Any advice on hot starting

[King]

Hi All

Other than "always park it on a hill" are there any hot starting tips out there?? It starts first or second hot kick, after suitible priming, when cold but hot no way. It runs very well so I think timing/carburation are OK.
When I try to start hot I suspect it is flooding but don't know for sure. 51 FL, STD heads, Bendix, stock 6volt ignition.
Any advice on this will be greatly appreciated.

King

[OldHippie]

What works for me on my '57 is just to crank the throttle open full and hold it while I kick - no priming. It usually starts on the first kick; if not, I just keep at it, and it pretty much always starts by the third kick.

I have a fairly stock '57 motor but with a Bendix carb (I still need to find some hardware to mount the Linkert I found for it) and 12v generator. FWIW....

[tejas58]

I had hard starting "hot only" awhile back, and re-routed
my fuel line(which was touching a cylinder) to fix.
Possible vapor lock?

[DuoDave]

Best method I have found so far is to retard the ignition, fully close the throttle and kick. If it has not fired up by the second kick, as OldHippie says, wind the throttle fully open and kick with the ignition on. Seems weird to go from one extreme to the other, but it seems to work.

[57stroker]

Same here. If I touch the throttle when shes hot, I'm screwed.

[King]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will give it a try .

Tejas, your mention of a vapor lock might be at least part of the problem. I've had some very strange gas flow situations recently. I thought it was because of unvented gas caps but I tested the right cap and there is a connection between the interior and the exterior vents (new test: take one of those computer cleaning caned air things with the long tube and blow into the inside vent and check the outside one for air flow. You can do it under water to be sure). The left cap is unvented as it should be.

Yesterday I was pulling the Afton Grade up the Blue Ridge when about halfway up the bike started to buck. I thought “Damn" but Cotten is sure right about those STD heads with chubble valves and pulled the fuel knob up into reserve. That only cured it for about 100 yards and it started bucking again. I screwed off the left gas cap and all returned to normal. Same thing happened over the next ten miles, five or six times, again screwing off the left cap brought her back to life. When I got back to the barn I pulled off both caps. The right tank had only about 2" of fuel in it but the left tank was almost overflowing. Just the opposite of what I would have expected. When I popped the left cap the fuel began to rapidly flow back into the right tank. My tank setup is stock but I do have an inline see-thru fuel filter mounted vertically below the carb (Bendix) inlet. The strange thing about the filter is that when the bike is running it never is full and after shutdown it takes about an hour to fill back up.

Anybody had this problem?

King

[Sidecar]

Your hot starting problem and your fuel flow problems are due to vapor locking.
EVERYTHING you have typed under this topic happened to me when I put a aluminum fuel line on my bike. I have since gone back to rubber hose and have not had any more problems. I also run a plastic filter in line. My filter is never completely full either.

When I have flooded my cylinders in the past, about 4 or 5 kicks would clean'em out. I don't believe that this is your problem though.

Put a rubber line on your scoot and see what happens. It's a pain in the ass, but the line is cheap enough.



Tejas. Are you running metal or rubber line ??

[tejas58]

Mine is rubber BUT I had a routing problem with it
a bit too long and curved around touching the rear cyl.
Shortened it, runs right between the cylinders and my
problem has not resurfaced, even in this Texas heat!

[Sidecar]

Tejas,

I've got my line in the same exact spot as you. I haven't had any problems either.

Ride safe
Randy

[DuoDave]

Prior to my latest bout of mechanical mayhem, ( trashed front cylinder and piston >:() I was experimenting with a different method of hot starting . Fuel on , throttle fully open, one priming kick, throttle fully closed, retard ignition, switch on and, provided I got a good clean kick, she would fire up first time, everytime. I have a reprint of the original Duo Glide owners handbook, and, lo and behold, right there in black and white it says that some engines will have start more reliably when hot if given one priming kick.
If all else fails, read the instructions!

[Cotten]

Have any of you ever wondered why some machines start first kick nearly every time?

[59Panman]

Duodave,

Do you know if there is a softcopy of the reprint of the original Duo Glide owners handbook on softcopy?

Thanks,

ozwick

[57pan]

Have any of you ever wondered why some machines start first kick nearly every time?

Yes, I have often wondered that... do you have the answer ??? Inquiring minds want to know

[DuoDave]

Cotten, I've been wondering about that for over thirty years. If everything is set up right, there is no logical reason why a bike should not start first kick every time, but that is a state of nirvana I have never attained with any of my bikes.
Ozwick, the Duo Glide handbook was published by Antique Cycle Supply, Cedar Springs, Michigan, 49319.
Phone number - (616) 636-8200
It was published in 1989, so I don't know if it is still available.

[PanPal]

I was told that after the bike is hot and you come out from the store to start it. The problem is that there is raw gas rather than vapors in the cylinders. He also told me to try full throttle, full advance and kick it. It has been working, but watch out for that kickback with the spark advanced.
What makes um start first kick nearly every time Cotton? ???