Cold weather question

In June, I had my bike in perfect order after rebuilding the carbs, doing a valve job, synching the carbs, colortune, etc. It was awesome. Temperature in June here in Austin, TX was 85 or higher.

I stored the bike in a cool shady place always below 85 degrees.

I got really busy, and I didn't start the bike until Sept --- it was still in great shape, no change in performance. At this time I got a front brake problem. Well today, I finally got the brakes fixed and started the bike again. Temperature is 57 degrees.

Bike starts OK with the choke, and it runs great on the freeway at high temperatures. But the idle is all nasty now. It will idle smoothly at 1000rpm, but if I bounce the throttle a little, it will stall. My guess is that maybe the fuel gelled over the summer and the pilot circuit was clogged. So I put a hundred miles on it hoping to bust open the clog, but no change.

Since it would idle at 1000 rpm, I let it idle for about ten minutes, and observed that all the exhaust pipes are about the same temperature, and if I remove the spark plugs one at a time, each removal either stalls the engine or reduces rpm to near stall. So I am thinking that the fuel gelling guess is wrong.

Do you think it could be due to the cold temperature? I don't know how a Maxim 550 handles the cold. Do you think the cold could make the carbs go out of synch or need colortuned again? It was a hot summer day when I did the original sync.

Thanks for the help guys, Happy Thanksgiving!

 

My 82 550 Maxim doesn't like the cold either, especially after sitting for a while, but it will straighten out after a short ride.

It might be worth your while to add some seafoam to the fuel then take it for a ride. Just follow the instructions on the can, don't get carried away.

I've learned that the carbs on these bikes are really touchy. They have to be extremely clean and they'll change their running characteristics just to P___ you off.

If your bike is going to be sitting for a couple of weeks or more it may be a good idea to make a habit of putting stabil in the fuel. Cheap insurance.

You can also search the forum for threads on carb cleaning and YICS for a lot of good ideas.

 

cooler air is denser than warmer air so it has more oxygen in it, give it a little more fuel
the stall when you blip the throttle also says it wants more fuel
go a bit richer and see how that works