Rough start when cold....fine when warm

[njdevils1990]

i have a 2003 xb9r with 10,8xxx miles. When I start it cold it takes a couple tries till it will actually fire and start up but it sounds like its missing and pops when i give it gas and will stall if i dont give it any gas. If I rev it cold it will lag about 1/4-1/2 second and rev up but will sometimes pop and then while it downrevs it will either hang down around 500-600rpm and stall or just stall in general. So that is while cold, but once a minute or two goes by and it warms up it will idle fine at around 1000-1150rpm stable without me holding it there and will rev fine and wont pop as often or at all on downrev. My question to you all is what causes this, what should i do to eliminate any other causes (if multiple), and how can it be fixed? Here are some videos that i have of
COLD START

WARMED UP

 

[upthemaiden]

It's hard to tell what you're doing with your right hand in the video, but there's not really any reason to rev the motor until it's warmed up. That stuff you're doing around 1:25 really isn't what you want to do to a cold motor. Either let it warm up for a minute or two.

As far as why it's taking a while to start, I'm not sure.

 

[njdevils1990]

yeah this is my first motorcycle so dont mind me if i do something just correct me because thats the only way to learn.

Could bad gas possibly be a cause? or bad plugs?

 

[Jobe Zeebuh]

What weight oil are you using? And what is the temp in the video?

 

[njdevils1990]

i can only assume its 20w 50 i havent changed the oil yet. in the video it is about 32-38 degrees out. I started it up today (about 45 degrees and it started in 3 tries and took about 30-45 seconds to warm up and straighten out the idle. Tomorrow i will take another video of cold start (its supposed to be 65 in the afternoon) so ill try to get a video up before it gets uber warm out. Then im going to make a run around and see if i can find some plugs and change them and post another video of a cold start and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Jobe Zeebuh]

Change the oil! Put a lighter weight in for cold weather starts. Get new plugs, oil filter and change primary oil while your at it. Davexb has an easy DIY thread. Also...I highly recommend a breather mod if you haven't done so already.

 

[njdevils1990]

what weight oil should i run? its getting warmer in jersey so ambient temp would be around 40+in the morning. Is the primary oil the same? (i have watched dave's videos and they are allot of help[up]) what part # is the oil filter? (there is a fram on it and i want to get rid of it i hate fram) i have the spark plug number so i should be able to find them (DCPR9EIX) or do you reccomend something else, and the breather re-route will be done this weekend as well.

 

[BuellerPilot]

Change your plugs. You are waiting till the light goes OUT on the dash before hitting the starter button right?

~Mike....

 

[upthemaiden]

Do you leave your bike outside in the cold? I definitely wouldn't be surprised if it took a few seconds for it to want to start. The oil is thicker and the battery is cold. If it still does it when it's 65-70 degrees I'd be a bit more curious, but I wouldn't be too surprised if the motor is outside in the cold and slow to start.

Also, no biggie on the engine revving, but the fuel injection takes care of all that. Plus the XBs have been known to foul plugs when you rev them for no reason when the bike is idling, so you don't need that. The only reason you're used to hearing people rev their bikes constantly when they start it is when guys need to start their harleys and choppers at bike nights and they need to keep the RPMs up to keep their carbed bikes from sputtering out. They try to make it look like they do it because they want to, but really it's just sad haha

 

[anrkizm95]

[up] on the thinner oil or keep it inside and put a heat lamp under it.

 

[Jobe Zeebuh]

10w40 for below 40degree starts. Be sure to swich back to 20w50 when it gets warmer out. Be careful with the heat lamp. Dont want to melt plastics. That does work tho. Just dont go park somewere for a few hours and expect it to start in the cold either tho.

 

[njdevils1990]

well at least tomorrow will be a beautiful day [cool] good for working on the bike haha and yeah i wait till the cel goes out (i didnt do that the first couple time because i didnt see it at first) and no more revving haha.

so to do list for tomorrow
cash cheque
look for a store that has plugs
go out and buy oil
find suplies for breather reroute
change plugs,oil and do reroute
then start her up and see how it all went.
ooh and almost forgot that i have to wash her too...shes dirty [smirk]

 

[njdevils1990]

thanks jobe ill probably run the 10w40 for about a month and switch back to 20w50 and i dont think ill risk it with the heat lamp as my garage is a little crowded and that would be the last thing i need it for my bike to catch fire or anything else for that matter. Are there any other plugs that can be used other than the NKG iridium plugs and part#s?

 

[Stevenc150]

Get the NGK plugs and I'm betting that'll solve most of the trouble. (Auto Parts places can order them.) Oil is whatever your choice is, though try to keep to Full Synthetic Motorcycle-specific. I use Mobil 1 V-Twin 20W50 with the NGK plugs, and starts in 30 degrees fine. Just swapping to a lighter weight oil alone isn't going to get you good cold starts.

Best cold engine start up habits once you get new plugs is to Start it and let it idle on it's own while you gear up, 1-2 mins. for me. Don't rip it once you start the ride, give it several leisurely minutes of riding to let the engine get up to normal operating temp....then ride however.

And it's tempting to start it up to show off or if it's been sitting for awhile. Don't give in, it'll foul plugs. If you're going to start it ride it. That's just the nature of our steeds unless you get some good custom tuning.

 

[njdevils1990]

well i did the oil yesterday and filter went with sae20w50 and primary gear oil from HD and a K&N oil filter from autozone. I ordered NKG Iridium spark plugs from autozone and they should be there on tuesday for pickup and ill do the plugs that night when i get out of work. Good news tho...this morning it was much colder than yesterday about 35 out and 25 with wind chill but started the bike up and it didnt fire right away but only took 2 tries to get her going and the idle was stable with no stalling. I also just ordered an ECM Spy cable from ASB for $62 with shipping and if its just like the mirrors i ordered it should be here by thursday-friday, jsut in time to do a tps reset with the new plugs in.

 

[Sirius815]

Sorry that I'm a bit late - but it seems like bad plugs to me so hopefully the ones you ordered will solve your issue.

Also - off topic - how can people even see your back blinker?? [confused]

 

[njdevils1990]

lol i already took the blinkers off im going to order stock replacements. I am also thinking plugs as well and also from sitting for a while with the previous owner

 

[njdevils1990]

Just finished the plugs on the XB9R and noticed a couple interesting things.
Good-Both Cylinders have good compression
Kinda Bad-Front Plug was indicating that the cylinder has a normal life and wasnt fouled, Rear plug was opposite had allot of gas on it and was wet (indicating fouled or not firing which leads to my nexd discovery)
Bad-While removing the wires off the boots and coil pack to inspect i noticed that the rear wire has worn through in one spot and looks like it could be grounding out to the frame causing the rear cylinder to not fire and leading to the cause as to why it takes forever to start.
Good-After everything was done the bike started up after the second try and idled a little low (around 700-800rpm) drove it back to my house (i was in my grage about 1/10th mile down the road) and ran like a champ. Now all i have to do is wait till friday till i can order the wire set and when my ECM Spy cable comes in do a TPS reset and she should be golden for a nice couple seasons of worry free riding and an upcomming trip to the outerbanks )

 

[njdevils1990]

Left plug is the one from the front cylinder
Right plug is from the rear cylinder (also the plug that had the frayed plug wire)