I have an 06 Rancher that has been hard to start since I bought it new in 06. Not only is it hard to start when cold, but after it has been run too. It is in the shop right now being looked at, they said the carb is dirty. I can't believe that it has been dirty since I bought it? They are going to clean the carb and re-tune it. I have considered buying a kit with the K&N and jet to see if that makes a difference. Has anyone else had an issue similar to mine, what did you do about it?
We have two more Ranchers (04 and 05) and both of them start and idle no problem.

Thanks
Brian

 

The bike may need to be properly jetted for your area (elevation and temperature). Its possible that gas sat in the carb too long before you bought it and a cleaning may fix it. See what it is like when you get it back before playing with the jets. You may need to raise or lower the needle, or play with the mixture screw.

 

These things are jetted lean to meet emissions to begin with, so it doesn't take much in the way of carb varnish to make it run poorly. I'd imagine they will also make sure the intake manifold isn't leaking in air.

I'd agree with Action450s, in that wait until you get it back from the dealer before you start thinking about changes. Most likely a quick cleaning, maybe a tweek of the mixture screw, and it will run perfect.

Welcome to the forum, and let us know how it turns out.

 

Thanks for the help. I haven't run any kind of carb cleaner through it since i have had it. I do use gas satbilizer in all of the gas that is used in it and I always shut of the valve and run the gas out of it before I put it up. It rarely sits for more than aweek before being ran agin. I'll wait and see haw it does when it comes back from the shop.

 

I run seafoam in the gas at least once a year....helps prevetn alot of these problems.

 

I had a 250ex that did that, it was a month old and it had a bad spark plug.

 

Good point. When an engine is brand new and the rings aren't seated, a few brief runs on a cold start can easily foul or partly foul a plug... like pulling it into and out of a dealer's show room, or onto and off of a trailer...

I also try to avoid running fuel stabilizer unless the machine is going to be sitting for months, and also be careful not to use more than the recommended amount.

 

Just got it back. I'll let it sit overnight then try it in the morning. I'll lay off the stabilizer and see if that helps.

Thanks for the help guys.