2018 ec300

[Fieds83]

I got my bike back yesterday. It turned out to be a damaged O Ring, it was suggested that it happens from time to time on the production line. All fixed under warranty with minimal fuss.

I also removed the cable choke as mine was loose in the threads and could not be tightened. I pulled it out of the carb by hand with no resistance. Replaced with a genuine Keihin pull choke. I suspect the cable choke was slightly on all the time as the idle settles a lot nicer now.

Today i had the tank and plastics off rerouting some the hoses and cables etc and while digging around i noticed they had installed a NGK BR8ES, i believe the manual says to use an EG...

Whatever the change, the bike it pulling like a train now. Its night and day different power delivery wise. I dont believe the shop made and powervalve adjustments either.

The 140cca battery has been replaced with a 220cca SSB. Starting seems a lot better at this point, i have been for a short ride today and started cold on the kick starter then after 10 min riding i did maybe 5-6 stop starts a few minutes apart on the button. Seems to fire well, not KTM well, still needed a double press a couple of times but much better than before. My bike still only has about 3.5 hours on it so it may improve as it loosens up.

I am about to mix my first batch of 98 and Maxima formula K2. I am still on the first tank from the dealer that was mixed around 40:1 so we will see the difference in spooge with the leaner mix and different oil.

[Doc Brown]

The ES spark works, its just the cheaper variant with a copper electrode. The heat range is the same on ES and EG (8), so no worries.

Spooge gets better with less oil. My starter needed 12 hours to loosen up. I tried everything, different battery, thicker cables (negative and positive), additional ground cable between starter and ignition coil.

After 12 hours I have following procedure. I dont let the bike idle and I kickstart it from cold, then when warmed up the starter works as you describe. Not perfect but I can live with that.

CU
Doc