250-500cc 2000 Husqvarna WR 360 hard start

Hello all,

I love this bike through and through. However, the only complaint I have is the hard starts. There is no decompression head on it either. I realize that due to that fact it will naturally feel tough to kick over; however, it takes like 20-25 kicks to even get the bike to want to fire. Once the bike is running it runs flawlessly. I am mechanically inclined in all aspects besides carburation. Does anyone have any insight or suggestions to help me better my problem. Even when the bike has been warmed up and shut off it takes many kicks to start back up! Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks, Matt

I have a 99 and had that problem a friend helped sort it out, mine turned out to be ignition
start wit the jetting, the book gives a pretty good line on the basics that will get you on a close enough course
mine would start cold but not hot, so not sure it's the same
dumb question what is your starting procedure

I bought a used 2001 WR 360 2 years ago (zero history on bike)....with OEM Mikuni carb...ran ok for a couple months, ... then ran into starting issues...would take 20-40 kicks....simply exhausting, I made up new curse words every time out!!! then I bought a used PWK, not sure if its a 36 or 38, that did help..no jetting just bolted it on! Last Dec i lost main rod bearing, after waffling on fixing it or selling it, i fixed it, complete rebuild; lower, top end, replated cylinder, the whole bit... once assembled and again w/o jetting PWK...it started on 2nd kick; now it starts 2-3rd kick 'every-time'...compression is WAY up...still a difficult kick due the nature of the bike, but much much easier to start!!!...my crank seals must have been shot...literally today i finally did some jetting on PWK....and i'll be damned its carburating very cleanly...i can't wait to get to my riding area to give it real world evaluation.

I haven't had a two-stroke in 20 years, i was ready to sell the darn thing...now i think i see light at the end of the tunnel....but i did spend $800 +/- on rebuild....

p.s. Halls was quite helpful with parts, suggestions & BMW / Husky of Atlanta helped as well...in addition to the many great guys on this forum!!

good luck!

Kirk

you got a stronger leg than i ever had! these are notorius tough muddas to start, like 2 premo said check jetting and ignition timing.
also do you have a weak spark? i had a plug cap break down on me wich out of the cylinder looked fine but when in the head wouldnt ignite. if you have a resistor plug cap remove it and get an unsupressed one.

oh and pop your oil cap off an if it stinks of petrol you have a crankshaft seal gone these make the bike nigh on unstartable.

I had problems starting my 360 and 300 until I watched this video and nailed this technique...


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO-cPpoOdmA

When its cold... choke on & slowly kick the bike over 5 times through the stroke not trying to start it but just pumping fuel in. Then fkn wack the kicker like Riemann does and it will crank every time.

Stu

mine had a bad cap too, seems it is a weak spot

its a night mare to diagnose if you dont know what to look for. and swpping a plug is often a tempory relief then it happens again usually on the way to work at the bottom of a hill in the rain (personal exp)
the crankshaft seal again kmx oil looked too full and runny lucky i wasnt smoking cus that went UP! the gear box was lubricated with two stroke no adverse affect on the clutch either.

I've got a 2000 also that i had problems starting. The thing that helped the most was moving the kicker a couple of splines forward. It had some slop in it and I wasn't able to get a real good kick on it until i did that. I seems like you need to get the engine to turn 3 times before it will fire.

Give the carb a good clean, set the needle in middle clip, grab a new plug, turn the air screw in all the way and then out to 1.5. Different techniques but mine is two twist @ cold starting, put the choke on and then start it. Once it starts, take the choke off and give it a few rev's until it's clean. Now (can be a PITA), turn the AS (air screw) in and catch the throttle so it doesn't die, then turn incrementally (wait 10-15sec before each turn) by a 1/4 until the bike is idling high. Turn out a bit more and the rev's should not change and turn in a bit and the rev's should drop - remember to let the bike settle in between revs. Once you've found that high spot, if it's more than 2.5~3 turns then you need to go to a smaller pilot jet (opposite if it's less then 1.5 out).
Forget the main jet at this time as you problem is between 0 to 1/2 throttle which is where you need to concentrate only - also this is my procedure for a Keihin PWK carb and may work with the stock Mikuni TM's just don't play too much with the idle adjuster as this throws out the AS as well (turn it out if you want too) but with this carb the float height is crucial.
PS..Hot or cold, it takes me around 2-3 kicks to start my 360 only if l come to a clean stop can l get away with 1 kick.