Winter riding, tuning tips

[SBC350]

Hi, I'm planning to ride my new GIO X33 and my GIO 125cc, tomorrow (Monday 6th), and I want to know what kind of bike prep/tuning you do when ride during the colder days.

Monday the forecast is 0C / 32F, and thats probably the colder I will be willing to ride.

Ive read some carb tuning tip, but i'm clueless when it comes to carb and I dont want to cause engine damage by riding a lean carb...

Let me know!
Thank you
Alex

[MICRider]

Hopefully wanynev will see this and post, he knows carbs inside and out and runs sleds in the winter so knows about the jetting requirements for cold temps. Mine usually wont start much below zero Celsius so I don't have to worry about it. Dress warm!

[simonw]

for winter riding you will love those handle bar socks.
as to carb (please correct me if I am wrong), cold air is denser so more oxygen available, so I adjust the air screw or fuel screw(depending on your carb) to richen the mix. on my dr650 1/4 turn seems to work good.
if you are going to try this method, keep an eye on the plug to make sure it not too lean.

[SBC350]

As per the website, the GIO X33 has a PZ26 carburetor and as per Walbro PZ26 manual there are only 2 adjusting screws on the side, Idle speed and idle mixture.

So the screw you are refering is the Idle mixture or something I dont seem to have ?

[Weldangrind]

Simon is referring to the idle mixture screw.

I'd drop the clip on the slider needle to richen the mixture, and watch the plug, just as Simon suggested.

[SBC350]

how hard is it to adjust the clip on the needle ? never done it, im a complete moron when it comes to carb.
im kinda scared of them :oops:

Any manual or pictures ?

[waynev]

Moving the jet needle clip is quite simple as long as you don't lose the little c-clip when doing it, i made a vid awile back for another fellow, see below. Normally for every 7 deg C you need to change 1 jet size, if it gets colder you need to go to a bigger main jet, if it gets warmer then you can goto a smaller main jet, the one thing you need to know first is if your running the right sized main jet in there already, checking the spark plug will aid you in determining that, plug too black is too rich, a white plug is too lean.
If your unsure about tuning the mikuni carb i would read through this http://www.iwt.com.au/mikunicarb.htm it will explain what jet handles which part of the throttle position and how to adjust them, the main and pilot jet are simply changed by removing the fuel bowl from the bottom of the carb and then unscrew the old and in with the new.




And one other pic for reference

[Weldangrind]

Excellent job Wayne. With one hand, too!

[waynev]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

Excellent job Wayne. With one hand, too!

Had no tripod

[SBC350]

Worst case can I ride with the choke slightly applied? as lazy as it may sound it is I might just ride 1 or 2 hours depending on the weather, so i dont want to play around my carb just for couple hours of riding.

I dont mind setting it up for my summer month riding.

Let me know my temporary options, if they do exist, i not i will adjust the jet clip only for now. if thats enough ?

[FastDoc]

Before you act just ride it and see if you indeed have a problem. I've ridden year round forever and have never had a carbureted bike act up once warmed up in the cold weather.

[waynev]

Originally Posted by SBC350

Worst case can I ride with the choke slightly applied? as lazy as it may sound it is I might just ride 1 or 2 hours depending on the weather, so i dont want to play around my carb just for couple hours of riding.

I dont mind setting it up for my summer month riding.

Let me know my temporary options, if they do exist, i not i will adjust the jet clip only for now. if thats enough ?

Since i doubt you'll be doing much full throttle i would think you'll be safe lowering the jet needle clip, this will richen up the midrange, you may also need to richen up the low end with a bit of adjustment to the A/F screw, as always mentioned, keep an eye on your plug to make sure your not too lean, that will hurt your motor, based on my expereince with my GIO 200cc beast and my GIO 250cc X31 i could hear it backfiring and missing on the top end before i rejetted to richen it up.

[SBC350]

Where can I get a tuning kit for our carburetor ??
For the PZ26 on the X33 and the GIO 125?

[waynev]

Originally Posted by SBC350

Where can I get a tuning kit for our carburetor ??
For the PZ26 on the X33 and the GIO 125?

If you mean finding replacement jets, i'd take the pilot and main to your local motorcycle shop and have them match them up to a mikuni or Kehien part #, the size of the jet will be marked on them, you only then need to determine bigger or smaller.

Usually they can find them in the "Motovan" catalogue.

http://www.motovan.com/common/catalog/2010moto_en.html

Page 638-640 are the jets they have.