I recently purchased this '98 1100 and he informed me it had trouble starting and there is a way around it. I have to pull the choke out extra far and then place a piece to hold it up there (it helps to prime it a bunch), but once it does get started it smokes white smoke really badly for like 2 minutes. Any reason why or how I could fix that?
Also, my gas gauge drops dramatically while I am out and eventually the warning light will flash. when I stop and check I usually have plenty of gas left and the gauge goes back up (only when I shut down the engine). Thoughts?

 

as far as the starting problem, if it is the same motor as my zxi, there should be 2 valve stems on top of the breather cover. just spray some break cleaner into each one of them (just a little) before your first start. choke it,. crank it, let it warm up, and you should be good to go....as far as the gas guage goes i got no idea

 

When you pull out the choke to start the 1100 STX you only hold it out until the engine starts once. Even if you only get it to run for 1 minute don't pull the choke out again. You should then be able to start the ski without the choke. The stx requires little to no gas at the time you are starting. As you as you hear it start you can then give it just enough gas to start revving the engine. The rest of the day you should not need the choke again.