Slight deteriation in idle and choke needed for longer?

[Srengam]

Hi all,

this morning my bike stalled at the bottom of the lane with the choke off (normally it's fine off by then), it was also a bit of a pain to start again then. But after I got it going again with the choke on, I also felt like I was fighting against revs that were trying to fall low enough to stall the bike as I carried on.

Once it was warm it was OK, but after a 15 mile ride, it didn't idle as steadily as it normlly would, it fluctuately slightly.

Are these early signs of anything?
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Suzuki GSX600F Katana (1997)

[Bezzer]

It's getting colder so will be taking longer to warm up and run properly though 15 miles should be more than enough to sort it. Probably worth a full service including the valve clearances if they haven't been done for a while, easy enough on the oil cooled motors. We're also getting into carb icing weather, the faired oil cooled motors aren't as bad as the naked (Bandit) types, may be a bit of partial icing causing the erratic idling when you throttle off.
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I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite so sure.

[Srengam]

Thanks,

friend in work said give it a bit longer before knocking the choke off too, about a mile he said. I'm also pretty sure it's the cold causing it to be a little unhappy at first until its warm.

And it was fine this morning, idled fine when I got to work.

I'll be hanging my helmet up next week probably so I'll get what you suggest done over the winter now, it proabably needs doing anywyay tbh.

Cheers again.
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Suzuki GSX600F Katana (1997)

[blurredman]

I also advise keeping the choke on for a while. When I last used my GPZ in weather such as this it used to take about a mile just to get off the cold marker on the temperature guage.

If you're worried about control of the bike while it is under choke, put the choke to a positition so that the bike idles at what it would normally. That way, the clutch etc don't seem like they're from a completely different bike.
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CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 18k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 10k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 (295cc) - 40k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 51k.

[mentalboy]

It may be a good idea to check your oil level or even think about changing it ( the Zed does this sort of thing when the oil's getting tired).
Air filter might also be worth checking.
With the onset of crappier weather it's always a good idea to get basic servicing up to scratch to help with smooth running.
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Make mine a Corona.