Resist Temptation, the Enricher is Evil
This is one of the most common problems that techs see, and it is a problem that can be entirely avoided if you take the time to pay attention to what you are doing.
We're all guilty of it. It's morning, you want to ride, so you hop on your motorcycle, pull out the choke (or the enricher, to those of you who are hip to Harley lingo), fire up the engine, and let the bike idle for a few minutes. Or maybe you don't have the time to wait, so once the motorcycle is running you throw it into gear and roar out of your driveway, figuring that the bike will warm up along the way. Not a big deal, right?
Wrong, dead wrong.
During cold start ups, the enricher pumps extra fuel to your engine, allowing for much easier starts. Once the engine is running, however, all the extra fuel that the enricher provides is just that, extra. Since your engine can't use all of the fuel that is being dumped into it, all of that excess is being dumped onto your spark plugs, causing your engine to hesitate, lose power, idle rough, and smoke.
Once the motorcycle is started you should push the enricher in as far as possible (while still leaving the motorcycle running) and from that point manually control the motorcycle's warm up with a fast idle. In warmer months, try not to use the enricher at all unless it is necessary.
This is one of the most common problems that techs see, and it is a problem that can be entirely avoided if you take the time to pay attention to what you are doing.
We're all guilty of it. It's morning, you want to ride, so you hop on your motorcycle, pull out the choke (or the enricher, to those of you who are hip to Harley lingo), fire up the engine, and let the bike idle for a few minutes. Or maybe you don't have the time to wait, so once the motorcycle is running you throw it into gear and roar out of your driveway, figuring that the bike will warm up along the way. Not a big deal, right?
Wrong, dead wrong.
During cold start ups, the enricher pumps extra fuel to your engine, allowing for much easier starts. Once the engine is running, however, all the extra fuel that the enricher provides is just that, extra. Since your engine can't use all of the fuel that is being dumped into it, all of that excess is being dumped onto your spark plugs, causing your engine to hesitate, lose power, idle rough, and smoke.
Once the motorcycle is started you should push the enricher in as far as possible (while still leaving the motorcycle running) and from that point manually control the motorcycle's warm up with a fast idle. In warmer months, try not to use the enricher at all unless it is necessary.