First Kick Starts

It's not unrealistic to expect it to start with one kick. My '88 usually starts with one, sometimes 2 kicks on a cold engine.

All i did on my '03 kdx 220 was remove the airbox, and back the airscrew out 1 1/2 turns.
I turn the gas on, let it sit a minute, pull the choke, twist the gas on time quick, and then kick it, and it starts right up.

I'd guess the two examples are fairly common for a bike that is running too rich in the first place.

For sure, an oem jetted kdx (even with the lid off) is way too rich.

Thus the easy starts.

All mechanical items (there are a good number of those) being up to snuff it's not unreasonable to expect your bike to take a kick or two to fire up on a choke-cold start.

A runaway idle on a choke-cold start is indicative of a too-lean pilot circuit (again, mechanical issues notwithstanding). That's why immediately taking the choke off results in your engine 'starves and quits' especially when you give it some throttle.

There is a possibility you are just fine.

My bike @38-148-CEK/3-#7TV and 80-90º is as close to right-on jetwise as it will ever be. Not saying it's off and I don't care...it's as close as it's going to get without things like washers under the needle clip.

It doesn't start first kick. I 'prime' it a kick or two..usually with the kill switch depressed. It starts first kick after that.

If I immediately take the choke off it will likely die. If I leave the choke on for a bit (10-15 seconds) and then let it warm up from there...after a couple minutes I can take off with no 4-stroking and reasonable throttle response. After riding a couple of minutes and obtaining operating temps, the throttle response is much improved.

And it stays that way. I do air screw adjustments during the day depending on temp and elevation changes.

All that said as example of how a bike works that is in excellent mechanical condition (all that 'notwithstanding' stuff above).

If a couple/several kicks bother you...you can turn your AS in 1/2 a turn before you kick it. That might lose you a kick or even two!

re: float too lean

Doubt it. You can check it in 10 minutes if you are worried about it.

Suggestions: (assuming correct jetting and mechanical condition)
Turn in AS 1/2.
'Prime' kick it once or twice


If the 'rev real high' is REAL high, you can keep that down with the kill switch. That will richen it up, too.

When CC said "too lean a pilot curcuit", dont take that to mean you
need to lean you pilot jet. 3 kicks to me is not a problem when cold,
especially since it starts first kick when warm. If it really bothers you,
you can lean the bike over untill gas runs out the carb overflow, before
you cold start and that should help. Remember though...who cares how
your bike runs for the first minute! You dont ride a cold bike, you ride a warm bike. Always jet a warm engine. My jetting is,"if you care" 35-150 cel-3 tv5,
and it always takes 3-4 kicks when cold. But it runs clean,hard and fast when
warm.
Good luck, Steve

Sorry,first line of previous post should read "richen your pilot jet", where it
says lean your pilot jet.
Brain fart.
Steve

The biggest help I've found is the "prime" kick.(took me 2 years to figure that one out) :think: I don't even have to worry about holding down the kill switch. One WOT kick to "prime", then 1-2 closed throttle kicks usually fires 'er right up. Just an info note: My buddies KX 500 starts the same way. :thumb:

re: sticky reeds

I've read that before. Hasn't ever made sense to me as being better than a kick.

Whatever works for you works best........for you.

...like a choke-cold start attempt with any throttle on my bike is likely to call for a couple more kicks. Hands-off throttle works more reliably for me on the kick I want to start it with.

A btw...if you ever have to kick more'n once to restart your bike after its warmed up, try a smidge less AS. My bike can go from one-kick every time to 2-3 kicks every time with the AS out too far by only the width of the screw slot.

On any race when your bike has to start NOW the first kick, the slow kick you mention likely has nothing to do with priming anything. The bikes had better be pretty dang hot already! The soft kick is to feel the stroke so you know you:
1. Are at the top of the stroke
2. Have a 'pedal full of metal' when you DO kick it.

You don't want to be pushing nothing (no A/F mix by starting from BDC) on your first kick, and you don't want to have the kicker pawl down by one either!

Not to rain on the parade...but..

IF a runaway high idle on a choke-cold start is due to a too-lean pilot, changing the needle clip position will at best mask the real situation at the expense of where the clip position actually works (about 1/8-3/4).

What you HAVE indeed found out is that relatively small adjustments to the carb can have large effect on overall operation of the engine.

Something to consider regarding all the other circuits in there, 'eh?

The choke knob on my '91 wont stay open, I have to hold it open. I took the carb off and gave it a good cleaning but nothing changed. What's the deal?

I've got the same problem with mine. The deal is, it's only plastic that falls into a groove on the choke pull. The plastic wears over time (especially if you get it dirty ;) ). It's something you learn to deal with, unless you want to spend the money to buy a replacement choke. Look on ebay, some people sell whole Kehein carbs for less than what it would cost for a choke assy.

..or, you might try a tie-wrap around the plastic top of the choke assy. That will add some life to your choke 'stop'.

Has worked for me for about six months, now.

BTW, if you have a question or comment that isn't related to the post that started the thread, please do start another thread. No-one looking at 'first kick starts' is going to get the idea there is a pointer in that thread about keihin chokes.