Minor cold start issue... Common?

[JustinFRC]

I picked up a 2013 FJR1300 this fall with 8,600 miles on it.  It had no issues at all the first 1,000 miles I put on it but now, on a cold start, it'll fire for a split second, then immediately die pretty much every time... Then immediately after dying, it fires up and run fine.

It's frequent enough that now I hold the starter button down after it starts because I know it's going die once before it stays running.

At this point it's a mild annoyance, but I figured I'd see what the interweb has to say about it since mild annoyances have a tendency to turn into legitimate problems.

 

[mcatrophy]

Most uncommon. Apart from occasional flooding after a cold start and shutting down very shortly afterwards (not your problem), FJRs are very good starters. Can't really offer useful advice, but if it were mine, I would start by replacing the plugs. Oh, yes, and check the battery terminals. 

 

[RossKean]

I would start by replacing the plugs. Oh, yes, and check the battery terminals

Yes and yes.  Before changing the plugs, it might be worth pushing down on the caps to make sure that they are fully engaged - easy to not get them pushed on far enough.

Also, what are the warm and cold idle speeds?   (Is the idle speed adjustable on the Gen III?)

 

[mcatrophy]

...   (Is the idle speed adjustable on the Gen III?)

No, controlled by the ECU.

 

[Ignacio]

Outside chance, but how old is the fuel in the tank?  I mean if it's leftover "summer gas" formula and you're in a cold area...the fuel isn't going to be quite as volatile as ideal.  The shoulders seasons of falls and spring are common to have fuel volatility issues.

 

[dan kim]

Throttle Body Cleaning.

I have a 2016, I noticed last winter it wouldn't fire up right away and it would die sometimes on cold start up. I took it into a Yamaha tech who works on lots of FJR, I told him the symptom. He said it was common issue and he thoroughly cleaned the throttle body by removing it from the engine. Problem solved.

To have the throttle body cleaned, new air filter, spark plugs, oil change with 3 hours of labor, total cost  for parts (All OEM) and labor was $220.

 

[JustinFRC]

Dirty throttle bodies sounds like a strong hypothesis to me.  Every weak ignition problem I've had in the past on other cars and bikes has first manifested as a misfire under high load/low rpm situations, but the bike runs like a top after it fires up.  Also, I've been DD'ing the bike and it's been doing this through the last 4 or 5 tanks of gas, so I can rule out fuel.

Do Gen 3's need their throttle bodies synced? The bike's at about 11,000 miles now.

 

[hppants]

Yes - the T/Bs can be sync'd, but I highly doubt that is your problem.  If the sync was so far off as to cause engine running problems, it wouldn't mysteriously correct itself after a cold start and die.