Cold natured!

[CrshOverride]

OK I put in a Dynojet stage one kit today, and she runs great!  I had to watch about four YouTube videos before I had the guts to get in there myself and do the job, and I'm glad I did, because i hate surprises and not knowing what to take off and stuff.  Anyway, I drilled out the plug and saw that the stock setting for the mixture was one and three-quarter turns, and then I set it two turns out.  I changed over the main jet to the right one for aftermarket exhaust with baffles, and I put in the new needle with e-clip on the third groove as they recommended.  All is well now – after about three minutes with the choke out (It's cold today), I can push it all the way in and she runs like a top.  Thanks for all your help!

I had similar issues to you before my last round of modifications to my Drifter 800. I put on a set of straight fishtails and a new Thunder Mfg. air cleaner kit. I was shocked when Thunder Mfg. told me that the Drifter 800 Jet Kit from Dynojet wouldn't work for my bike. They wound up sending the jet kit for the old carb'd 1500 (both Stage 1 and Stage 3).

After everything was installed and tuned, I don't have any issue warming up at all. It was in the mid-40's yesterday. I pulled the bike out, pulled out the choke, started her up, and almost immediately pushed in the choke. Everything ran like clockwork. I was shocked.

[Troll]

I've been able to get my W to do some amazing things since the kit went in. For example, they all have an interesting problem when cold, even with the enrichener on...they ping under light load...that's fixed now, and I can run her at 1500 rpm in 5th in town and just accelerate without any kind of problems right on up to red line...Proper fuel mixture is a wonderful thing.

[Tfrank59]

Carb jetting is more of an art than a real science. If you get a specific kit, say a DynoJet kit, designed for your application, then most of the work is done for you. It might not be perfect first time out, but it'll be pretty close. I had to readjust my W-650 a couple of times after I modded the air box, and you have to take the carb rack completely off to do it right...It was definitely worth the effort. I can ride in town at 30 mph in 5th gear and it just pulls cleanly all the way up when I go out on the highway...and a really annoying pinging problem that plagues these bikes when they are cold (I know, not what you would expect) is now gone. I'm still getting over 50 mpg, and when the tach hits 4K, you better be holding on tight!

OK I put in a Dynojet stage one kit today, and she runs great!  I had to watch about four YouTube videos before I had the guts to get in there myself and do the job, and I'm glad I did, because i hate surprises and not knowing what to take off and stuff.  Anyway, I drilled out the plug and saw that the stock setting for the mixture was one and three-quarter turns, and then I set it two turns out.  I changed over the main jet to the right one for aftermarket exhaust with baffles, and I put in the new needle with e-clip on the third groove as they recommended.  All is well now – after about three minutes with the choke out (It's cold today), I can push it all the way in and she runs like a top.  Thanks for all your help!

[LarryInSeattle]

I ride year around in the Seattle area.

Stock pipes, stock everything.  I pull the choke out on start up, let it run while I put on my gloves and helmet (required in this state) and by the time I am out of 2nd gear, I can push in the choke and never use it again until the next day no matter what the temperature is outside.

Maybe I am lucky.  Maybe it is because my bike is stock and I run SeaFoam in my gas tank in the winter when the fuel consumption gets a little long between fill ups.

Whatever the case, I wouldn't change anything on my bike.  I like the looks, the sound and the performance.

If anything, I would like to put a cast wheel on the back so that I could run a car tire.  My last car tire on the Goldwing, I got 25,000 miles out of it.   Now I couldn't turn cuz the tire face was flat, but it wasn't much of a inconvenience to get off the bike and lift the front end to point it where I wanted it to go.

[Troll]

Yeah, this is what bugs me about this -- the crapshoot factor.  You buy these parts and spend a couple hours to change them out, and then probably it goes the other way and you have to go back in there a couple of times because of the learning curve.

Carb jetting is more of an art than a real science. If you get a specific kit, say a DynoJet kit, designed for your application, then most of the work is done for you. It might not be perfect first time out, but it'll be pretty close. I had to readjust my W-650 a couple of times after I modded the air box, and you have to take the carb rack completely off to do it right...It was definitely worth the effort. I can ride in town at 30 mph in 5th gear and it just pulls cleanly all the way up when I go out on the highway...and a really annoying pinging problem that plagues these bikes when they are cold (I know, not what you would expect) is now gone. I'm still getting over 50 mpg, and when the tach hits 4K, you better be holding on tight!

[Tfrank59]

I opened up the pilot jet and adjusted it to 2 1/2 turns out and improved things to some extent.

Recently I put shims under the needles in my new W650 to very good effect. I think I will do that to the Drifter when I have a bit of spare time. When I do, I will take photos and do a short tutorial. I am running stock air-boxes and exhausts with intact baffles on both bikes, so the stock jetting in theory should be close. A bigger main jet and after-market needles with tapers specific to the application may even work better. I'm just gonna' take baby steps and see what happens.

I have a set of four adjustable needles from an Ivan's jet kit for my ZRX floating around in my stash of jets as well as the stock ZRX needles. The ZRX runs four of the same Keihn CV36 carbs that the Drifter 800 uses. I kind of wonder how one of them might work on the Drifter 800. I am sure that it would be a real crap shoot.  

Yeah, this is what bugs me about this -- the crapshoot factor.  You buy these parts and spend a couple hours to change them out, and then probably it goes the other way and you have to go back in there a couple of times because of the learning curve.

[kfoster]

I opened up the pilot jet and adjusted it to 2 1/2 turns out and improved things to some extent.

Recently I put shims under the needles in my new W650 to very good effect. I think I will do that to the Drifter when I have a bit of spare time. When I do, I will take photos and do a short tutorial. I am running stock air-boxes and exhausts with intact baffles on both bikes, so the stock jetting in theory should be close. A bigger main jet and after-market needles with tapers specific to the application may even work better. I'm just gonna' take baby steps and see what happens.

I have a set of four adjustable needles from an Ivan's jet kit for my ZRX floating around in my stash of jets as well as the stock ZRX needles. The ZRX runs four of the same Keihn CV36 carbs that the Drifter 800 uses. I kind of wonder how one of them might work on the Drifter 800. I am sure that it would be a real crap shoot.  

[greenbarn]

Like Troll said - blame the EPA anemic jetting.  Jet it up a bit. 

[CDNRatMan]

  My bike no matter what the ambient temps are I need to start with the choke first thing every morning. Then once I have it warmed up it is good for the rest of the day. Even during Drift In every morning had to start with the choke out and let it run a few min and then slide it in and we were good to go.
Here in the cold fall mornings I can go about 10 miles before I can push the choke all the way in.

[Troll]

Plug heat range has nothing to do with engine temperature. Fuel mixture has EVERYTHING to do with plug heat range AND engine temperature. 800s, indeed, just about anything with a carb, have issues with the EPA mandated emissions...too lean in the off-idle circuit, the air temperature would have to be 100 before it was near correct...or maybe you would have to ride at 5000' to get it close....

[Tfrank59]

So I think I read on one of these posts that I'm not the only one whose bike has a heart as cold as a wife's?  I mean, it's not all that cold yet here in the Seattle area, but last night as I was riding home from work it seem like the bike never even got warm.  Today I rode it, it is only about 50 something degrees, but again she took like about 5 miles and 10 minutes to get warm --is that normal?  I'm running the stock heat range on my plugs – I think it's a 9 – should I go one heat range hotter?