Whats the secret to starting
 

Had my first ride on the new bike this week end.. AWESOME!! the bike ran so nice and smooth. I deff need to adjust the rear shock little to low and squishy but, that is for another time. there were about 8 of us so much fun to be back into it.
The day did not start out that way though. I live in the north east (RI) it was about 28 degrees Sunday morning. I could not start my bike for anything. In the end I had to have some one tow me in 2nd gear to get it to fire up then as it caught dropped in neutral and let idle till all the components were nice and warm.
I had the choke on, gas was on.. not sure what else could have been done. Have tons of jokes I could be making about warming up but, will leave that for the imagination.

I read pre the new release of KLX (I have a 2009) it can be difficult to start when cold but, that hard? Is that a norm or should I start looking into a new spark plug (which I am going to get a new one anyway) or any tips or tricks? Or is that just how it is?

There is another thread that someone jsut posted about the same issue I am having when starting. Looks like members are responding to that one. I will re view that and see if the info helps.
If you read this please post to: to keep in one thread.
https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...affeled-46276/

Get your self a Dynojet kit and install per instructions as you just put a Q4 pipe on. I would also order a 38 pilot jet. I am just next door in Ma. My bike starts anytime and everytime.

Yep, jetting. Either do Dyno Jet or the recommended Kiehin jets from Kawasaki.

If you get into the valves disable the compression release too and if you have the skills, do the MCM (look at stickies in the KLX250 sub-forum).

Mine has started fine at around 3 degrees F. Only problem I ever have is with stale gas in the carb, draining takes care of that, but that takes like a month to go bad.

That is great.. I road with a group of about 8 people. I was the only one on two wheels. Next time we are going to go out riding if your interested will let you know and you can meet up with us. This last time we were trail riding in chepachet RI.

I did the .018 drill bit trick to the choke jet and it worked perfectly. It was almost impossible to get my bike to start even after re-piping and re jetting the carb. Now it starts with little fuss.

Take care,
Mike

@miketravis I am going to have to look up a vid on how to do the .018 drill bit trick. I do plan on jetting the carb after some of the suggestion from this thread and also modding the air box. Do you have quick hit vid for the .018 trick?

Look at the Cheap hop up in my signature. Drilling the jet is no big trick. Just do not use a power drill and read what to do. It is pretty simple, a drill bit a pin vise for it, and a dab of grease to put on the drill to collect the chips.

OR, before disassembling your carb and making permanent alterations with drill bits, set up your carb correctly - Set your fuel screw to 3 turns out from lightly seated. After setting the fuel screw to 3 out, set hot idle speed to 1250 rpm. Drain a little gas out of the bowl before a cold start.. If you carb is functioning properly, you'll get improved (or fixed) cold starts, and improved throttle responses.

Klxster, the only downside with tweaking other elements of the pilot/idle circuit to overcome a cold starting KLX is that those adjustments will be present when you're operating at higher altitudes or in other adverse conditions. Your adjustment can/will aid in cold starting in most cases, but they will be present in all cases. The beauty of the choke/starting jet enlarging is that it is only in play when the choke knob is engaged. Otherwise it's completely out of the carb's operating range.

I like as reasonably small and relatively lean an idle/pilot circuit as I can get that will not contribute to an off idle stumble when you turn the throttle tube. I have found a somewhat rich idle/pilot circuit that aids cold starting to be an annoyance when riding in rough terrain and especially in steep descents. You're completely off the throttle more times than you think in some of those kinds of conditions, and when that occurs, a slightly rich idle/pilot circuit is not usually a benefit and can actually cause a stumble when you get back on the throttle.

As they say, there is usually always more than one way to skin a cat...or tune a carb in some cases.