125-200cc WR144 Dead Engine Start!

Spent most of the day changing the fork oil (5wt and 130mm) and lubing the suspension and I've got most of the issues sorted out with my Husky WR150 now. It rips! The only thing I can't figure out is how to get repeatable dead engine starts out of it. I'm going to be competing in Hare Scrambles/Grand Prixs and Cross Countrys this year that always require a dead engine start. With this bike it seems to work best with the engine in neutral and no throttle at all but sometimes it takes five or six kicks - not good for the start. Any ideas? Oh yeah, who designed the peewee kickstarter?

something is still wrong, i start my 09 cr144 poorly jetted clapped out beater in gear every time.

Are you sure your pilot is not too lean? Also, after bike is warmed up, on starting line, put bike in first gear, right before killing engine, put choke on and hit kill button @ same time. Click choke off,then rock bike back and forth,1st gear with clutch pulled in. It releases the plates. The choke thing primes the engine just titch. I use the MS Raptor lever and you can pull clutch with your pinky, seems to disengage clutch more.

try a smaller pilot my cr125 starts first kick any gear.

Thanks for the ideas. What plug are you guys running?

celtic ,we delivered a wr in 144 trim yesterday .it started 1-2 kicks every time in neutral any way.i had a 35 pilot and the RM 62 needle in it.did not try kicking it in gear.walts jetting had a real small pilot.if you are still running that jetting,perhaps it is too lean on the pilot down here.dan

i run a BR9ES, In my experience you can be fat on the pilot and start fine, but lean makes my 144 take a few more kicks, i would go up first.

I have a 2010 WR144 which I use primarily for hare scrambles and initially had the same problem. The solution I found was to jet the carburetor which I found to be set very rich with the stock jetting. On the starting line, bike is in gear, warmed up and the throttle cracked a small amount. I make sure I get a full swing on the kickstarter and it starts first kick every time. I like Dartyppyt's idea of using the choke and I plan to experiment with that too. Releasing the clutch plates is a valid point too.

If you want to start in gear, run bike....pull in clutch....click into first.....DO NOT LET GO OF CLUTCH...kill engine....keep holding clutch until you need to start it in gear. Holding clutch keeps plates seperated and does not allow the oil to get squeezed out and then the stiction develop between the plates.

Tranny oil is thick so it does not flow quickly back in when you pull the clutch and then kick away and even that small amount of stiction can be enough to prevent a quick firing up. Also too small apilot will hurt starting at any method.

Joe

I use ATF and have no problems starting in gear. First kick almost everytime when warm. I run a 35 pilot at 1.5 AS.

I was thinking even if your pilot was a bit small....it should fire up no prob first kick.. if the bike has been run for a minute or two previously ??

I guess you could wind out all the clutch free play..then dial it back in on the fly ??

Oh ya...BR9IEX iridium....have them in all my bikes sleds etc

Thats is the way i start my wr 250 ! And its a Holeshot machine! I also rock the bike back and forth ... It will free up the clutch plates

I agree the pilot needs attention. It should start warm first kick.
Dartys process is correct. If you have a habit of feathering the clutch make sure for a start you grab with all fingers and pin the lever to the grip...get all the plate separation you can. Once you perfect this at home; and you will, pay close attention to the amount of throttle twist that works best. At the line with the adrenaline pumping a person can develop a bad habit of grabbing too much throttle and the bike never catches fire. Mind over matter...make yourself exhibit the control it takes.

Good luck and make sure someone takes pictures of your holeshots for us!

Probably not much help as I'm a big noob but I bought Surfer1100's WR from Florida and haven't touched the jetting or anything since getting it shipped to California.

For cold starts, I tip the bike over and let some gas drain out. Starts first or second kick.

When warm, it starts first kick usually in gear or neutral..

Thanks for all the feedback. I have a few new things to try. I am running a 30 pilot with the RB carb mod and at sea level it was perfect but at 4000 feet a bit rich off the bottom. I dropped the needle one position from center to compensate. I'll try playing around tomorrow with rocking the bike back and forth with the clutch in before I start it. I am running Mobil 1 in the tranny which seems to produce a very low drag. Anyone tried a B8ES or B8EG plug?

I run a B9EGV. I was warned not to run a resistor plug on this bike. A B9EG would be OK but a B8EG is too hot for a small bore.

Celtic, i will load up some vid from yesterdays scramble dead engine start, soon. 42.5 piot, rm 1662 needle middle clip, kind of a #5 slide. No clue where my air screw is. About 500' elevation and 45*. First kick.. dy-no-mite!! BTW, the bike ran so good yesterday with those settings, it should have been illegal. And that is with a skanky top end that only a fool would continue to run, used piston when i put it in the cylinder, mystery ring that was new but not sure what it was designed for, kinda marked up bore, piston now looks like freddy cruger got in my exhaust port. If it didnt run so good i would fix it

Nothing like living on the edge.

Haha, that piston is from Shane's WR144 and our moab days. It had about 70 hours on it when Ben put it in his bike. He has put at least another 50 on it.

Later,

I rode today and it worked a bit better but still could not get a consistant one kick start. It seemed to work best when I gave it about 1/4 to 1/3 throttle. I may try a 35 pilot. I did try the trick by dartyppyt of pulling the choke in as you push the kill button and that seemed to work.