500 Strada starting

[TimClarke]

Hi,
One item often neglected/ignored when trying to set up carbs is the health of the choke plungers. The 'rubber' seals on the ends, if original, are approaching 50 years old and are almost certainly past their best.
There are 2 choices here - either new choke plunger assemblies (£££) or replacement rubber seals only (£).

Eurocarb are good for the former, but don't offer the latter, but there is an eBay seller who does. I think I paid £5 for a pair from him.
Don't forget to ensure that the o-ring at the top is OK too.

As an extra, Chairman Tom suggests always leaving the choke 'on' when you park up as it will mean less time for the seals to take a 'set' and therefore will work better for longer.

Regards,
George

Thanks, some useful tips there - just a basic check first - is the choke lever setting forward for on?

[George 350]

Hi Tim,
Choke - when the lever is lifted so pointing up (carb mounted) or in line with cable, the plunger in the carb is raised and choke is on. Conversely, when lever is horizontal or at 90° to the cable, the choke is off for normal running. Unfortunately, Dell Orto chokes are either on or off so no modulation is possible.
When 'off', the levers should be loose to ensure the plungers are fully down.

Regards,
George

[TimClarke]

Thanks Tim, from receipts I can see that Benjy Straw did some work in Nov 24, so can't have been sat too long, battery is good & brimmed with petrol, probably be Friday before I can spend some time going over it though.

Good luck with it - My one did have slightly the wrong plugs in it - B7ES rather than B87ES - might be worth looking.....

Plugs should be projected nose plugs- BP…

Regarding heat range, you may find the 8 a bit cold.

I’d probably start with BP7ES and see how they fare.

BP7ES fitted today and after a short period of running on one cylinder everything settled down and the engine feels great. A bit of pulsing through the front discs but not too bad

[TimClarke]

Hi Tim,
Choke - when the lever is lifted so pointing up (carb mounted) or in line with cable, the plunger in the carb is raised and choke is on. Conversely, when lever is horizontal or at 90° to the cable, the choke is off for normal running. Unfortunately, Dell Orto chokes are either on or off so no modulation is possible.
When 'off', the levers should be loose to ensure the plungers are fully down.

Regards,
George

Cheers!

Went for a short ride today and the engine felt great

[Dickyboy]

Thanks Tim, from receipts I can see that Benjy Straw did some work in Nov 24, so can't have been sat too long, battery is good & brimmed with petrol, probably be Friday before I can spend some time going over it though.

Good luck with it - My one did have slightly the wrong plugs in it - B7ES rather than B87ES - might be worth looking.....

Well after a battery recharge & location of cable operated choke (I've always had the carb mounted flip levers on previous bikes), it starts & ticks over nicely when warm, all the electricals work apart from rear light, so I'll get some insurance sorted & give it a run this weekend.

[TimClarke]

Thanks Tim, from receipts I can see that Benjy Straw did some work in Nov 24, so can't have been sat too long, battery is good & brimmed with petrol, probably be Friday before I can spend some time going over it though.

Good luck with it - My one did have slightly the wrong plugs in it - B7ES rather than B87ES - might be worth looking.....

Well after a battery recharge & location of cable operated choke (I've always had the carb mounted flip levers on previous bikes), it starts & ticks over nicely when warm, all the electricals work apart from rear light, so I'll get some insurance sorted & give it a run this weekend.

That's excellent. Mine is running and handling well just one issue today i did about 10 miles and the rear brake started binding badly so I stopped right outside a pub. I didn't have any tools and one of the locals suggest soaking the rear disc in liquid soap as a get you home job and amazingly it worked really well! Next job to order some pads etc and take the rear brake to bits.