choke......Intruder 800
 

Hi

Jason has an Intruder 800 that MIGHT have a malfunctioning choke. The bike is hard to start--almost impossible if it's cold and okay if it's been sitting in the sun on a good day at 17 degrees or so. When the bike IS running, if you open the choke, the revs don't increase.

On my bike, it doesn't matter if the engine is warmed--if I open the choke the rev's increase. I'm using that as an indication that the choke is functional. Since it doesn't do that on Jason's can I assume something isn't cool with the choke?

Is there a way to test the choke? Something else I can look at?

Thanks
Kit

Choke problems
 

Follow the choke cable (if it has one) down to the carburator and tug on the outer housing of the choke cable. It should come out a bit and make the motor respond by reving up. Usaly the cable corrodes and gets stuck or where the choke screws into the carb the choke piston corrodes and needs to be freed up. For the cable.... replacement is the best way to fix it. If the choke piston is siezed you can usally free it up with WD40 and patience. If all of that is good the carb needs to be taken apart and cleaned. The choke is actuly a simple carb with fuel and air metering. Go on line to one of the sites that sellls Suzuki parts and print off a blowup of the carb. Patience is 90% of mechanics.

follow up
 

Cheers Bill. I'll go have a look.
Kit

On the right track
 

It sounds to me like Bill has put you on the right track. Sometimes, if the bike has been sitting for a while, the choke fuel curcuit blocks with crud. A blow-out with compressed air (careful not to loose parts!) can work. If the crud is oxidised aluminium from the carb body or dried fuel residue, then the never-fail way to deal with it is with Yamaha Carb Cleaner (from your Yamaha dealer, even if they have never heard of it!). Don't follow the instructions! They tell you to pour it neat into the tank. The way to treat your carb is a 50% mix with water, immerse the carb as dismantled as you can, and heat (not boil) for about 20 minutes. Rinse several times in warm water and leave to dry or blow with air. The carb will look like new. It doesn't touch rubber of brass parts. I have resurected many carbs, white with corrosion, on my collection of 35+ '60's and '70s Jap bikes that have been under hedges and in sheds unused for 10 or 20 years this way. At worst I have had to dunk the carb twice. Keep the carb cleaner! I am using the same mix now for more than five years. Thanks to Craig Faith who runs a business selling new and restoring old Yamahas for that trick.

Regards
Nigel in NZ