K3 engine cutting out when cold

Hi all, thanks for a wonderful and useful forum. i have a k3 650s bought recently, fairly new to biking.
i have a little problem when i am riding usually in the morning or first ride of day or after long time. when i go to change gear, pull clutch in the bike cuts off and comes back on after i release cluth and back on throttle. bit scary as rear wheel begins to lose traction and skids, happens on a few gears.
after riding for a while the problem doesnt occur. is this due to choke still on, engine cold or other problem?

any ideas or help on this is appreciated.
thanks

Yea, cold engine, although in the warm(ish) weather of the summer I wouldnt expect it to happen; in winter maybe.

Anyway, it could be easily cured just by turning up the engine idle speed. I know on my 1999 curvy SV-S the idle speed adjuster is located on the elft hand side (as you sit on the bike) down inside the frame, its a little knob that you can turn.

Switch the bike on, and let it warm up and idle (say, 10 minutes for this) until its idle has settled; it should be between 1300 and 1500 rpm. If the idle is lower than 1300 rpm, then turn up the idle speed to about 1400 rpm (cant remember which way you turn the knob). Gently blip the throttle a few times to let the engine settle into its new idle speed.

(I had a similar problem last winter - I set my bike to idle at 1500 rpm, and used higher octane-rated fuel so the beggar didnt cut out within the first 10 minutes of riding!)

Otherwise, it could be that the throttle bodies need balancing - this I'm not sure how you do...

Someone will be along shortly with more suggestions

Matt

As said above it could maby be the idle speedo of it do you no wot it sits at now?

[yorkie_chris]

Turn screw clockwise to increase speed.

So long as you don't have an FI failures, idle adjuster is the prime suspect.

If this doesn't fix it, post back to let us know.

EDIT: As Alpinestarhero eluded to the Throttle Body balancing, I doubt this will do much, unless the engine idle speed is low, or the throttle bodies are way way out of sync.

I can walk you though it though if it's required.

thanks for all the replies guys, it is idling about 1000-1100 it seems, at first when i start it, it is around 13-1400, after a few mins and some revs it settles to 1000-1100. so i guess it needs adjusting. could some1 help me locate this on the k3 and do i need any tool for this. sorry for obvious questions, bit of a newbie.

thanks

I too had this problem with my SK3 for ages and initially put it down to 'carb icing'. I know its fuel injected but i believe the same sort of thing can happen.

However after I saw a similar thread on here and checked what i was idling at (around 1k or 1.1K if i remember correctly) I increased the idle. Result - no more cutting out on gear changes - and believe me that was scary a few times!!! Does your confidence in the bike no favours when it cuts out with traffic all around.

Originally Posted by mmtrader

so i guess it needs adjusting. could some1 help me locate this on the k3 and do i need any tool for this. sorry for obvious questions, bit of a newbie.

No problem, we all start somewhere.

The adjuster screw location, well, sit on the bike. Near your left leg, there will be a triangular section of the frame near a weld. Inside that triangle, there's a phillips head screw. That there be the idle adjuster.

The tool you'll need, is a phillips screwdriver. Turn it clockwise in small increments, gently revving the engine between each turn to allow the engine to settle at it's new idle.

Originally Posted by mmtrader

thanks for all the replies guys, it is idling about 1000-1100 it seems, at first when i start it, it is around 13-1400, after a few mins and some revs it settles to 1000-1100. so i guess it needs adjusting. could some1 help me locate this on the k3 and do i need any tool for this. sorry for obvious questions, bit of a newbie.

thanks

Bump it up 2 about 1500 or so and that will make a change for you.