Can anyone help me understand how a standard choke lever should work.? Mine seems to have just two setting, either off or when rotated it clicks to Tehran position that seems to be full on, as when I hit the starter button with the choke in this position it races and it not really a usable setting. I therefore wondered if you should be able to set the lever at several positions rather than just on & off. It would therefore be good to understand how it should work as standard.
Mine has ON, OFF and HALFWAY........ There is a positive 'stop' at halfway. Full ON, mine will race, starting at 3000 rpm rising to 4000 rpm (although in the cold it needs FULL but once running I drop it back to HALFWAY). Halfway, it will start at 3000 rpm and stay there, so I back it off a tiny amount and it drops to say, 2700 rpm. If it drops below 2500 rpm it then starts to falter. If you don't have a HALFWAY 'stop', will it actually stay at HALFWAY if you set it at that point, or will it drop to OFF?
They should start this time of year with just the smallest amount of choke and no throttle. Mine fires first time, choke can then be turned off virtually as you ride off
There is a knack to starting them from cold Trying to get them to idle at 1500 revs is an art form The amount of times I thought I had it and she would bloody stop
Thanks everyone. Just to confirm, I have no problem starting her, she fires up first time and with a bit of throttle she will then tick over at ~1200rpm. If I do apply choke it seems to have to be all or nothing. So Arquebus, I have not halfway setting and it is difficult to set it slightly on etc or indeed halfway. I had a problem with the choke lever so I replaced the lever with a new item and hence my question as I think I may have fitted it incorrectly. Looks like I need to take it apart again and double check the cable routing etc to make sure it is OK.
Apart from the handlebar lever assembly, the sliding assembly behind the carbs can be a nuisance with it sticking......you can just about see the operation and movement of it with a torch..... .......It's pretty much impossible to assemble it incorrectly though. I have had another look at mine today.........It is quite hard to push to HALFWAY and ON, but when pulled back to HALFWAY, if I ease it too far towards OFF, it will spring back to OFF. There is definitely something like a sprung loaded detent at HALFWAY, but I can't say if this is caused by the handlebar control or at the mechanism behind the carbs. I suppose there could be a ball bearing and spring inside the choke parts.... In the parts manual, there appears to be a screw which appears to go through a disc on the left side of the choke mechanism (disc is same diameter as the choke mech) and into the choke mech........ There is also a 'lug' on the choke mech which is supposed to line up with a 'lug' on the clutch lever bracketry....see pic....
I have a spare handle bar unit hear(good job I have I i broke the one on the 400 when I picked it up). There are 3 notches on the part that screws the the master and a sort of bit on the rotating part that drops in the notches. I take it the three are on, half on and off. Not sure if this helps, but both mine operate the same as Als, bout 4000rpm on 3000 half and 1400 rpm idle, idles with no problem, but dose need half to start then knocked off after a few hundred yards
Looks like Lumbux and I have our bikes set-up roughly the same for the pilot screws and mixture then........ .......although mine idles at 1050 - 1100 rpm.......... That reminds me...........must look at my plugs after the Super Sausage run last Sunday.......
Buy flatslides cause they have No choke! Seriously though, mine did the same before I took them off. I usually found that when I needed to use choke I put it to full..leave it for a bit racing then back it off to half and set off, taking choke off after a short bit of time.
With the Stage 2 Dynojet kit and straight through exhaust running it on full choke is a little raunchy!
Same as mine then.............I use half choke max in this weather if I need it at all........In cold weather, 5 seconds at FULL and then to HALFWAY........then 5 seconds more and it is a bit under HALFWAY..........
Count yourself lucky, then..................I have seen on Ducatisti website and here, quite a few people give up on them and sell them cheap........ -ish.
LOL used to entertain the old dear next door, she was a dispatch rider during WW2. Never used much choke, only enough to get it started then she ran fine. Have you left the carbs or stripped and cleaned them? The last time I recall she was running a bit lumpy.
