Speed Trip'l Hot Start - HELP!

My speed triple will not start until about 15 - 20 attempts under following conditions:

1) hot weather (90 deg plus)
2) riding around town for about 1/2 hour
3) stop and part about 1 hour
4) try to start bike - (takes 15 -20 attempts)

The shop says its a notorious vapor lock problem and there is nothing they can do about it. I just had the 6k mile service done. The bike did not do this last summer.

Sometimes opening the gas cap before starting works and sometimes it doesn't. Any Ideas??? Please help!

EDET

[Avi8or]

Most probably your tipover valve is stuck/not vertical. Its on one of the rubber hoses from underneath the fuel tank.
Also dont touch the throttle when starting.
Mine takes a few turns to start from cold, but starts immed when warm.
Battery must be in A1 condition for this bike.

[Martin_R]

On 2006-06-11 02:29, Avi8or wrote:
Most probably your tipover valve is stuck/not vertical. Its on one of the rubber hoses from underneath the fuel tank.

I am pretty sure Avi8or is correct on this one.

Strange that the shop would say that there is nothing they can do about it, even though it was their first guess also. They can clean the valve, they can mount it properly, they can check the rubber hoses, they can take the valve off completely etc. etc. Sounds like they have their hands full with more lucrative work and cannot be bothered. Either that or they are very incompetent.

[Diego]

> Strange that the shop would say that there is nothing they can do about it, even though it was their first guess also.

I don't know about that. Vapor lock, if that was their actual choice of term, is something else entirely. Of course, that's no excuse for them not to try the remedies you mention. Those fixes are well known.

On 2006-06-11 02:29, Avi8or wrote:
Most probably your tip over valve is stuck/not vertical. Its on one of the rubber hoses from underneath the fuel tank.
Also don't touch the throttle when starting.
Mine takes a few turns to start from cold, but starts immed when warm.
Battery must be in A1 condition for this bike.

I looked under the tank - see three hoses. One larger hose that has a plastic attachment and is mounted to a metallic line off the tank. Also see two thin rubber hoses attached. I take it the larger hose is the one with the tip over valve. By vertical do you mean that the white button must be on top?? Anyone have a link to a diagram? :???:

[zmann]

Edet-
I'm having similar symptoms with my 06. Here is my thread on it:

difficulty starting engine

There is an image with the valve in another thread but I couldn't find it again. Of the two thin black hoses coming out of the bottom, left, rear of the gas tank, it is on the left hose. I didn't have to remove the tank to reach it. The hose was arranged with a short hose running from the nipple under the tank to the valve and then a longer hose running from the valve to the carbon cannister. On non-California models, it might run from the valve straight down toward the ground. I've tried removing the valve and then removing the hose altogether but I still seem to have the problem. Maybe you'll have better luck.
I'll keep posting results at the bottom of the thread I linked above.
Zohar

On 2006-06-11 23:34, zmann wrote:
Edet-
I'm having similar symptoms with my 06. Here is my thread on it:

difficulty starting engine

There is an image with the valve in another thread but I couldn't find it again. Of the two thin black hoses coming out of the bottom, left, rear of the gas tank, it is on the left hose. I didn't have to remove the tank to reach it. The hose was arranged with a short hose running from the nipple under the tank to the valve and then a longer hose running from the valve to the carbon cannister. On non-California models, it might run from the valve straight down toward the ground. I've tried removing the valve and then removing the hose altogether but I still seem to have the problem. Maybe you'll have better luck.
I'll keep posting results at the bottom of the thread I linked above.
Zohar

Zohar - you would not believe how much your message meant to me. I now know I'm not crazy. Never had the problem last year. Bike goes to the shop first thing in the AM and does not come back untill fixed. Thanks again!

[jberb55]

edet,

I was at the shop when you brought your bike in last week (I'm considering an S3). Seeing the tech outside trying to crank the bike made my heart sink a little.

Please post the progress if you brought your bike back to the same shop this week. While your hot-start issue may not drive me away from the model, I'm not very impressed with the dealership's service department based on your experience.

If you can, I'd really appreciate follow-up posts (or PMs if you'd prefer to keep it quiet) if you've the time.

thanks,
jeff

On 2006-06-13 17:40, jberb55 wrote:
edet,

I was at the shop when you brought your bike in last week (I'm considering an S3). Seeing the tech outside trying to crank the bike made my heart sink a little.

Please post the progress if you brought your bike back to the same shop this week. While your hot-start issue may not drive me away from the model, I'm not very impressed with the dealership's service department based on your experience.

If you can, I'd really appreciate follow-up posts (or PMs if you'd prefer to keep it quiet) if you've the time.

thanks,
jeff

Hi Jeff

Yes I remember you.

I’ll tell you straight up – until now my experience with the shop has been exceptional. Nothing less. I'd buy 10 S3's with 10 times the problems only because I have been treated so well by those folks. I think the current issue I'm having is something they haven’t seen before and has them guessing because it is not immediately reproducible. This kind of issue needs some serious trouble shooting (read – consumes billing hours) which is something any shop would hate to do. A retailer would expect the factory’s applications engineers to provide a solution to this kind of problem since the factory would have exposure to the global population of bikes and probably is aware of this having happened before.

Also, I will say that I've had a few of bikes in my day and the S3 is the closest thing to a wet dream coming true. The S3 is the complete and total performance beast everyone says it is (ahhh …. once you get it started). Typical British systems engineering though - awe inspiring performance with voodoo quirks. I’m a quality manager by profession and probably should send Triumph a resume.

Again, this particular shop deserves a service award. Service like they have provided (and I’ll take something back at the first hit of an issue – as mentioned - I’m a quality manger) is not seen anywhere else on the planet.

I wanted – but could not - get to the shop today because I’m frantically preparing to relocate to Denver. I’ll be packing up my bike with my other belongings. Time will not permit me to pursue this further until I get to Denver (hopefully I can find a good dealer there).

My initial rage has been tempered because I have made some progress coming up with a containment measure for the start up issue - which I'll post on Zohar's thread (from above).

Regards

[jberb55]

Edet,

thanks for the great reply; good luck with your relo to CO. If you end up stopping by the dealership one more time before you go, tell Gary he owes you a cold beverage. They now have one less white S3... Your shiny endorsement helped push me over the edge.

take care, hope to see you on the boards once you're settled.

Jeff