My 2-stroke don't like the cold

Any suggestins for keeping my RXS100 from stalling all the time in the cold
mornings? It works great above 3 degrees C, but I'm having fun and games in
heavy commuter traffic stopping it stalling at every opportunity. Teenage
dirtbiker down the road tells me its a common 2 stroke problem (is it?) but
not how to fix it. I can just about keep it going by a combination of
revving the crap out of her and pulling the choke out on the way up to
junctions.

Given I've nly been being for 3 weeks this is a bit nervewracking. Mind you
my kickstart techniques has improved immensely

Have contemplated partially blocking the air intake, maybe gaffa-taping some
thickish but porous cloth over it or something? Or is that a no-no? Used to
work on my mk3 escort radiator in winter... Also the battery is permanently
teeterring on flatness, mainly due to me having the lights on all the time
in the dark or fog - does that cause stalling too?

Robert

 

Put the throttle needle down a couple of notches to make it run a bit
richer.
Worked for me in the reverse this summer.

 

Try increasing the idle speed slightly and increasing the fuel to air
mixture again only slightly

your engine revs at idle should be around 1100 to 1200 rpm on a warm engine

 

If you're not getting to ride it at any speed for any great period of
time it could be possible that you're not charging the battery enough
and the cold weather is making it reluctant to give up what charge it
has.

Might be worth sticking the battery on charge then seeing what the bike
is like with a full battery. It's just a guess though.

 

Lift the needle up a bit to make it richer.
Lower the needle to make a hole in the piston crown.

 

Well mine was running so rich that I was going through spark plugs like
sweets.
After I adjusted the throttle needle, I've used the same plug for the whole
year.

 

YTTTC.

As Eiron says, that makes it run *leaner*.

 

That's not a bad idea. Those 6v systems are marginal at best. I remember
with my old CD175, when the battery got tired, if I put the brake lights
on, with the engine at tickover, it conked out :-/

 

Oh yeah. Oh well. Well the needle needs to be moved to make it run richer.

 

:

A common mistake. I suppose people mean to say something like ' put the
circlip on the needle down a notch or two'.

John

 

Linger said...

I've found that every time I've moved a needle on any 2-stroke[1] it
fucks up the power output and/or power delivery. Leave it where the
factory specs says it should be.

Those Japs know what they're doing when they build bikes, best leave the
carb alone and start looking for the real fault. I reckon Christofire
got it smack on with his duff battery diagnosis.

[1] I've played about with a few in my time.

 

That's what I did. Mine has a summer and winter setting. It was on niether
as the previous owner had fitted a loud can.

Ah so. Mine's a KTM

 

Swat I meant.

 

6v systems aren't bad just they're more susceptible to current drops than
12v (curse you, physics).

IME with MZs dirty connections cause random stalling, clean the battery
terminal and earthing points.

 

Are they prone to carb icing by any chance?

Jb

 

Are what prone to carb icing?

 

The following is mostly IIRC:

Those RXS100s are electrically similar to the older RS100s, which are
similar to early DT125s. The ignition is an energy transfer system (I
think that's what it's called) that runs off its own coil. The rest of
the electrical system has a separate coil; the headlight runs directly
off AC and the battery only powers the tail, brake and indicator
lights.

The rectifier is a single diode (half-wave). The only regulation
present is a ballast resistor for when the headlight's off, and the
battery itself. Don't *think* there's a Zener in the circuit.

 

I wouldn't; it shouldn't need that. Apart from anything else, it will
really richen the full throttle mixture to the detriment of the fuel
economy, power and plug state.

More likely a tired battery or electrical fault - ISRT there's a
ballast resistor for when the headlight's off, so the load would be
pretty much the same IWHT.

Shouldn't do.

Possibly the idle mixture & idle speed need tweaking as has been
mentioned.

Does this only happen when you have the clutch pulled in and in gear?
If so, it could simply be extra clutch drag due to the oil being
colder and possibly the clutch needing adjusting too. You'd notice
other symptoms though in that case, such as difficulty in finding
neutral.

 

bad form an' all, but my .sig contains an OMF#. You have been warned.

 

I have difficulty finding neutral but I suspect it's just me being crap at
it - and the light not always coming on even when I do find it... Is it
normal that it is much easier to find neutral if you quickly flick the power
off at the key then back on again?