Hard cold start

Ok so i live in a place that is usually 50 in the morning and most of the year. I got my bike a year ago. If its cold it will rarely start with out fluid. I know its bad for it. I haven't been able to find any info to help on starting it. But if its warm and its been out in the sun it starts up just fine. You guys have any ideas of what I can do to fix it? in at a loss now. Idk if it is the same but when its warm out and i've rode it for half hour or so it wants to start idleing higher. this the same thing? any advise would be great.

 

cleaned your carbs lately?

I suspect your enrichment (choke) passages are partly blocked. Also if it idles high warmed up then your mix and/or idle adjustment is wrong.

Clean properly first.

 

No i have not. is there any type of thread on doing it right on here? would some carb cleaner spray work? thanks for the info will search also

 

there's this: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=2908.html

Where are you located?

 

Oregon coast. We get every season in a day in the winter. The high most of the year is 55 lol. And it rains a 70% of the year

 

I had the same problem on my 82 xj550. My issue was that I needed a full tune up. First adjust your valves, then clean and sync your carbs. It won't start because your vacuum pressure is not even and pulling on different carbs at different rates. The YICS somewhat compensates for this, but not fully.

When you have your valves adjusted (which is fairly simple if you have access to shims, I was able to get the right shims from a Kawasaki dealer, the xj550 uses the same size shim as a KLR650), then clean and sync your carb. I have a homemade carb sync and a homemade YICS shutoff tool, both of which work great. Note that when you shut off your YICS, you will need to raise your idle significantly to compensate.

When your bike is tuned well, you will be able to have your idle at a lower setting and this will end your problem of the high revs when the engine warms up.

Good Luck