choke not working

[jrcody1127]

hello ,
iam a new member and a new valk owner. juat got it yesterday, and their are a few little problems.
the big one is the choke does not work and i hope someone can point me in the right direction.

the bike will not start with the choke on. i live in SC so it will start with no choke and a little throttle finess. i removed covers and lubed and checked cables and all looks fine to me. so i choked one side at a time. depress the right side choke bar and the motor stumbles then the rpm pics up as it should. when i depress the left side choke bar the motor stalls out, it almost seems electrical is being cut out.
any one have ideas? would be much appreciated
thanks jim

[hubcapsc]

There's a problem almost all of us have to get past when we first get our Valkyries...
We don't push the choke lever far enough to actually engage the choke... you need
to look down at the business end of the choke cable when you are moving the
lever and actually see that you are actually making something happen...

From your description, it sounds like this might not be your problem, but it is
worth looking at...

-Mike

[Hook#3287]

Hey Jim;

Congrats on the best bike purchase you could make.

I'm with Hubcap, you need to push the choke down, then push again.  With the covers off you should be able to see the cables get tight then move.

Can't see how it could be electrical.

[jrcody1127]

hello, and thanks for replys

choke cable looks as it is working correctly. iam fully depressing the choke to its max and you can see the choke plungers bing pulled out all of the way.
so i depres the choke bars by hand trying to isolate the problem and bike stalls out.
right side works but motor stumbles and the pics up the rpm
left side when you depress the bar motor dies.

[Bone]

Most of the chokes push hard. My 98 Tourer I push it until it gets hard to push. Then push it another 1/2 inch or so that is when the choke is closed.

[Hook#3287]

Just a guess here, as I'm no expert, but maybe when your pushing the choke by hand, your closing it down to much, stutting all air off?

I've never looked in to the carbs when the choke was closed.  Do they close ALL the way when using the cable?

[jrcody1127]

thanks gents
just a note. iam pretty sure that the choke system on the  carbs is an enrichment not conected to the throttle blades or air

jim

[Michvalk]

Your right, the choke is not a choke, it's an enrichener. Do not touch the throttle when you have the choke engaged. Just push the choke all the way down, and hit the start button. Let the bike pick up on it's own. When the idle goes up, back the choke off. If you can push the choke mechinism further after using the lever, your not pushing it far enough. Even tho you can see the stuff moving, the lever should move it to the stops on the mech. Maybe adjustment is called for

[jrcody1127]

thanks michvalk,
good reply.  the choke mech is fully seated pulling out all of the enrichner plungers on the carb. at this point the bike would never start. it will only start with the choke off,in the full upright position.

and in trying to isolate the problem i disconect all cables and work choke manualy.
the right side seems to be ok exept the motor stumbles and then pics up the rpm.
the left side when operated manualy stalls the motor.

thanks agin

[Hook#3287]

thanks gents
just a note. iam pretty sure that the choke system on the  carbs is an enrichment not conected to the throttle blades or air

jim

Ahh!  Now I get it.  Never to the time to understand all the talk about "Enricheners".  That's what I get for being lazy.

[wild6]

Check the air filter.

[BamaDrifter64]

Got gas?   

Hey, it happens....

Dave

[WamegoRob]

...a new valk owner. juat got it yesterday...

Any chance you can ask the previous owner about it?  It might be a little problem he's lived with for years.
The guy to which I sold my old Yamaha might have thought it was a lost cause (he only paid $400) if I hadn't have shown him how I start it.
It seemed to be completely dead in the water but was just a flaky starter relay; high-fiving the right side cover while depressing the starter button fired it right up.  I'd already paid for an oil change... spending money on a new relay and I'd feel like I was spoiling the thing.

Lazy, to be sure, but it worked, it was cheaper than a new relay and it was a sort of anti-theft device

[Ricky-D]

thanks michvalk,
good reply.  the choke mech is fully seated pulling out all of the enrichner plungers on the carb. at this point the bike would never start. it will only start with the choke off,in the full upright position.

and in trying to isolate the problem i disconect all cables and work choke manualy.
the right side seems to be ok exept the motor stumbles and then pics up the rpm.
the left side when operated manualy stalls the motor.

thanks agin

Normally, with the motor running (idling), if you activate the "choke" system you will stall the motor.

If the motor starts in a good fashion without using the "choke" and runs poorly when using the "choke" the first thought I would have is that the idle jets have been changed to a larger size. A poor modification when considering operating parameters for the motor.

***

[R J]

thanks michvalk,
good reply.  the choke mech is fully seated pulling out all of the enrichner plungers on the carb. at this point the bike would never start. it will only start with the choke off,in the full upright position.

and in trying to isolate the problem i disconect all cables and work choke manualy.
the right side seems to be ok exept the motor stumbles and then pics up the rpm.
the left side when operated manualy stalls the motor.

thanks agin

Normally, with the motor running (idling), if you activate the "choke" system you will stall the motor.

If the motor starts in a good fashion without using the "choke" and runs poorly when using the "choke" the first thought I would have is that the idle jets have been changed to a larger size. A poor modification when considering operating parameters for the motor.

***

Ya sir, I agree with Ricky-D.
Get ahold of the PO if you can and ask him if he has messed with the carbs and if he has, ask what he did, with some detail as to why he did the mod's.

Might help ya down the road somewhere.

I just went out to the shop and did what you said you did manually with the carb enrichener's.    Same exact results.   Stutter on right side and will stall out on the left controls.    That is if you hold it there long enough.

Sounds to me like he has changed the idle jets out to 38's and God only knows what he did with the other ones.   Good Luck.

[jrcody1127]

thanks guys,
gonna do a few mods in a couple weeks and take off carbs and get this figured out. the past owner who says he bought off of the origional owner and a friend said the only thing done was piggies cut off and drilled holes in baffles, only maybe 1/4" looks like. so i drilled 1/2" to first baffle only.
i will keep you posted on what i find.

thanks jim
harley convert, love this bike.