel tap.
sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders and wouldnt idle with not throttle .

Im not sure

Did this a fortnight ago , but was out side in like -7 over night .
took about 10 mins of idle at 3 k and then had to ride it at 4 k for about 6 km up the road . all up about 30 mins till it cleared its self.

After it does this its good as gold and runs absloutly sweet .
only seems to be doing it in the months now its colder .

Any thoughts , or are they like this in the cold .
I had put about 200 mills of meths in the tank now just incase of moisture from the night outside , maybe it will help .

thanks in advance

How long has it been since it was tuned by someone qualified ?

would be money well spent by the sounds !

[AllanB]

My 2004 1200ss (same engine as Bandit) was cold blooded - not as bad as you describe and I suspect you may require a carb balance/check. I found in the cold it needed full choke, a small crack of throttle and then fire it up. With the full yoshi system on it it sounded like you'd opened up the gates of hell when the engine caught.

Var fucking roooom

It required 3-4 minutes of warm up on choke before riding. On a cold motor I always ride smoothly with moderate revs until it (and the tyres) are warmed up fully. Good practise with any bike.

[Drew]

I thought the new shape ones were injected?

If it's carburetted then it'll likely be an easy/cheap fix.

The service question is a goody, if it's been done regularly then the simple things should be ruled out already, filters and the like I mean.

The only thing springing to mind that could be faulty is the throttle postition sensor, common on cars to cause rough running at cold idle.

Hope ya sort it dude.

[Drew]

My 2004 1200ss (same engine as Bandit) was cold blooded - not as bad as you describe and I suspect you may require a carb balance/check. I found in the cold it needed full choke, a small crack of throttle and then fire it up. With the full yoshi system on it it sounded like you'd opened up the gates of hell when the engine caught.

Var fucking roooom

I always hate doing that, the instant rev jump to three grand gives me the shits because there is sod all oil in the top of the motor, so I worry it's wearing needlessly on start up.

Fuel injection rules!!!

[homer]

The bike was serviced about 300 km ago
400 km ago
it had new plugs , air cleaner checked ,blown out , tappets done then as well .

its starting fine , just seems to be rough after starting , when warm its then fine as well .
never had any trouble till the cold frost 2 weeks back , and then starting it yesterday after 2 weeks sitting .
today i started it and its not to bad , almost sweet really

once its warmed up it just goes . nothing to ever think of other wise

[homer]

Most of the GSX's and GSXR's I have had have been the same, it could be fuel evaporating from 1 carb, carbs possibly not being 100% balanced, 1 plug being not as clean as the others, maybe 1 choke not quite coming on as much as the others, lots of possible causes. As long as it picks up on 4 pretty quickly shouldn't do any harm.
I always start on "prime" if the bike has been sitting a while to avoid the first problem.
Have a look along the rod that operates the chokes, there are 4 screws along this, 1 at each carb, if any of these screws are loose or missing, then the choke on that carb will not operate, I found this on one of my GSXR'S yesterday.

will check this thanks

[Wheeliemonsta]

Gidday Homer,
I think your most likely to find the problem in one of the choke plaunger assy's - it sounds to me as if it may be bypassing fuel...

The carbs will have to come out & come to bits to verify this & you'd also want to check the needles for wear as well as the metering orifice on the needle jet

Unless you're familiar with this type of thing (the carbs themselves are not difficult to remove or work on, it's the diagnosing of which parts are in need of replacement that becomes tricky to the un-trained eye...) you may be best to book it in to the local Suzuki shop

I'd also enquire about any "Carb Heater" kits available for the European market models - you may also find "Carb Icing" to be the prob...

(You may want to look at "Heater Kits" as a first option...)

Cheers

[roogazza]

Homer, They come lean from the factory and the fix is mixture screws which are blanked off and maybe needle height.
Or you get a jet kit. Google some bandit sites like bandit alley or Maximum Suzuk,i there is endless help on bandit jetting and mods etc.
Of course check or get checked, all the basics first. Gaz

[homer]

Gidday Homer,
I think your most likely to find the problem in one of the choke plaunger assy's - it sounds to me as if it may be bypassing fuel...

The carbs will have to come out & come to bits to verify this & you'd also want to check the needles for wear as well as the metering orifice on the needle jet

Unless you're familiar with this type of thing (the carbs themselves are not difficult to remove or work on, it's the diagnosing of which parts are in need of replacement that becomes tricky to the un-trained eye...) you may be best to book it in to the local Suzuki shop

I'd also enquire about any "Carb Heater" kits available for the European market models - you may also find "Carb Icing" to be the prob...

(You may want to look at "Heater Kits" as a first option...)

Cheers

yes carb icing is what i wondered as well
biks been 100 % perfect yesterday as not that cold

[homer]

cheers for all info

[cruza]

Sometimes mines a little lumpy/harder to start after sitting for a month or 2........ You notice warm up takes longer in winter, nothing you wouldn't expect from a big air cooled lump , normally full choke to start , then notch back to engine around 2-2.5 k for warm up . it takes a few km down the road till the block operating temp, to expect 100% response. Good carb balance does help.I suspect mine has carb/bowl heating as theres wires to the bottom of each carb. My ducati ss had the carb heater option ,it was magic on cold winter weather , turn the oil cooler bypass valve on(oil heated) and within 5 min the the difference was amazing.

[cruza]

opp double post

[Silage]

Just picked up this thread by searching for "carb icing". I have noticed similar symptoms with my GS1200ss. Only happens on mornings when there is a frost on the ground. In my case, the bike (gargraed) starts on choke fine, and runs ok until I shut the choke off (1km). By the time I get to the first set of lights (another 2km) it is running rough when not on power, can stall at idle and generally farts around. Does this all the way to work (another 5km). Coming home in the afternoon and all other times it runs sweet as.

My conclusion is that the carbs are icing. I am going to try 96/98 octane next fill to see if it makes a difference and will also try the slug of meths trick. Tempting to cover the oil radiator (bad idea) or put side fins between the block and carbs to warm them up a bit.

Homer, let us know if you come up with anything that works.