Choke

[BrOwNieS]

DOes using choke everyday a good thing or a bad idea? And is it common for KR Kawasaki bike to use choke?

[Yatz86]

use everyday is a bad thing.

[BrOwNieS]

Oh i see :S..

 

erm the reason?

[adesmond2]

no good... use choke onli if necessary, like bike cannot start and you need to start it NOW... sometime forget to on fuel den in the middle of the road... that's when you need to on your choke to ensure your engine starts immediately... morning start actually can wait around 1-2 min den should be able to start liaoz... just remember to off your fuel at night will do... ^_^

[BrOwNieS]

oh so the problem came from when i did not turn off my fuel.. ok i see.. THnx guys!

[redbeacon]

Guys, please don't sensationalise the use of the choke -- there's absolutely nothing harmful about using the choke.

 

The use of the choke is to assist in engine starting. But if it's used on the road, the only thing that you may experience is poor fuel economy (i.e. waste petrol) and slightly sluggish performance.

 

no good... use choke onli if necessary, like bike cannot start and you need to start it NOW... sometime forget to on fuel den in the middle of the road... that's when you need to on your choke to ensure your engine starts immediately... morning start actually can wait around 1-2 min den should be able to start liaoz... just remember to off your fuel at night will do... ^_^

 

First and foremost, please don't advise people to switch their fuel cock for convenience's purposes. There is absolutely no such good benefits if you leave it at OFF.

 

Unless if you don't ride the bike for extended periods of time, then you can consider turning it to OFF to prevent petrol from drying i[.

 

Anyhoo, back to the topic. Let's explain what is wrong:

 

sometime forget to on fuel den in the middle of the road... that's when you need to on your choke to ensure your engine starts immediately

 

Unlike what you've described, the choke is NOT related to zero fuel intake (i.e. OFF fuel cock) this way...Look carefully and pay attention at how petrol flows.

 

PETROL TANK ---> FLOAT BOWL ---> CARBURETOR (i.e. carb) --> ENGINE

 

Petrol flows from the tank to a small little bowl (called a "Float bowl"). The carburetor sucks the petrol up from the float bowl when the bike is running.

 

When the petrol tank is empty (don't consider Reserve, explain later), the remaining petrol in the float bowl gets sucked up until it's dry...and when that bowl is dry, the bike stops running.

 

Do you know where the Choke operates at? When you activate it, it acts upon the Carburetor, sucking up more petrol into it. If you've studied simple bike mechanics, more petrol (i.e. Choke) makes the bike start easier on cold days. Won't explain why because this is out of the scope of this explanation.

 

But for your abovementioned scenario, the forgetful person leaves his fuel cock to OFF, the bike runs as the remaining petrol in the bowl gets sucked dry, and his bike stops.

I don't see how the choke can speed the starting process again. What's there to suck, even if Choke is on?? Get what I mean?

 

 

For those who were wondering how to tackle this problem, simple: leave your bike upright and make sure your fuel cock is switched to ON (or RESERVE if you're out of fuel). Sit your bike upright for 1 minute and the petrol will flow into the float bowl. It's the same procedure after a bike accident when the bike has just fallen to it's side.

 

** This does not apply to FI (fuel injected bikes).

Bigger bikes such as the 250 or 400cc carburetor models have more than one float bowls -- one for each carburetor+piston combo.

[Izammo]

Guys, please don't sensationalise the use of the choke -- there's absolutely nothing harmful about using the choke.

 

The use of the choke is to assist in engine starting. But if it's used on the road, the only thing that you may experience is poor fuel economy (i.e. waste petrol) and slightly sluggish performance.

 

 

 

sometime forget to on fuel den in the middle of the road... that's when you need to on your choke to ensure your engine starts immediately

 

Unlike what you've described, the choke is *not* related to zero fuel intake (i.e. OFF fuel cock) this way...Look carefully and pay attention at how petrol flows.

