Hitchcocks Forum

hi all.. thought I'd start a new thread after my electronic ignition dilemma. I'm well happy with the points set up now. this isa 2006 500 classic bullet, 4 speed.

My starting technique (after a load of you tube browsing) is kick her over with decompressor in for 10 gentle swigs, to get oil to the right places, then ease her over TDC and one full kick gets her running every time. I find its better to turn in the tickover screw before I do this, and she doesn't like / need the choke. I don't tough the throttle till she's caught.

However, when she's warm, she can kick back or take a few kicks.

she pulls like a train and pulls from very low down revs without a hiccup. I have a standard air filter and a VERY free flowing aftermarket exhaust. she doesn't pop on the over run.

do you think I have the carb set up slightly wrong? any advice? I'm pretty sure the points / timing are set up well.

I don't think your ten swings will do much to put oil anywhere but what it will do, even with the decompressor pulled, is get a bit of fuel in the cylinder. Don't worry about oil in the right place, there will be still plenty around from last time it stopped.
What is worth doing, especially if it has stood for some time, is to kick through with the clutch pulled to free the plates. It helps to stop the clunk into first gear.
If the engine doesn't like choke at all when it's cold it sounds like it's a bit rich. No bad thing as long as it's not fouling the plug. You could try leaning off the pilot a touch.
Popping on the overrun is usually an air leak at the exhaust manifold rather than a tuning fault. These carburettor engines always pass unburnt fuel on the overrun and if air is sucked in as well it ignites in the exhaust.

remind me how we lean it off a bit?

I don’t understand the idea of turning in the ‘tick-over’ screw before starting (is that the throttle stop or the air screw?). If the tick-over (and the carb generally) is set correctly that should not be necessary. For a cold start ‘no throttle’, ‘no tickling’, ‘no choke’ suggests the carb is set too rich for normal running. And that also may explain why ‘she pulls like a train at low revs’. To me this carb does not seem to be set correctly.

What carb is it you've got on this bike?

Hi PD 110961.
I agree with PeteF in that 10 kicks wouldn’t move much oil around. My 1996 535cc engine needs ~20 good swings (with plug out, so probably equivalent to 40 swings with plug in) to scavenge oil from sump and pump it up the rocker feed pipes to show at the rocker spindles (I have the uprated pumps to match the roller big-end). Perhaps not too important since a running engine will pump that in just a few seconds. Moreover, the rockers always have an oil film, even after a month without running, so they don’t actually need fresh oil straight away.

I too find I need to turn in the throttle stop screw about half a turn to help it start. Once it's idling OK (after about half a minute) I turn it back out to a more comfortable idle - equivalent to 900-1000rpm based on GPS speed. This starting adjustment was needed with the OEM Mikcarb 28mm and the present 32mm Mk2 Concentric.

Just in case you ever wanted to know, at that idle rate, the engine burns fuel at the rate of 1 litre per hour. No? Didn’t need to know? Didn’t think so.
Cheers, ChrisD (Cape Town)

Turning in the throttle stop screw merely raises the slide. Why not turn the twist grip a fraction? I can’t see that adjusting the throttle stop screw every time you start the bike makes any sense – and would still say that the carb is not correctly adjusted if that is a necessary regular requirement for starting. But, hey, if it works and you’re happy – fine.

its a standard Mikcarb that I have. its the throttle stop I adjust.

Velocette used to fit a purpose made tick over adjuster screw for cold starting and warm idling. It clamped to the tick over screw, giving a range of about 3/4 turn from low to high idle and could be unclamped to permit adjustment of the screw by any amount in either direction. My Father screws the tick over screw in a bit on his 1959 350 Bullet's 389 Monobloc, to give [usually] first kick starting when cold. Cheers, Paul.

Presto writes: "Turning in the throttle stop screw merely raises the slide. Why not turn the twist grip a fraction? I can’t see that adjusting the throttle stop screw every time you start the bike makes any sense..."

Yes, I agree with that - it does seem like a heck of a lot of messing about. On the other hand, I guess it does provide a reliable fast idle to let the engine warm a little while you put your helmet and gloves on - can't do that if you're holding the throttle open.