Cold starting

[Child]

Proper cold in the Uk at the moment. The last two mornings I've been unable to start the RC. Battery is Lithium and is nice and strong. I have a PCV fitted with a WB controller and I'm thinking may be a tweak to the fuelling would be the most probable cure. What does the forum massive think?

 

[Chris The Welder]

How cold is it? It was 27 degrees Fahrenheit here this morning. Fired up no problem.

 

[CDN Duke]

I have had my PCV equipped bike stall a couple times when cold, when just starting out from idle. Never an issue starting it initially, but if I stall it, it does take a couple tries to get it started again. Never had a problem where it refuses to start outright though, even when cold.

 

[Csorin]

Those lithium batteries are unreliable in cold weather. I had one in a bike for a minute. Wouldn't start the bike in temps below 40 degrees. Sold immediately and put the heavy back in. Not worth the static weight savings especially if your bike is a commuter.

 

[Seth]

Good info all. Summer no problem, winter is another story. Burr!

 

[chevaliernoir]

What do you mean Child by "unable to start"?
Does the starter moto was driven too low (then the Battery or wiring could be faulty)
or the engine did not fire (then the engine control would be faulty)?

About Lithium battery, I use it even on my 1977 GL1000 highly modified Goldwing.
I use it rarely, but no problem to start.

 

[Child]

The temperature has now risen in the U.K. so the bike has started. The starter cranks nice and strong, definitely not the battery. CDN, mine also can stall when cold, it takes abit of starting then. Once warm no problems. I was advised to turn on the ignition to prewarm the WB controller but this doesn't seem to make any difference. Would taking it to a Dynojet centre and having a bespoke map made be a solution??
Thanks for all your input btw.

 

[CDN Duke]

Those lithium batteries are unreliable in cold weather. I had one in a bike for a minute. Wouldn't start the bike in temps below 40 degrees. Sold immediately and put the heavy back in. Not worth the static weight savings especially if your bike is a commuter.

I just installed a Phantom branded Shorai Lithium battery. There appears to be cold-weather specific preparations for Lithium batteries, eg need to create a draw against it for a minute or more to activate the cells and get full cranking power. Were you aware of this and had tried that?

 

[CDN Duke]

I've just been reading the PCV user guide and learned that there is a "START UP FUEL" setting that can be adjusted:

"Start up fuel can be based on time orengine temperature. Choose what modefrom the drop down menu.Time - from the first revolution of the crankthe software will deliver a set percentage offuel for a given amount of time in secondsEngine temp - the software will deliver apercentage of fuel over the fuel map basedon engine temperature. This can only beused if engine temperature has beenconfigured."

Wondering if this can be modified to help correct the stalling. I experienced it again yesterday with a relatively cold bike.

 

[Maddog Reynolds]

Also in the UK , my completely standard 2015 road bike always starts from cold first press, as long as I don't touch the throttle during or after starting. I used it all year and when I was working in the Scottish highlands it got down to about -8°C / 17°F. I did "low battery" once, but it started.

My only problem has been stalling when riding gently cold. For the first two minutes (ECU running open loop for this time, I guess) if I accelerate gently away from a standstill, it goes very rich, floods and stalls. If I use more revs (say 5,000 rpm) and more throttle, it doesn't stall.

The whole area around the bike stinks of unburned fuel. When this happens, it takes a good 10 seconds of winding on the starter (throttle fully *closed* works best) to clear it.