 

PETROL TANK ---> FLOAT BOWL ---> CARBURETOR (i.e. carb) --> ENGINE

 

Petrol flows from the tank to a small little bowl (called a "Float bowl"). The carburetor sucks the petrol up from the float bowl when the bike is running.

 

When the petrol tank is empty (don't consider Reserve, explain later), the remaining petrol in the float bowl gets sucked up until it's dry...and when that bowl is dry, the bike stops running.

 

Do you know where the Choke operates at? It acts upon the Carburetor, injecting more petrol into it. If you've studied simple bike mechanics, more petrol (i.e. Choke) makes the bike start better on cold days.

 

But for your abovementioned scenario, the forgetful person leaves his fuel cock to OFF, the bike runs as the remaining petrol in the bowl gets sucked dry, and his bike stops. I don't see how the choke can speed the starting process again. What's there to suck, even if Choke is on...

 

 

For those who were wondering how to tackle this problem, simple: leave your bike upright and make sure your fuel cock is switched to ON (or RESERVE if you're out of fuel). Sit your bike upright for 1 minute and the petrol will flow into the float bowl. It's the same procedure after a bike accident when the bike has just fallen to it's side.

good info, for one moment i tot using choke was nothing bad or good, then saw this and some says its bad. then why is there choke for cold starts? haha.

 

anyway, will try the tactic u said tmr morning.

[SinFilled]

Wow this is useful info man haha... every time when i start my bike for the 1st time i need to pull choke if not cun start... now I know how it works... will try ur method... since I dun on my reserve at all haha...

[DGray]

I agree with redbeacon. There's nothing wrong at all using choke to start. For class 2 bikes, most of the newer models consists of autochoke function. So if u start everytime and the autochoke on by itself, dun u tink it is good? If its bad, manufacturers won't install on bikes.

[adesmond2]

hmmm... maybe i'm wrong... sorry for the wrong info... ^_^

[SparkerS1]

use everyday is a bad thing.

 

its ok to use choke everyday, i use everytime i left my bike after more than 2 hours, cos need choke to start

[fireshamie]

ohh..i see..another of my fren also say that use choke only when neccessary n not to use it everyday..so at least now i know tat's a myth n that choke can be used daily n there's no good nor bad abt tat..

 

another thing, sorry if it's outta topic, but since the fuel thingie was also part of the explanation, i have one question abt tat..i have another fren who mentioned tat the fuel thingie shouldnt be put to on and off repeatedly, while another fren mentioned to put it off overnight..my current habit frm these inputs is tat i put my fuel thingie to off everytym i park anywhere ..frm abv expalanation frm redbeacon, i get it tat shouldnt off the fuel unless for days..

 

anyone can to explain why it shouldnt be put on off unless for days & what wud happen if i repeatedly on & off the fuel thingie and vice versa?

 

thanks...

[compfused]

I know of some colleagues who needs to use the choke even after less than an hour of parkin..How good is that?

[fireshamie]

I know of some colleagues who needs to use the choke even after less than an hour of parkin..How good is that?

 

well, maybe their bikes are old or something..but at least i know tat using choke frequently is not a no-no thing like what my fren mentioned..

[compfused]

well, maybe their bikes are old or something..but at least i know tat using choke frequently is not a no-no thing like what my fren mentioned..

Their bike is definitely newer than mine..

[fireshamie]

whoa..reli..guess cuz just came out of shop mebe n need to season the bike first..ahx..dunno jus guessing..

[compfused]

whoa..reli..guess cuz just came out of shop mebe n need to season the bike first..ahx..dunno jus guessing..

What season you want? Winter? Autumn? Spring? Summer? Or you want seasonin like spices and herbs?

[fireshamie]

What season you want? Winter? Autumn? Spring? Summer? Or you want seasonin like spices and herbs?

 

I prefer summer liao..herbs n spices as long as makes things spicy ok for me..ok..i off topic already..

