JRM gotta sense of humor. I think the intent of the carb heater was to make the stock jetting work better in cold weather, or jetting constistency. I have found it pretty much unnecessary to do anything but full choke if it as warm as 10F. I don't think it was Honda's intent for people to leave their ignition switch on to warm their carb. When it's truly cold, I'm talkin' -teens and -twenties, that would take forever and you want to hold on to all the battery reserve you can. Nope, when the weather turns extreme cold you will need the primer. As previously mentioned, it does make a difference how long the thing been sittin'. The parts of the gas that make your machine start easy are well on there way to evaporating out of your float bowl after only a couple weeks. Under those circumstances, the primer seems to help sometimes too. But the real ticket there is to shut your gas off, find the drain screw on the bottem of your carb and turn out a turn, the gas stored in your carb float bowl will drain out hose underneath machine. retighten drain screw, turn gas back on and wait about 30 seconds for your carb to fill. If you know the things gonna be sitting more than a few weeks, I would do this after your ride. The fuel in the tank keeps much better in a larger quantity, than the only maybe 75cc's actually stored in the carb. Keep in mind too the primer can get you into trouble, if you just keep on pumping it. For the guys here that use them a lot in the winter, ie. ice fishing, the best advice is change to a lighter oil, for now I'd say 5w30, run the hotter spark plug, make sure your battery good and fully charged and know how to use the primer! You do it right and the rubicon will start good in the -20'sF.

 

excellent feedback - thanks for all the info!

it leads to another question.. (i'll start a new thread on this):

if the engine is flooded (read that: i'm an IDIOT and hit the plunger about 6 times too many!) what should i do to get the engine started?

i need to replace the plug (it's extremely fouled), and will adjust the air/fuel mixture. but how can i get it started again?

here's what i THINK i should do:

1. pull plug
2. hit the starter a few times (3-5 seconds at a time)
3. reinstall the new plug
4. pull the choke halfway and start it..

is it hard to pull the carb to drain the fuel?

thanks again!

 

You don't have to pull the carb to drain the gas out of it. the drain screw is the one way at the bottem , facing you horizontally, think it's on the right side. Your procedure looks good, except you may find you need full choke if it is cold.

 

thanks for the info - with the warmer temps (and a clue about what the *ell i'm doing) i should be able to get it running.

 

I also had cold weather starting problems - took awhile, but eventually started. I believe the manual mentions the use of the primer in cold weather. Even without turning the key to start the heater for a few minutes (also in the manual), hitting the primer 2-3 times and using full choke instantly starts every time. Only problem is the primer is buried a bit and it seems like you can hardly press it, but you are.