Lean... Rich...???

[AMCQ46]

Where in London is it

the highway east london, the place is called ploe position. its just down the road from tower bridge........

Isn't that your local pole dance club?

[VTRDark]

the highway east london, the place is called ploe position. its just down the road from tower bridge........ :thumbup

And the guy there used to own a VTR so he knows the bike well.

What have you started Mark. One thing people should note, that plug chops are not as accurate as they used to be before we started using Iridium and other exotic material plugs. In the old days it was easy with bob standard old school plugs. And to do a chop you need to ride the bike at the desired rev range and throttle position for the carb circuit you want to check. The switch the bike off and coast to a stop and then whip the plugs out. It's no good just taking them out willy nilly when doing a service or whatever.

Is It Lean or Rich?

Typical Lean Conditions:
- Poor acceleration; the engine feels flat.
- The engine won't respond when the throttle is snapped open, but it picks up speed as the throttle is closed. (A too-large main jet also mimics this symptom.)
- The engine runs hot, knocks, pings and overheats.
- The engine surges or hunts when cruising at part-throttle.
- Popping or spitting through the carb occurs when the throttle is opened. Or popping and spitting occurs through the pipe on deceleration with a closed throttle.
- The engine runs better in warm weather, worse in cool.
- Performance gets worse when the air filter is removed.

Typical Rich Conditions
- Engine acceleration is flat and uneven and loses that "crisp" feel.
- The engine "eight-strokes" as it loads up and skips combustion cycles.
- The engine's idle is rough or lumpy, and the engine won't return to idle without "blipping" the throttle.

You can also use the choke which is an enricher (add fuel) to determine if your lean or rich. Don't pull it right out, you only need to pull it a slight amount, maybe 1/16 to 1/8 out, to see what effect it has. If you pull it out to far then your not going to get an accurate test as you will just chuck a load of fuel in the carbs and flood it, so it will bog down.

The thing is carb tuning is not always logical. You can add more airflow and you would think adding more air = having to add more fuel, so you go richening things up with bigger jets or raising needles. This is not always required as sometimes adding air, especially higher velocity air can draw more fuel out the jets you have in allready so you may actually have to go smaller.

As for seat of the pants you really need to start at the top with the mains and work your way down through the circuits. And the only way you will know if your lean or rich is by playing/experimenting with carbs and getting to know them and what effects what and how it feels. Depends if you enjoy pulling the carbs off to make changes a dozen or so times. You will get very close , hopefully, well you will if your learning. Which will give you a good baseline to go have a run on the dyno and see how well you have done.

Start with getting an understanding of what does what inside the CY carb.
http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic ... 14#p238567

(:-})

[agentpineapple]

Where in London is it

the highway east london, the place is called ploe position. its just down the road from tower bridge........

Isn't that your local pole dance club?

oops i meant pole position, and no thats not the local pole dancing club. thats secrets which is 500yds further down the road.........
dyno....
http://www.polepositionint.com/index.php/en/
lap dance....
http://www.secrets-clubs.co.uk/secrets- ... mithfield/

[AMCQ46]

Almost as confusing as the original rich or lean question.... Glad you were able to clear that up Marty.......was going to suggest you made it a 'sticky''

[VTRDark]

was going to suggest you made it a 'sticky''

(:-})

[BigVeeGrin]

I've often wondered this. I get a hell of a lot of popping and crackling with the new cans, but no idea if this is excessive relative to 'normal', and the standard cans had a lot of carbon at the butt end, while the plug colour looks pretty normal . Never done a dyno so may have to take the plunge into the dark art it seems

Which model have you got ?, if it's an F2/3/4 with 19 litre tank then you have the "pair" system, you'd need to blank it off to stop the popping.

FX, '99. Exhausts all tight as well. Doesn't bother me and i get the 'average' out of a tank on general riding, so no hefty guzzling going on I don't reckon.

Not so sure about a dyno pole previously inhabited by a pineapple, and as ever, great stuff carl, interesting

[VTRDark]

Any leaks on the intake or exhaust side of things can cause some popping, so check the carb inlet rubbers are also done up nice and tight and have a good seal. These things should always be ruled out before going chasing other reasons for it as in maybe to lean somewhere.

(:-})

[8541Hawk]

Any leaks on the intake or exhaust side of things can cause some popping, so check the carb inlet rubbers are also done up nice and tight and have a good seal. These things should always be ruled out before going chasing other reasons for it as in maybe to lean somewhere.

(:-})

Exactly.... if you changed something, then start there. After that check for leaks like Carl has said before you add more variables to the problem you are trying to sort.

[lumpyv]

is this lap dancing/ motorcycle tuning session turning in to an official meet up session then ? ?

[bigtwinthing]

i thought a good guide was to take the plugs out and check the colour?

yes thats very true, to be honest almost everybike with aftermarket cans will run lean, there is less backpressure to build up and this leans off the mixture, also they can be harder to start from hot ( this also can be tight tappets) lean is worse than rich, not normal these days to hole pistons but back in the 70, s they did for a past time. Buy dyno time is you can. "Doubletake" motorcycles in Southampton are really good and cost about £130 with a jet swap and 2 runs, makes a world of difference.