starting bike with a hair dryer - rant

[rubyhorse2]

so fed up, glorious day so thought i'd ride into work on the KTM Adventure. opened the garage and its 5deg...immediately think the worst, tried to start her, refused. hair dryer out and heater, warm the garage up for 30 mins and boom she starts

so who else started their bike with a hair dryer this morning

Love KTM but fitting a shite starter motor and refusing to accept its not up to the job really pisses me off.

[Matt B]

You sure it's not the battery?
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[Monkeypony]

What sort of an 'adventure' are you going to have on a bike that needs to be started with a damn hairdryer every time it's a bit cool!

For the record, my fragile Italian superbike started just fine
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[davethekwak]

[rubyhorse2]

its an issue KTM are well aware of but choose to ignore..bikes a 2013 model i think they upgraded the starter on later models after realising they'd fitting a sub standard part.

£8000 bike which i cant use for 4 months of the year

Ready to race...but only if its warm outside

[Rogerborg]

So cost up an upgrade and invoice them.
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[rubyhorse2]

replacement starter about £350 not including labour. even had a dealer say the starter isnt broken but a better upgraded one is available...basically admitting its a sub standard part fitted.

just sent a complaint to KTM, had enough now.

[andyscooter]

My Indian toy did on the button

And hadn't been used all week
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[Matt B]

[Rogerborg]

Is it not spinning fast enough, or not turning at all?

My Nazi Tractor sometimes hesitates when starting, just when hitting the first compression stroke. The electrics go a bit spazzy, first world problem.

I can ameliorate it by knocking it into 1st, rolling it forward and giving it a hard push against the compression, then back to neutral. It then tends to start up freely.

Worth trying?
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[arry]

Mine has the same engine, so presumably starter, and starts just fine in all weathers

[stinkwheel]

Why would temperature have a significant effect on your starter motors ability to turn your engine over?

Yes, if it is EPIC cold (like double minus figures), the oil will tend to thicken to treacle and make it harder to turn over. But not at temperatures we're getting in March in the UK while using a good multigrade oil. Definately not at 5 degrees celcius.

So. On the assumption what you're on about is that the engine wont spin over in cool conditions, you don't have enough cranking amps from the battery. The starter motor will produce the same power and torque regardless of temperature (within reason) but only if it has enough amps coming from the battery. Low cranking amps may be because the battery is fucked, badly connected, not big enough or not being charged properly. I'd take it to someone with a battery load tester to see if it's up to spec. and if it's not, replace it (take the battery to a battery factors rather than a KTM dealer).

If what you mean is the engine will turn over but the bike will only start in warm conditions, that's a cold starting issue and is to do with fuelling. In a modern bike probably a sensor issue or a problem with the FI control unit. Admittedly cold starting can be an issue with big singles but 5 degrees is not what I'd consider cold.
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[Teflon-Mike]

I'd second stink; it's ore likely they have fitted a more marginal battery, than a more marginal starter.
Starter may still be marginal, but, if warming the garage up a few degrees makes that much difference, its most likely increasing the rate of reaction in the battery electrolyte and getting a couple of extra cranking amps from it, than lowerig the resistance of the pound of copper wire in the starter windings to drop the current draw, or thinning the oil and grease enough to make much odds.

But it is an KTM......

I wouldn't assume just because the factory fitted an 'alternative' starter at some point that it was necessarily an 'upgrade'. Switch would more likely t have been made for cost-cutting as anything. I WOULD take pretty good guess that the battery was under-sized to fit in space left by the stylists, and or loose a few grams off the dry-weight, and or, more likely and, for cost cutting! Meanwhile if cold cranking was an issue, it would be perverse to fit a lower powered starter... solution would be a more powerful one, that would beg a beefier battery

If starter will spin engine up... I wold
1/ Try use it more! Keep battery better topped up & parts from gumming
2/ Stick battery on charge for ten minutes before trying to start (Rather than a hair-dryer/heater!)
3/ Check battery terminals, starter cables, relay and earths.
4/ Check battery electrolyte levels / drop test charge capacity
5/ Replace battery.... Seven-Fifty's has just managed 3-years, which is probably a record; most are knackered after about 18months!
6/ If I cant use it more, & a ten minute charge isn't enough, with new battery and clean contacts.... MIGHT capitulate to the 'occasional biker' recourse of a trickle-charger/optimizer.

But if THIS is all I had to grumble about from a Viennese Wurlitzer? I think I'd probably just count my blessings!
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[Arcane1729]

my bike started cold at a push after 3 weeks of solid abuse
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[M.C]

[Arcane1729]

[Teflon-Mike]

[mentalboy]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[ADSrox0r]

[Teflon-Mike]

[BTTD]

[RhynoCZ]

[Teflon-Mike]

[NutsyUk]

Even my shitty lexmoto starts up in subzero temps :p

Bit stupid that a bike that costs as much as that one does cant manage to start up... Sure maybe bikes need to warm up after starting cold for a little.... but not actually start at all cold... Not good.

Oh and yeah. Yesterday i picked up my bike to take down where I was staying... And it started first time... Sat in the shed for nearly 2 months... and started WOOoooo...
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