Idle's about 1200rpm, and when warm is steady as a rock.
The main point of all this is that i've never had to use the choke before, and it's always started first time, and then ticked over quite happily after a quick blip of the throttle.
But within the last week it's suddenly become throaty on start up, which for my bike is out of the ordinary, so i'm just wondering why, especially as the weather is warmer now and it didn't misbehave at all during the really cold weather?
My previous bikes tended to prefer cold weather, whereas the Fazer thrives on warmer climates, which makes it even more puzzling.
Don't get me wrong, it starts, and eventually warms up and runs fine with a bit of nursing, it's not like i can't start it or anything, but there's always a reason when something changes and me being a fussy sod would like to know why! 

got them from wemoto cant remember if they were yam ones

I think they are Yamaha one's from Wemoto, there are cheaper brands out there that are not as good, i've already learnt that lesson myself before!

Smear the seals with red rubber grease.
You should be able to push the piston in with just your fingers if it's functioning properly.
Out of curiosity are they Yamaha seals?

I tried the 15w oil recently, very happy with the outcome, it feels much more stable up front.

140mm is standard, shorter raises the bike, longer lowers it.

The front sprocket is obviously a lot smaller than the rear, so if there's a tight link it has a smaller turning point on the front and will struggle much more than the wider curve of the rear sprocket.
If it's seized in the wrong position that's what causes the lumpy feeling as it's trying to turn on the smaller/tighter curve.
The initial trick is to lube the chain much more than you think is necessary in crappy weather, which in the UK is all the time!   

My chain started to do this yesterday 


I've got a scottolier, but it didn't look like it was supplying enough oil.  The inner section was oiled, but I don't think enough, so I've turned it up.


The weather has been taking it's toll on the outer links, which are quite rusty, so I also gave it a good treatment of WD-40. Seemed to help a bit, but the clank still hasn't gone away.


I need to look into it more, but I am noticing tight spots when I try rotating the wheel by hand.  Not sure if it's the chain or brakes that are causing it, so I'm going to do some more oiling and drop the caliper off and see what's what (and check under the sprocket cover).


I report back, and ask you to do the same if you work out your cause.

You can normally spot a tight link just by slowly rotating the wheel and looking at the lower chain.
A tight link will always sit at a slight angle, compared to good links that remain horizontal, so they actually stand out.
If one looks suspect then get a pair of pliers and see if it moves freely, you'll soon know if it isn't moving properly.

I don't think it's a clearance problem but if you want to check them it's handy enough. The service manual goes through it quite well so have a read of that first. Getting the cam cover off can be a bit fiddly because it hits the thermostat. You can remove the thermostat but you'll have to drain the coolant or you can just unbolt it and you might be able to get the cover out with the thermostat loose. Then take out the plugs and remove the alternator cover. Then rotate the engine and line up the marks are per the manual so you're on the compression stroke on cylinder 1. Check your clearances and rotate the engine again. It's all in the service manual. You'll need a set of feeler gauges and the engine has to be totally cold. The only place you can go wrong is when you're loosening and tightening the cam cover bolts. If you make a balls of it don't blame me

Probably why i've never done it before, the problem i have is being on call for work at weekends so i can't just start taking the bike to bits in case i have to go to work straight away. I normally have to borrow a bike from my mechanic and let him do the fiddly stuff.
I just checked and the valve clearances were checked 14000 miles ago, not sure how often they should be checked.

I've never needed to use the choke before so i wasn't really expecting that to help, mine's normally the same, a few blips then it would tick over on it's own no problem at all.
And it doesn't normally take as long to warm up which is why it's so noticeable to me.

This is all sounding very familiar - I've recently picked up an intermittent rattling as well. Not the normal fairing vibration (which isn't too bad on mine), this is like a cable is rattling against the tank or something. Noticeable when clutch is in and slowing or sometimes when cornering with a bit of lean on...

Headlight bulb springs can unclip themselves, plus front indicators and fairing infill trays can all cause a rattle.

I'll try it in the morning, too much air would aim at not enough fuel or an air leak, although once it warmed up it ran perfectly well so that doesn't sound too likely in theory??
I've had an air leak before via a carb intake rubber not being refitted properly and it causes hesitation on hard acceleration, it wasn't doing that today!

The lever can be bought separately:   http://www.fazerspares.com/catalogue/131-1_fuel-and-exhaust.htm

Over the last few days i've had to persevere with the bike to get it to warm up, mainly at the initial start up.
It's very throaty after hitting the button and i have to coax it in to life with the tiniest amount of throttle.
Once it's cleared it's throat i let it tick over for a couple of minutes then i'll warm it up by riding, but even that takes another 5 minutes.
The thing that's confusing me is that it's been fine all over winter with the really cold weather, but today for instance was way warmer than we've been used to and it's been starting like a pig.
The battery's okay, no issues there, and once it's properly warmed up it behaves absolutely fine.
Got a newish K&N fitted, and the bike's used 5 to 7 days a week so it's not sitting about.


For the record i initially started the bike today with a Moto GP end can on, but then put my old Quill race can back on and went for a spin and everything felt good.


Any thoughts please ?




Just read this on another forum:


Re: Engine Rough at Start Up

Update - funny thing....after doing a valve adjustment on my ST1100....found 2 valves were on the tight side...at the limit but not below the limit....guess what ? Two shims later they are all back in exact specs now and NO more rough start-ups. Only did it on very cold days and for very short time. Passing this on as a tip to check your valve clearances if you are having these symptoms.