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n8r posted:Isn't your setup just a meanstreak with a full exhaust / intake? I'd wager any map that is for a full exhaust + k&n would get you very close. That's what I'm hoping. The guy I asked for the map (which is for a 2007 Mean Streak with a Muzzys 2-1 and Tornado intake, the only difference supposedly being that mine is a 2008) said he'd send it to me, so I'll see if that works well enough. I called a few Dyno Tuning shops around Va, just for kicks, and apparently the flat rate for a custom map is $300. I called 5 shops and the answer was either $300 or $325 for all of them
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Aug 15, 2012 19:56
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$300 sounds pretty reasonable. Exhausts/PCIIIs/etc are sorta a huge waste of money but the dyno tune at this point is probably worth it.
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Aug 15, 2012 21:16
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n8r posted:$300 sounds pretty reasonable. Exhausts/PCIIIs/etc are sorta a huge waste of money but the dyno tune at this point is probably worth it. I disagree... sort of. It's the exhausts that are of questionable practical value in my book, but at the same time their impractical value is hard to beat. You could call them a waste of money. But fuel mods on a modern EPA EFI machine even with stock exhaust are a good thing more often than not; it usually can provide a better torque curve as it fills in the peaks and valleys in the fueling (assuming at least a close-enough tune), and it can help with engine heat and longevity by setting it to run slightly richer.
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Aug 15, 2012 21:36
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My really cool old-guy neighbour just saw that I got a motorcycle and talked to me about it. He highly recommended Stay-Bil or similar, to prolong my carburetor life (if added to every tank) and to obviate the need to drain my tank when I store it (if added before storage). Specific question: Does this really obviate the need to drain my tank when I store it? General question: Do any of you knowledgeable folks recommend this sort of thing?
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Aug 15, 2012 22:11
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You don't need it unless you store the bike over the winter or something. Did he really suggest adding it into every single tank of gas?
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Aug 15, 2012 22:12
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clutchpuck posted:I disagree... sort of. It's the exhausts that are of questionable practical value in my book, but at the same time their impractical value is hard to beat. You could call them a waste of money. Even if you disregard buying a new exhaust you're looking at $300+ for the PCIII and ~$300 for a dyno tune. Do you really think it's going to get you $600 in longevity? It's not like the stock fuel maps on bikes aren't rigorously tested by the manufacturer.
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Aug 15, 2012 22:14
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JP Money posted:You don't need it unless you store the bike over the winter or something. Did he really suggest adding it into every single tank of gas? It wasn't entirely clear if he was suggesting that or not. He's...old.
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Aug 15, 2012 22:17
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alnilam posted:It wasn't entirely clear if he was suggesting that or not. He's...old. Yeah, STA-BIL is a fuel stabilizer. If you're going to park your bike for a while (more than a couple of weeks) it makes sense to add some to your tank and drain your carb. It will prevent the fuel from breaking down and varnishing everything to hell. You'd probably be okay not draining the carb, but I'm belt-and-suspenders when it comes to carburetors.
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Aug 15, 2012 22:21
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Safety Dance posted:Yeah, STA-BIL is a fuel stabilizer. If you're going to park your bike for a while (more than a couple of weeks) it makes sense to add some to your tank and drain your carb. It will prevent the fuel from breaking down and varnishing everything to hell. You'd probably be okay not draining the carb, but I'm belt-and-suspenders when it comes to carburetors. That raises another question for me. First, some context. My bike's previous owner never did a thing maintenance-wise, but he also only rode it a few times a year, so it's not great that he didn't change fluids etc. but it's also not as bad as it could be since he barely rode it. The good news is, the throttle responds pretty well and it runs well as far as I can tell as a noob, so I don't think the carbs are too bad. Also the fuel looked a decent colour - I think he rode it enough to change the gas now and then in the 2 years he owned it. Outside of that, I don't particularly know how to tell about fuel system health. This is my first motorcycle and I just got it. So: Should I use some kind of "fuel system cleaner" additive in my gas? Or should I go right ahead and clean my carbs? This is something I intend to learn eventually anyway. Or both?
