New/Used 2004 Tiger Hard to Start

[tigerhund]

Hello to all--I would appreciate any wisdom experienced Tiger owners might be able to share.



Last week, I bought a lightly used (1,700 miles) 2004 Tiger (my first Triumph) from Erico Motorsports in Denver and rode it home (1,800 miles) to Central Florida.  I am absolutely in love with the bike--it is superb.



My question is this:  is it normal for the 955 engine to be hard to start, or should it fire right off?  When I picked it up in Denver at 5000+' MSL, it started easily.  As I came down to 120' MSL at home in Florida, the bike became harder to start.  Sometimes, if fires right off, but about 80% of the time, I have to hit it several times before the engine catches.



Knowing the engine is fuel injected, I did not expect to have any altitude related problems, and I have no good reason to think the problem is altitude related other than the fact that it started easily at least four times before I left Denver, and did not begin starting slowly until I reached Missouri.



Also, in CO and Kansas, the Premium Unleaded is 91 octane, and in the east it is 93, but I cannot imagine this would affect starting.



Any advice or experience would be appreciated.  Is this engine naturally hard to start, or should I be worried?  My previous bike, a Honda, starts at the first bump of the starter and never requires me to grind it to start, so this is my basis for comparison.



Thanks in advance to all,  Mike

[NortonCharlie]

It should start easily.  1st thing is make sure the throttle is closed when you crank it, and don't tweak the throttle right when it starts.  



If you are used to carburators it is almost second nature to twist the throttle.  I have a friend that needs to take his hand off the throttle to hit the starter button, his hand just will not keep from twisting the throttle.

[Sasquatch]

Other things to consider.



1.  The Tiger does NOT need premium.  89 octane is plenty.  Run the lowest octane for your vehicle that will not cause "pinging".  The higher the octane, the SLOWER the burn.  If any given engine does not ping on 87, by installing 93 will actually hurt performance.



2.  You may consider having a local Triumph shop check what program is in the ECM.  They may have put one in for people who live at such high altitudes.



3.  At around 3500 miles on the bike now, with alot of that highway running, your valves may be getting close to needing the initial adjusment.  DO NOT WAIT UNTIL 12,000 MILES LIKE THE MANUAL STATES.  This is many thousands too far.  At 11k miles, all of my intake valves had negative clearance.  It was a bitch to start.



4.  If a 955 does not fire within 3-4 revolutions after hitting the starter, something is wrong.  I have had mine from below sea level at well over 110 degrees, to 12,340 feet while it was snowing.  Never failed to light right up.

[tigerhund]

....I am almost certainly rolling on some throttle while pushing the starter button because this is my first fuel injected bike, and I will have the valves adjusted before too long.



    Best, MJ

[Paka]

Mine was getting harder to start and they found an error code for the AICV air intake control valve (hope that the way to say it). They replaced that checked valve clearance, throttle bodies synced.



Starts everytime now. Will rev to 2000 and then settle down to 1400 rpm. Then the idle will gradually settle to ~1000.



Pull in clutch and let my daughter press the button. Don't touch anything else. That's how easy it should be.



Paka.

[Speed3guy]

The ECU also needs to be reset for your altitude.  You can do this by starting the bike WITHOUT TOUCHING THE THROTTLE let the bike warm up completely and then turn it off with the key (not the kill switch).  Do not touch the throttle the entire time. Let the bike cool for 45 minutes or so.



Repeat the above process 2 more times.



The next time you start your bike, it will expect the air pressure to be sea level, not 5000 feet.

[tigerhund]

Thanks for the ECM reset suggestion.  I have followed this procedure (I did it four times for good measure) and the bike is now starting consistently on what sounds like the fourth or fifth revolution of the engine.  The effort to start seems pretty reasonable to me now.

[Speed3guy]

Yay!  Glad to be of service.