First days: Living with a motorcycle: Difference between revisions

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On all bikes which have it, the choke lever is intended to be an aid to cold starting. What "cold" means depends a lot on your bike, and you'll have to experiment to find out when it's necessary. If your bike just cranks and cranks without sputtering to life (and the kill switch is in the "run" position), there's a fair chance you need to use the choke to start it, or to keep it idling.

There are a number of reasonable ways to use the choke. The easiest is to yank the thing on full, and try starting the bike. If the bike starts, this will probably result in the engine running really fast, which is best avoided. A better way to do it is to try progressively adding a bit of choke and hitting the starter button until it fires. Finally, you can try hitting the starter button with your right hand, while gradually adding choke, until the engine fires.

There are a number of reasonable ways to use the choke. The easiest is to yank the thing on full and try starting the bike. If the bike starts, this will probably result in the engine running really fast, which is best avoided. A better way to do it is to try progressively adding a bit of choke and hitting the starter button until it fires. Finally, you can try hitting the starter button with your right hand, while gradually adding choke until the engine fires.

Once the bike is running, you'll want to reduce the choke as the engine warms up. The indication that the engine is warming is when the idle starts to go up and get higher than normal. You should be able to reduce the choke a bit at a time until the engine is idling at a normal speed, or at least smoothly and without a ragged sound. The amount of time this takes is entirely dependent upon your bike (commonly even your individual bike, not just your model).

The best way to [[Warming up your engine|warm up your bike]] is to ride it. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes before it's warm enough to turn the choke all the way off.

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 On all bikes which have it, the choke lever is intended to be an aid to cold starting. What "cold" means depends a lot on your bike, and you'll have to experiment to find out when it's necessary. If your bike just cranks and cranks without sputtering to life (and the kill switch is in the "run" position), there's a fair chance you need to use the choke to start it, or to keep it idling.
-There are a number of reasonable ways to use the choke. The easiest is to yank the thing on full, and try starting the bike. If the bike starts, this will probably result in the engine running really fast, which is best avoided. A better way to do it is to try progressively adding a bit of choke and hitting the starter button until it fires. Finally, you can try hitting the starter button with your right hand, while gradually adding choke, until the engine fires.
+There are a number of reasonable ways to use the choke. The easiest is to yank the thing on full and try starting the bike. If the bike starts, this will probably result in the engine running really fast, which is best avoided. A better way to do it is to try progressively adding a bit of choke and hitting the starter button until it fires. Finally, you can try hitting the starter button with your right hand, while gradually adding choke until the engine fires.
 Once the bike is running, you'll want to reduce the choke as the engine warms up. The indication that the engine is warming is when the idle starts to go up and get higher than normal. You should be able to reduce the choke a bit at a time until the engine is idling at a normal speed, or at least smoothly and without a ragged sound. The amount of time this takes is entirely dependent upon your bike (commonly even your individual bike, not just your model).
+The best way to [[Warming up your engine|warm up your bike]] is to ride it. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes before it's warm enough to turn the choke all the way off.
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