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Aug 15, 2012 22:28
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n8r posted:Even if you disregard buying a new exhaust you're looking at $300+ for the PCIII and ~$300 for a dyno tune. Do you really think it's going to get you $600 in longevity? It's not like the stock fuel maps on bikes aren't rigorously tested by the manufacturer. Not in longevity alone. I'd also expect a little more mid-range response and less heat to enhance comfort. Refueling my vstar (a 3-knob add-only unit) and my Buell (reflashing the ecm) made the idle and low range way smoother and filled out the torque considerably right from the bottom. I guess YMMV but in my experience, fuel mods make a bike all-around more enjoyable to live with and that's kind of priceless to me. Also, I don't doubt the manufacturer tests their fuel configurations, but with regulations in mind as much as enjoyable riding. clutchpuck fucked around with this message at 22:50 on Aug 15, 2012 |
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Aug 15, 2012 22:35
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Most bikes (and cars) stock have a dip in the HP curve in the lower midrange for emissions testing purposes. This is usually what gets tuned out. It doesn't necessarily boost your max HP/TQ but it certainly can make riding it in real world conditions nicer. Also, if you have a Euro bike that works with TuneECU and have a laptop that can run Windows, after you buy a maybe 20$ cable you can put tunes on your bike (and do a lot of other cool ECU stuff) for free. I'm kinda surprised that people pay out the wazoo for Power Commanders instead of someone developing this software for their bike. I've used Sta-bil in my bike over the winter but I have no empirical data that it helped. Can't really hurt and it's cheap. Carb bike guys seem to prefer Seafoam, and it seems more multipurpose overall. Careful, though, the debate turns into which oil / tires / chain lube / bike polish / defogger / swampass dessicant is the clear and absolute best.
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Aug 16, 2012 03:55
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n8r posted:It's not like the stock fuel maps on bikes aren't rigorously tested by the manufacturer. They're not always tweaked entirely for ride-ability though. The KTM LC4s for example have a map designed to run right on the edge of too lean in order to pass emissions regulations, which makes it run hot and gives jerky engine response, especially at low revs. There is also a secondary air system attached for the sole purpose of warming up the intake air for only first four minutes of running, just so the catalytic converter gets up to temperature in the EU mandated time. I'm lucky enough to be able to directly remap my ECU with just free software and a $50 ODB2 cable/adapter. I've been able to tweak all the emissions fuckery and remove the secondary air system entirely. The bike rides cooler, stronger and smoother now.
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Aug 16, 2012 08:56
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Safety Dance posted:Yeah, STA-BIL is a fuel stabilizer. If you're going to park your bike for a while (more than a couple of weeks) it makes sense to add some to your tank and drain your carb. It will prevent the fuel from breaking down and varnishing everything to hell. You'd probably be okay not draining the carb, but I'm belt-and-suspenders when it comes to carburetors. This winter, I didn't add Sta-Bil to the tank and apart from having to prime the carbs, the bike started up just fine and ran strong on the old gas. However, my bike is stored in a heated garage, so YMMV. During the summer, I also left it sitting outside under a cover for a month or so, due to bad weather and lack of time. Again, it started right up after priming the carbs, but there was a slight dip in performance until the engine had warmed up and I had been to full throttle 2 or 3 times. Unless the varnish is really bad, fresh gas will dissolve it no problem.
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Aug 16, 2012 09:01
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I've never used Stabil either, but I fired it up to operating temp once or twice during the winter. Garage was not really heated, but was attached to the house so it never truly got very cold. Maybe 0C on a -40C day at worst.
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Aug 16, 2012 14:23
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Snowdens Secret posted:I'm kinda surprised that people pay out the wazoo for Power Commanders instead of someone developing this software for their bike. The problem is that most bike ECU's are not programmable and have one (or a couple) maps burned into them. The power commander sits in between the ecu and the bike and intercepts signals, changes them, and spits out different ones to the bike. If you have a bike with a programmable ecu, then yes, its just a matter of getting the software and the appropriate cable
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Aug 16, 2012 14:35
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I top off with fresh gas before storing in the winter. I've never had any problems.
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Aug 16, 2012 15:39
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You scrubs store during the winter? I just don't ride when the temperature is below 35 in the morning, usually no more than a couple of weeks.
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Aug 16, 2012 15:43
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Does anyone have a preferred shipper for motorcycles?
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Aug 16, 2012 16:10
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Safety Dance posted:You scrubs store during the winter? I just don't ride when the temperature is below 35 in the morning, usually no more than a couple of weeks. Yes
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Aug 16, 2012 16:34
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I wish I lived in a place that got snow. 
