tough starting in the morning

Hey all. My SV has been sitting for about two years with very limited riding. I got it out for the summer now, and starting it in the morning is difficult. After riding to the office in the morning, it started fine for going home in the afternoon (only tried once).

Any ideas why it's hard to start? Steps to take to fix, or find the problem?

You didnt state what year it is but if its been sat up for that long it may be worth giving the carbs a good clean ( if it is a carb model?). That would be my first port of call neways. Also a general service would be worth a thought and go from there.

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by dave_c24

You didnt state what year it is but if its been sat up for that long it may be worth giving the carbs a good clean ( if it is a carb model?). That would be my first port of call neways. Also a general service would be worth a thought and go from there.

Yep, gummed up carbs from old petrol would be my first guess

Oh, sorry. It's a 2000 model, so it's carb. I'm thinking of a general service, but I thought $200+ was expensive and I thought I'd try to do as much of it as I can myself. I've got the service manual.

thanks for your response, I appriciate it.

Servicing is all straight forward stuff, stripping a carb may seem a little daunting if youve not done it before but if you take your time and do one at a time youl be fine. Make a note of the mixture screw settings before you take them out and check the against factory. Mine had been sat when i got it and service n carb clean saw it right, my fault was running lumpy @ low speed but still same cause.

Any questions just ask

Originally Posted by dave_c24

Servicing is all straight forward stuff, stripping a carb may seem a little daunting if youve not done it before but if you take your time and do one at a time youl be fine. Make a note of the mixture screw settings before you take them out and check the against factory. Mine had been sat when i got it and service n carb clean saw it right, my fault was running lumpy @ low speed but still same cause.

Any questions just ask

cool, thanks What i'm mostly considering is do the straight forward stuff (oil change etc I'd have to check the list) and leave the daunting tasks to the mechanic.

what service would you guys actually recommend I do? seems to be several options in the service manual, but I'd want to, as I said, try as much by myself without getting into daunting tasks.

Id personally do the following:

Oil and oil filter (sump plug is a 14mm spanner)
Airfilter- can give them a blow out/ clean but i preffer to replace
Plugs- check the gap, replace if electrodes have become rounded/worn

I wouldnt worry about clearances - unless you hearing them when its running?


I would honestly go carb route 1st though, normally the cause of many probs after a layup

So my coworker had a look at it, and he simply things it's not idling high enough. I've moved and live at 4000 ft higher altitude, so he pointed out that can make a difference.

thoughts?

What was the idle set at? Should be around 1300rpm?

I agree that it is probably the carbs that are a bit gummed up, they will need stripping and cleaning out with carb cleaner as has already been said.

Originally Posted by dave_c24

I wouldnt worry about clearances - unless you hearing them when its running?

I can't agree with this about the valve clearances though, they are checked every 15K miles according to the service schedule and they usually close up over time as the valve seats ware, so you will never hear them clattering. If the gap gets too small then the valve won’t seal and will burn out, which gets pretty expensive.