'72 - Hard To Start When Cold

[sledzeppelin]

I just got a '72 for my daughter for Christmas. It ran rough when I first brought it home, but I cleaned the carb and put fresh gas in and now it runs well. The problem is I have to usually resort to starting fluid to get it to start up when it's cold. Once the engine is warm, it'll start first pull every time. Is there a trick to starting them cold? What's the proper way to use the little plunger button on the carb?

Also, it makes a rather nasty sort of friction/binding noise when it's idling, though it goes away once I rev it a little. It sounds like it's coming from the clutch. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Ryan

[Todd13]

I had a minibike which made a noise when idling. It was a dry bushing (bearing) in the clutch. Chain lube gets in there and then dries out sometimes, or it's just not properly lubed. WD-40 might work, but regular 30wt motor oil would be better, I think. Of course, if it's a lack of lube problem, it might also be worn out from being run dry.... Wiggle the outer part and if it seems excessive, you can get a new one from John. If it were me and the clutch bearing was worn, I'd lube it and keep it in service until it failed. I'm cheap!

[blaster]

Ryan he is right about the clutch deal. You should try the WD-40 on it. It will make some noise at idle if the idle is set to high. On the starting thing it might be compression do to bad crank seals and when they get hot they expand and seal up again. It also might be that you gas line is to long and hangs down to low not letting the gas to gravity feed to the carb from the tank. You have no fuel pump on this kitty cat right? As the sled sits it will let the gas feed back down to the tank and it will be hard to start. Try that first. Hope I helped.

Roger

[sledzeppelin]

Thanks for the help. I'll try lubing the clutch.

I've found a surefire way to get it started. Maybe this will help other people. I push the primer button on the carb 10 times, choke it, and then give it some pulls with the throttle wide open. It usually starts on the second or third pull. Once it's warmed up, it'll start on the first pull with no choke.

-Ryan