No need for blankets or covers, if your bike doesn't start when its cold, you have a battery orspark (or both)issue, the carbs dont have to be warm to flow gas.

 

Well, this is good to know, I'm having the same issue with my F2. I have new plugs. Maybe I should check the resistances of the wires and coil. It always runs fine after it's warmed up, but stalls out immediately with the choke on.

 

I'm sure that someone will put down my tradition but for me on all my carbed toys you I find it a great help to "prime". By this I mean that I sit there and give throttle over and over about 8-10 time (guessing, I don't count) and the give some choke and then proceed to hit the starter and give a little (1/4) throttle until she starts to pop. This method seems to work for me most every time, if I don’t do the throttle trick, I end up cranking forever it seems.

My XT225 is a different story, damn Yamaha…I have to drain out the float every time I let it sit over 2-weeks and then rush in fresh fuel from the tank. Don’t bother with this idea because I also have an F3 and the priming idea works every time for me.

How old is your battery? Maybe you just aren’t getting enough amperage to power the entire situation. That would suck to get rid of your bike and have the next dude just throw in a new battery to make a perfect running bike. just my $.o2
-NorthernFirepower

 

Yeah definitely, a new battery is the first step. If you still dont get a powerful enough spark, woo545 is right, start checking your wire resistances, a loose or corroded connection can really cut a lot of power to your ignition system. I know on the old bikes we usually rewire the whole thing, but thats obviously not an option here. But you'd be surprised at the amount of difference cleaning up and re soldering a few wires can have.

And I wouldn't bash priming, as long as it works, and you're not doing it every day of the year or anything. If you're priming just enough to get the thing started and not flooding it out, than who cares what people say? I'd say no to starting fluid though, there are better and more reliable ways to get your bike to start in sub freezing temperatures. I've outlined most of them already in this topic.

 

Don't worry, I'm not getting a new bike just because of this problem. My main reasons for getting a new bike are that I would like something bigger(size not displacement) like a sport tourer or something close to one, and I want a bike that doesn't vibrate/buzz on the highway. The F3 was an awesome beginner bike for me and I'm selling it to one of my freinds so it will still be around, but its time for me to move on to something that meets all of my needs.

Since i'm selling it to my freind I am still going to fix this issue, so thanks for all the advice. I'm definitly getting a new battery and I'll be sure to check all the plugs/wires and get it tuned up. I want it to be in perfect running condition when I feel like borrowing it