I posted a bit about this on the oil filter thread, but shouldn't have, as it was off topic. Here's the deal. Got my p650 today, and love it so far. A few complaints/observations.

-hard to start. Didn't want to start period with the choke pulled, had to turn the choke off and give a little thumb throttle to get it started. Once it was warmed up, still required a bit of thumb throttle goose to get it fired up.

-when I rode for the very first time, it sputtered and coughed a bit (I let it warm up idling for a few minutes before riding) and when i'd stop with it in low, the engine would idle barely for a second and stall. Then I had some smoke coming up from it when I stopped. All of this in 2wd low. After riding for a while, these symptoms went away and didn't return. It does just BARELY idle when stopped in gear.

-Had to gas it a bit to get the shifter to move from L/H to neutral/reverse. Maybe the idle is too low?


What do you guys think? I have 12 miles and overall love it, aside from these few concerns.

 

Lightman,

I have found that if your transmission is under load(like when stopped on a hill and in gear) it is sometimes hard to shift. I usually give it a small shot of gas to start moving foreward and then hold in the brake. This unloads the transmission allowing it to shift more easily. As for starting, I always use full choke and no gas. When it starts idleing slowly I take the choke off all together and it runs fine. If it is really cold like below zero deg. F I rev the engine mildly before taking the choke off. I hope this helps.

ED

 

Starting: I have to give a little teeny throttle to start it. I think many if not most are like that.

Shifting: The shifter is like that. You can rock the machine with your weight, blip throttle a little right before you shift, or adjust idle a touch faster. Adjusting the belt tight will permanently fix this, since it always makes the belt move a little. Mine hasn't done that in many many miles since I adjusted the belt tight.

Smoking? I don't know why it would do that. I hope it wasn't light grey smoke. Check your air screws (idle mixture). Most of us have turned them out a little richer. The needles that come in the dynojet kit are adjustable, and I have mine adjusted to where my 650 runs much better, little or no coughing, best low throttle response. Might make yours run a bit nicer.

Don't break it in easy. Don't go over half throttle (so says owners manual), but don't baby it either. You have to give it gas for significant amounts of time to make the rings seat. Avoid lowest rpms, and avoid high rpms. The only way you can do all that is ride it.

 

I haven't been babying it but haven't gone over half either. I think the smoke was white or blueish, not really sure. It smelled crappy and seemed to come off the right side by the foot stands. Kinda worried me. I just figured it was new parts breaking in, because the whole rest of the day I didn't smell anything whatsoever. This bike has 4 miles on it, from taking it out front every day and back to the showroom for a few weeks they had it I guess. I thought maybe all this excess low rpm use might have caused the smoking, and it was kinda burning out the gunk. Maybe the first time the exhaust system fully heated up? Sounds like a very high tech analysis, i know, lol.

What about cold starts, the 1st one? I had much trouble. I tried with the choke pulled and it just turned over and over. Then closed the choke and got it to start with no choke and some gas. I dont like to have to rev it up to keep it going at first start, I think it should start with the choke pulled.

 

Congrats!!I just got my 650 Thanksgiving and I love it!! I have had every single thing happen to mine that you describe. Heres what I did.
Hard to Start: Since the engine is not broken, It is tight and more cold natured than it will be. Even when it is broken, most all large bore engines are a little cold blooded. I choke fully and give a little throttle, fires right up and idles fine. After a few seconds I go to about half choke and let her warm up.

Sputter/Cough: The 650s idle circuit is a bit lean. Adjust the Idle mixture screws on each carb to about 3 turns out(give or take a little) Helps the cough and also starts even easier.

Smoke: The new engine is coated with several things from paint overspray to cosmolene. After a while the smoke and smell will disappear.

Hard to shift: Adjust your idle speed. If you get it too high or too low shifting will be more difficult. Just right you will hear a single click when engaging and it will be easy.

Do yourself a favor and install the black driven spring asap and adjust your belt. I checked mine after only 62 miles and it had nearly 1.5" of deflection. Nyroc has lots of good advice on his website about this and other 650 topics.

Hope this helps.

 

Hey bro,

glad to see you got your 650....

now to cover your concerns....

The smoke you saw or smelled early in the riding... I had the same thing and it's just from some type of sealant chemical or something they spray on the engine/exhaust parts or whatever... Mine came from around the footpegs/engine area also and went away fairly quickly. It startled me at first until I noticed the smell, which was very familiar... If you've owned many new cars, like very new cars.. just on the lot buys and without any miles you will have experience with this smell... It's completely common and nothing to worry about.


The idling problem... on the right side of the machine (when you're sitting on it) is the idle adjust.. Crank up the 650 and adjust the idle a bit until it idles comfortably. Adjusting the idle higher also helps with the shifting of the gears. What someone said about transmission being under bind... this is true.. Ever parked a car with an automatic on a incline and had a little trouble getting it to shift outta park?

The starting problem... I turn my choke to full, hit the start and blip the throttle just a tad. It starts right up, then after maybe 2-3 seconds I turn the choke completely off and it idles fine, that's when I let it warm up for a few minutes just for whatever reason.. I do that startup procedure and take right off on it and it won't die.. In fact, I've never had it die on me when I've started it up. *Knock on wood*

Welp, hope ya enjoy the bike.. I'm sure you will.. as always, just ask if you have any more questions.. that's what we're here for...

 

thanks, glad to hear you had the smoking for a bit too, that was worrying me. Maybe nyroc was riding too fast his first time to notice =] I took it pretty slow as this was my first atv experience, period.

after riding a while, if I come to a stop, and try to shift to neutral, its not possible, i have to blip the throttle and then it goes. Sometimes makes a grinding type noise, like when I used to put my stickshift wrangler in reverse. Who knows, I only used reverse 3 times ever so far, maybe it all needs to loosen up and break in a bit. Only has 14 miles so far.

Anyone think 6 miles is a lot for a new atv to have on it? He said they've been moving it outside during the day and back in at night for a few weeks. He also said kaw recently started breaking in the engines slightly at the factory/testing them, and all new kaw atvs come with 3 miles from the factory. Anyone else have a few miles on theirs when they were new?

 

damn bodyman.. i start writing my reply and then browse off to the chatroom for a few minutes... come back and finish and you've beat me to the punch and answered every single problem with the exact same answer almost... geez...

haha... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Lightman,

My brand new 03' (When I got it 3 months ago )had 4 tenths of a mile on both the odo and the trip.

ED

 

Don't sweat it, Nyroc did the same thing to me.