 

anyways..different bikes, different riders, sure different care..so in the end can get many different opinions on one issue but what's most important is what's best for ur bike and wat ur comfortable with..but definitely nothing wrong with using choke la unless ur bike can start w/o problem =)

[SparkerS1]

I know of some colleagues who needs to use the choke even after less than an hour of parkin..How good is that?

 

mine sometimes also like that

[redbeacon]

another thing, sorry if it's outta topic, but since the fuel thingie was also part of the explanation, i have one question abt tat..i have another fren who mentioned tat the fuel thingie shouldnt be put to on and off repeatedly, while another fren mentioned to put it off overnight..my current habit frm these inputs is tat i put my fuel thingie to off everytym i park anywhere ..frm abv expalanation frm redbeacon, i get it tat shouldnt off the fuel unless for days..

 

anyone can to explain why it shouldnt be put on off unless for days & what wud happen if i repeatedly on & off the fuel thingie and vice versa?

 

thanks...

 

http://i27.tinypic.com/rvgjlg.jpg http://i32.tinypic.com/o0t5di.jpg

 

This is a float system of a carburetor-based bike.

 

It works just like your toilet bowl in your house. If you uncover your toilet bowl tank, you will see some sort of a floating ball attached to a stick. When you flush, water level in the tank goes down, and the ball goes down too.

 

When that ball-on-a-stick gets tilted down with the falling water level, it opens up a water supply valve. Water then gushes in and fills the tank back up with water. Once the tank reaches the "full" level, the ball-on-a-stick floats up and shuts off the water supply.

 

Okay, silly analogy aside. Let's complete this discussion. The float bowl on your motorcycle works almost the same way as a toilet bowl tank. It is able to maintain the level of petrol when the level of petrol inside it decreases (remember, as mentioned in my previous post, the carb sucks the petrol up from this float bowl when the bike is running), as well as "shut off" the petrol supply when it's full.

 

And yes, the "ball" is not a ball, it's called a "float" (see picture above)

 

So there's really not a need to switch the fuel cock to OFF if it's just for a few days. The mechanism inside the float system does that for you.

 

But...of course, if your petrol mysteriously disappears after you've parked overnight or for extended periods, something is wrong/leaking somewhere -- and that's where you need to go see Doctor Bike Mechanic.

 

** Toilet tank illustration courtesy Lowes.com

[redbeacon]

I know of some colleagues who needs to use the choke even after less than an hour of parkin..How good is that?

 

1. Sucky rainy/cold weather nowadays.

2. Engine idling is set too low from the recommended specifications (refer to your bike manual)

3. Dirty carburetor and/or air filter. As a result, less or dirty mixture goes into the engine.

4. Take heed, this may also be a sign that the battery is weak. (there's associated symptoms with this as well, but won't cover this in this topic)

[mab]

wah, loads of valuable information here. cheers redbeacon!

[h4hahak1m]

good info, for one moment i tot using choke was nothing bad or good, then saw this and some says its bad. then why is there choke for cold starts? haha.

 

anyway, will try the tactic u said tmr morning.

 

Wow this is useful info man haha... every time when i start my bike for the 1st time i need to pull choke if not cun start... now I know how it works... will try ur method... since I dun on my reserve at all haha...

 

Can i add something? The reason u need the choke in the morning, when the air is cold in the morning is because of simple science. Cold air is denser, so there's more air molecules in cold, dense air den in normal or warm air. So if there's more air molecules then u have to match the amount or air with the amount of fuel right? So there's the choke, more fuel goes in so the bike is easier to start.

 

Same analogy goes to diesel engines, they need more diesel to start the engine, that's why black smoke usually comes out when u start a diesel engine, since they don't have a spark plug. A bit out of topic but a bit more knowledge won't kill you right?

 

So the point of the choke is just to get a bit more fuel into the carb to get the engine to start easier. Right? Correct me if i'm wrong.

[fireshamie]

heys..loads of good info shared here guys..upz~

[SinFilled]

all the experts u can ever find is in SBF haha