Triumphrat

Repeater · 10-18-2005

Alright, a couple of quick questions for the experts here.

What are some possible diagnoses for low idle/stalling in cold weather? It's about 45F out this morning, and I just rode to work. As expected, it took a second or two of cranking before it started. Fair enough, it set into high idle (1500rpm) and I let it warm up for a minute or two. Get on the bike, put it into gear, and it stalls. This seems to be consistent with its behavior in cold weather; the clutch plates may stick together in the cold oil; this doesn't occur if the motor has been warmed up for longer... great, I'll warm it up for longer. So I'm off. The problem I'm concerned about is while rolling to a stop. If I'm rolling along at 3000rpm or so and need to make a stop, I'll pull the clutch in. Of course, the revs drop quickly, but instead of stopping at 1000rpm like it usually does, once in a long while it all-out stalls while rolling. Most of the time, though, it settles into a very low idle - somewhere barely around 500rpm.

Here are my guesses:
- Weak charging from the alternator. The battery is new, but it will of course be weakened if it's not charged correctly.
- Thick, cold oil putting more resistance than usual on the motor. The current oil is Delo 400 10W/40.
- Fouled spark plugs or weak, barely-alive coils... but would these act differently in cold weather than normal (65F+) weather?

Edit : This is a '97 T509 with about 15,000 miles on it.

[ This message was edited by: Repeater on 2005-10-18 08:21 ]

Pig9r · 10-18-2005

It seems to be a fuel management problem. If any of your guesses were correct the problem would exist in other conditions and RPM ranges. If it was bad battery or alternator problem of starting would get worse or other systems on the bike would poop out first. Bad coil would be no start or very noticeable. Fouled plugs would result in misfires and probably would show at higher RPMs first. It's not unusual to have to crank a time or two with these bikes especially when it's cold. Cold oil is not an issue. Perhaps a remap by a dealer or tuneboy load could help.

[ This message was edited by: Pig9r on 2005-10-18 10:37 ]

Repeater · 10-18-2005

Thanks for the answer! I'll have to check this out; I did have the low-rpm fuel mixture changed a bit when I brought it in before - it was having the same problem when it was warm out when I first bought the bike earlier this year, even in 90+ degree weather. After the remap, it didn't seem to do much. So maybe a tuneboy or PCIII is in order, eh?

Know offhand if the injection on these bikes needs to be adjusted in accordance with the temperature outside? I wouldn't think so, myself, but I'm no mechanical genius, either...