Carb Heaters

Originally Posted by thedonal

Ah. I see. That all makes sense. Was just a thought anyway.

Yeah- heading down the A3 at 80 at -4c.* The bike doth struggle at the end of that...

Cheers folks.

* Hey- there's a thought. I wonder what the windchill would be on that...

I think windchill is calculated at -1 degree for every 10mph

Originally Posted by thedonal

Question is- do they come on as soon as the ignition is turned to on (before starting the bike)?

No, they only operate with the engine running.

Originally Posted by thedonal

Cos the bike is a bugger to start on these uber-frosty mornings...

You need to find the right balance of choke, each bike is different in my experience, and a little bit of throttle on the really cld days. I would recommend you fit Irridium spark plugs, to any bike used during winter, when they are due to be replaced.

Originally Posted by TSM

consider that they dont exist

Pretty much they way to play it, the main reason people say they don't work is due to the location of the sensor. If it is tucked in close to the engine then it is useless, move it more into the air stream and the engine heat won't act against you.

Originally Posted by squirrel_hunter

I don't think either of my SV's have them.

All UK spec bikes/crabd have them fitted as standard, the EU bikes do not.

Originally Posted by Baz

I was having a lot of trouble with carb icing a while ago and I think it was YC who suggested moving the sensor for the carb heater away from where it is as standard which is right by the engine so it always stays nice and warm and never switches on the carb heater.

That was me, and it is not is standard position but where it gets accidently left when people work on the SV. A drop of Silkolene Pro FST will cure the carb icing.

Yep I have moved my carb heater sensor when I replace the loom, seems much better now. Might also be that the wiring for the heaters has been replaced too, so they get the electrickery they need.

Originally Posted by Dangerous Dave

No, they only operate with the engine running.


You need to find the right balance of choke, each bike is different in my experience, and a little bit of throttle on the really cld days. I would recommend you fit Irridium spark plugs, to any bike used during winter, when they are due to be replaced.

Cheers Dave- I've got Iridium plugs in already.

Had to give the batterry a charge this morning (made me late to work- joy)- I think all the effort put in starting the bike in the morning and evening at the mo are draining it more than the 25 min journey can put back in. I guess also as the battery is weaker, it takes more effort to start the bike and therefore gets weaker etc. Will give it a full charge tonight.

Yeah- I'm finding the choke works well at some settings and not others, despite the work done on the carbs in Dec.

[yorkie_chris]

Dave, how do they only operate when the engine is running? The feed they take comes directly from the ignition feed AFAIK, so will be powered so long as the killswitch and ignition are on.

Might help to get the carbs a bit warm first. But probably not.

my sv's carb aswell the best thing ive used is a harley davidson winter fuel additive mainly because im a mechanic there lol but ne winter fuel additive should be the same . but i think the harley one would be best because its made in mind tht carbs on the harleys are swingin in the breeze much more out to the elements than sv's.

[yorkie_chris]

But they don't go fast enough to get any wind chill

lol ud think so, but the amount of customers we get wiv the carbs icein up is unreal. if not carb heaters u could do a cowboy job of rapping kitchen foil around the float bowl (works surprisingly well)