winter and dirt bike

[idcountryboy1]

i would like it if everyone would put down what they do to keep there bikes running good in the cold i woke up today and it was 12 out so it get cold i need some ideas

[panterra_rider]

toughest part is getting it started...once it's warmed up it's good to go - from my experience. Just have to drive with choke on longer. Could switch to a more viscous synthetic oil???

Cheers,
R.

[ambassador]

Country,
I moved to Florida, that helped alot, Kidding... More choke...

[katoranger]

Switch to a lighter oil. If it is that cold probably a 5w30.

Also placing a heat lamp near the crankcase will help with the starting. Snowblower trick. Also worked good on the diesel injection pumps.

Make sure the choke is working properly.

Dress warm.

Allen

[HardlyDangerous]

I recommend Amsoil 0W-40 engine oil for cold weather.
be sure to warm up the engines really well before you ride off,

You will also want to adjust your mixture screw out 1/2 turn or more for a bit easier starting and better throttle responce, and for really cold weather you may even want to drop the needle clip 1 notch. I also like to move up 1 heat range on the spark plug and prefer iridium plugs over copper core plugs.

I also recommend buying a battery float charger something under 1 amp
harbor freight sells a decent little charger for around $5. you can simply hard wire a plug to the battery so you can just plug the charger in without removing plastics or the seat etc.

In cold weather i prefer to kick start engines that have them. it usually cranks the engines over faster the the starter does. the trick is to turn the engine over slowly until you feel heavy resistance on the kick start pedal, this means the piston is on the compression stroke. once you feel this it's ready for a hard kick. Be sure when starting a cold engine you use the choke and DO NOT open the throttle. opening the throttle will lean the mixture and makes cold starting harder. wait until it fires up before you touch the throttle.

[katoranger]

Great tip on the kickstarting.

It doesn't get that cold here in GA, but I do have a 1/2 amp charger for my battery.

Allen

[idcountryboy1]

thanks so much on the kick starting i didnt know half that stuff