Choke lever fix?

[Skeeve]

The choke lever [o.k., o.k.; "cold start lever"] on the left handlebar of my Le Mans is:

 

1] Alarmingly stiff to operate

2] Despite this resistance to activation, pulls shut almost immediately after starting the engine.

 

Is this a common problem?

Is there a ready fix for this?

If not, how are you supposed to get the bike to idle while you're putting on your gear: you can't just stand there holding the thing!

 

It's new, so I could take it to a dealer & whine, but I'd rather find out if it's something simple I could do for myself before going to the bother of taking it in, as he's not close by...

 

TIA

[Cliff]

I never use it. I don't start the bike till I'm on it and ready to roll. Why don't you put your gear on first.

[Steve G.]

It is a very common trait among all of these V11 based bikes. The spring they use is too thick and strong, and it does not have to be that strong. Earlier on I took the spring off, cut a section out and stretched it out, with some success. Chris Beauchemin was nice enough to mail me a spring of lighter guage which works great.

Don't take it to a dealer, this is an opportunity to get aquainted with your machine.

This small, but annoying little glitch with these bikes is another example of how a Moto Guzzi engineer given the responsiblity to install this "fast idle thing" must have been a real lazy bugger, to simply try out a 1/2 dozen springs of differing length and size to get the one that works. I don't know, maybe engineering in Italia is a footloose and lackluster assignment.

Ciao, Steve G.

[beauchemin]

See this thread http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3907

[antonio carroccio]

If you are a little bit handy, you can adjust this from under the fuel tank.

It is a 15 min work . It will be never stiff again. Never.

Although, that’s what I did and it works perfect. If I turn it on, it goes up to almost 2000 rpm, just enough for the winter start.

If you do not understand, I will make a photo for you and post it on this thread.

 

ciao

[Skeeve]

I never use it. I don't start the bike till I'm on it and ready to roll. Why don't you put your gear on first.

38472[/snapback]

 

Because it's an inane waste of my precious time? Because riding an incompletely warmed-up machine is a fast way to a shorter lifespan [for both man & machine?]

 

This was a trick question, right? There's gotta be dozens of correct answers as to why it's ridiculous to work around a mechanical failing that should be easy to correct....

[Skeeve]

See this thread http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3907

38480[/snapback]

 

Aha! That's just the info I needed. Thanks much!

[dlaing]

For the ultimate solution checkout Skeeve's postMystery solved!, spring-sprang-sprung

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4206&hl=

In short the guzzi factory mixed up the fast idle return spring with the seat latch return spring.

Way to go Skeeve!

[Guest ckamin]

Yeah, I did the swap with the seat latch return spring. Now my choke works like the old Yamaha I used to have: perfectly! It takes all of ten minutes and you don't have to go spring shopping; the replacement spring is already on the bike!