cold weather effects

[Dandy Dan]

If I recall correctly isn't 130 kinda high for our engines? If I had my service manual with me I could check but I think at 35 the cold enrichment valve shuts off and then the thermostat starts to open around 70 and then I think it's fully open around 100 and 130 is about when the hot light comes on. I could be way off though so I'll try to remember to check these numbers.

Anyways, you can tape the rad off if you want but I wouldn't suggest using duct tape because if it's on there for a long time it'll leave a residue that's very difficult to get off. When I opened up my airbox and didn't have the jets yet back in the day I used duct tape to cover part of the hole and I never could get all the residue off. I'd say just screw off the rad cover and make a custom piece of cardboard to cover most of it.

[chanito]

I totally agree with DD (unless you are talking farenheit), the idea of sandwitching (i hope that word exist) a piece of cardboard between the rad and the rad cover is a way better solution

[Dandy Dan]

Sandwitching is when you get your witch costume on and bury yourself in the sand so you can freak out the little kiddies when they come down to play at the beach.

Sandwiching on the other hand is likely the term you're looking for. It's commonly used to describe a lunch item consisting of 2 slices of bread with stuff in between.

[jrcanoe]

Yes, My meter reads in farenheit and begins or is zero'd at 130 degrees. It reads fine when I fill the radiator with boiling water. Never had a problem with duct tape , my epoxy solvent which is mostly acetone take any residu off easy.

[Dandy Dan]

I never considered the fahrenheit thing. That really changes everything and yeah it does sound like you are running pretty cold. I should actually considering checking my scooter. That solution should work well for the duct tape residue as well...I never really got into the powerful stuff when I wanted to clean my airbox cuz I procrastinated and then I crashed one day and needed a new airbox cover anyways.

[jrcanoe]

Why would you think in farenheit you don't live in the USA. I kept trying to teach my brain to think in the metric system but it has been resistant for over 30 years now. I can convert no problem but I never walk into my house and think " good it's a nice cozy 22 degrees in here."

[kbcr3]

i put some cardboard over the radiator on sunday and took the ruckus to the train yesterday and it didn't stall. hopefully, this is going to help maintain some decent engine temps in the cold new england winter.

[cabuco2006]

i,ve noticed a difference in performence in the ruckus too....it is problay because of it being to lean...but once it warms up..it flys...

[Turkish]

:)http://community.webshots.com/photo/354409508/2973281770071201791GDWwyY

Cold weather riding in Halifax, got 35-40cms this morning, rode around 5kms to work, up hills the Duro tires slip a lot on icy roads, but in the deep snow it kicks "edit profanity"!

Cold does hurt performance, though if I let her warm up before riding it helps a good bit. I've noticed that since the new Kitaco coil, high rpm NGK plug, wire and cap & Daytona CDI install, its does start easier and doesn't tend to stall as easily when warming up....

There is a midrang & top end loose, though mostly its cause of high winds, the few days it has been cold but windless I was still able to hit 66-67kph on a long flat road and that is with the huge knobbie Duro tires...

[Dandy Dan]

Those Duro's in the snow must be a blast...unfortunately I can't get your link to work. You should consider just posting the in pic pictures using that other code bit that goes like link[/img}. I'd love to see those pics...

[skelly]

Does this work?

[skelly]

And another


These 2 pics are from Turkish

[Dandy Dan]

nope....can't see em. If you want you can email them to me ([e-mail]) and I'll post them for ya.

[Dandy Dan]

I was reading my service manual last night for a good time and I stumbled across the engine coolant temp information:

- under 35C (95F) = SE (start enrichment) valve in carb is open, thermostat is shut

- 35C to 74-78C (170F) = Both are shut

- 74-78 C (165-172F) = Thermostat starts to open

- 100C (212F) = Thermostat is fully open

- 120C (248F) = Engine hot light comes on

Judging from this information I imagine you'd probably want to be running somewhere in the 75-100C range which is 170-212F so if you are only running 130 then that's pretty cold. One option that might work is just to unbolt the radiator fan off of the flywheel. It's not hard at all...you just take the plastic radiator cover off (4 screws) and then drain and unbolt the radiator (4 bolts) and then your at the fan which comes off via 3 bolts. Then put your rad back on, fill it up and then toss the plastic cover on. This is totally untested so if you do it keep an eye on your temp guage.

[cruiser]

cabuco2006 said:

i,ve noticed a difference in performence in the ruckus too....it is problay because of it being to lean...but once it warms up..it flys...

The only riding I have done on my 06 has been in 45F-55F weather. On a couple of rides it did bog down when I started out. After warming it up some, it became very responsive.
So I take it that it is normal for the Ruckus to be a bit cold blooded?

[Dandy Dan]

Yeah...the Ruckus is and I think most carburated vehicles are because they don't have a fuel injection system that can adjust for the increased airflow and decreased gas (because gas doesn't vapourize as well when cold). We have a SE Valve (start enrichment) that adds extra gas when the coolant is below 35C (95F) but that's more of a rough guess then a finely tuned cold weather system. I find my Ruckus runs the worst just after the SE valve shuts off because the engine is still fairly cold but isn't getting any help.

You can notice the SE valve if you start your scoot up on a cold day. It'll idle a bit higher for a minute or two and then go a bit irradic for 30seconds as the valve closes and then it'll settle into a smoother but lower idle. If you are adjusting your idle make sure you do it once the SE valve had closed so it will still be good when you stop at a light after 5 min of riding.

[cruiser]

Now that I know what to expect I can work around it.
Thanks

[skelly]

I'm still somewhat stumped with my Ruck. It's -3 C tonight and I took it out for a ride. The max I was able to hit was 56km or so. I just seems that it won't go any faster... I'm hoping it's just because its cold... I put carboard in front of the rad when I got home. Hopefully that will help... *shrugs*

[Dandy Dan]

Well the cold has other negative effects that are small but do add up. Things like more friction in your wheel bearings, thicker oil in the rear final drive etc. Generally things just don't work quite as good in the winter so it all adds up to a few km/hr loss.

[jabba]

dandydan said:

Other than air/fuel mix issues other cold weather effects include:
- You ignition can freeze. This only happened to me once in mid february at about minus 15C (5F??).
- Tire PSI drops so you may need to add a few PSI

I have ridden a motorcycle all winter long for several years, several different bikes and I've never had an ignition "freeze". My personal cold weather record took place in February in northern Ontario Canada. It was winter type cold, -46 C. Coupled with the windchill @ 95 km/hr it was according to the latest windchill tables, about -95 degrees on my chest. (BRRRR) This was with a yamaha dt200, a small liquid cooled 2 stroke. But i guess anything is possible. I actually have had a car, after i had it warmed up and running for at least a half hour freeze up and stop running on the highway. It had to be towed to the shop @ school and plugged in . Once warmed again, it ran fine.
You are definitely onto something with the tire pressure thing though. It does lose effective pressure when the air in the tire gets colder but that is only half of it. The rolling resistance also increases very greatly because the tire gets stiff, and coupled with the lower pressure in the tire, sucks up quite a bit of the, none too plentiful horsepower just making the tire flex as it rolls.
Actually, if you jet for it, a motor makes beautiful power with the cold dense air of winter. I was out playing with the family Honda crf70 (little 4stroke dirtbike) the other day @-20C and the li'l sucker will pull straight gas wheelies all day long, plus it feels so darn good to get a ride in on anything during the winter.