fuel grade effects on 660's.

[mishko]

Hello all. I have been reading a lot of fellow riders complaints in regards to hard starting issues on the 660cc Yamaha engined bikes, particularly after sitting for a week or two, I have discovered through experience that using mid grade 89 octane gasoline from a reputable station makes all the differance in all but eliminating this issue. Although regular grade gasoline is recomended for these bikes, it seems that the mid grade variety tends to be more stable and especialy when aquired from a well known producer, chemicals designed to keep varnish and deposits at bay in the fuel system added to their product( you can actualy see the differance in the color of the gasoline whereby cheap gas tends to be almost white and clear in color compared to the darker chemichal infused variety) coupled with a dose of a good fuel system cleaner like Techron once in a while goes a long way in keeping the fussy Teikei carbs at their best behavior. I have to date at 42000+ miles on my skorpion never had a starting issue even after months long hibernation.Just my 2 cents , hope it works as well for you.

[breakwellmz]

Hi.I always empty the carb of fuel by running the engine with the petrol tap turned off if i think i`m not going to use the bike for a while.I feel it`s better that the engine is starting with a carb full of fuel from a `tankfull`than a floatbowl of `stale` fuel.I also `unstick`the clutch by pulling/pushing the bike in gear(clutch lever pulled in)before starting up.This greatly reduces that initial `crunch`when you engage first gear.

[Anders]

Two other things that will help is diconnecting that fuel pump thingy that is of no use whatsoever, at least not on a Skorpion, and MAXImizing the battery capacity.

I managed to squeeze a Yuasa 12N14-3A (14Ah) battery into my bike BIG improvement.