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Aug 16, 2012 16:38
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Safety Dance posted:You scrubs store during the winter? I just don't ride when the temperature is below 35 in the morning, usually no more than a couple of weeks. No way am I taking my bikes out on our salty-rear end roads in the winter. I feel bad enough taking my car out, but at least I can easily run that through the car wash.
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Aug 16, 2012 16:58
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:No way am I taking my bikes out on our salty-rear end roads in the winter. I feel bad enough taking my car out, but at least I can easily run that through the car wash. Not to mention I would have to deal with the worst things in winter, car drivers in snow. Being that I live in the North-east you would think people are used to ice on the road, but nope not a chance. Still I am planning to drive my bike until it starts to ice over, not worth the risk after that.
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Aug 16, 2012 18:02
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I think the worst part of winter riding is overenthusiastically sanded roads. I once locked up (I think) both wheels trying to stop before a sandy intersection to let an ambulance through. I managed to save it (somehow), but the pucker factor was off the chart.
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Aug 16, 2012 18:34
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ElMaligno posted:Not to mention I would have to deal with the worst things in winter, car drivers in snow. Being that I live in the North-east you would think people are used to ice on the road, but nope not a chance. Still I am planning to drive my bike until it starts to ice over, not worth the risk after that. I'm interested to see how I feel about motorcycling in the cold. I ride my bicycle through the winter (probably down to 15 F) and really, good gloves are the only important part, because you heat your own core up by pedaling. Ice/snow is the only thing that keeps me off the roads, because people have way too high of an opinion of themselves driving in the snow, either that or they don't consider the bus an option. Anyway I'm looking forward to see how I feel about riding a motorcycle in the cold, where the wind is stronger and I don't get the same heat generation as a bicycle. edit: A question! Just got my first motorcycle. It's carbureted. It has the little fuel switch, ON, PRI, and RES. At my MSF class, they said it can vary but would probably have an off position. The guy I got it from was not super knowledgeable and said PRI stood for prime, but meant off (he's used to dirt bikes, where apparently off is almost always a choice). So for a few days I was storing it on "prime," but I just saw in the manual that this may lead to engine flooding or fuel dripping. Am I supposed to just store it as on? alnilam fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Aug 16, 2012 |
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Aug 16, 2012 18:59
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alnilam posted:I'm interested to see how I feel about motorcycling in the cold. I ride my bicycle through the winter (probably down to 15 F) and really, good gloves are the only important part, because you heat your own core up by pedaling. Ice/snow is the only thing that keeps me off the roads, because people have way too high of an opinion of themselves driving in the snow, either that or they don't consider the bus an option. I love all the posts claiming that "those other drivers can't handle the snow" as the reason to keep the bike off winter roads. In a ghost town, with awesome fleece gear and heated grips, I wouldn't ride in the winter because 2 wheels and ice, snow etc. don't work well together. Absent some spiked tire rig like in the Bond movies (if that even works IRL), gently caress riding in the snow or having to mind random ice patches in winter.
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Aug 16, 2012 19:59
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In my defense I am more worried about cars sliding out of control and crushing me than making a fool of myself and slipping and sliding. Driving in snow and ice in a motorcycle is possible, I just don't have big enough balls, experience or equipment to pull it off.
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Aug 16, 2012 20:31
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alnilam posted:edit: A question! The petcock (or fuel switch) on your bike is vacuum-operated. If you look at the back of it, you'll see two rubber lines, one is the fuel line. The other is the vacuum line, which triggers the petcock and causes gas to flow into the carbs whenever the engine is running. So 99% of the time, you should just set it to ON, and everything will just work. The RES setting is for when you run out of gas. Your petcock actually has two fuel inlets. In the ON setting, the inlet is raised a bit from the bottom of the tank, whereas the inlet is all the way at the bottom on the RES setting. This way, you can run out of gas on the ON setting, switch to RES when the engine starts to stutter or lose power and have maybe 20-30 miles of additional range to find a gas station. The PRI setting is for priming the carbs if you've drained them or the bike has been sitting long enough for the fuel in the carb bowls to evaporate. It opens all the taps, no vacuum needed, which can lead to flooding or at least wasting gas by evaporation.
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Aug 16, 2012 20:35
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alnilam posted:I'm interested to see how I feel about motorcycling in the cold. I ride my bicycle through the winter (probably down to 15 F) and really, good gloves are the only important part, because you heat your own core up by pedaling. Ice/snow is the only thing that keeps me off the roads, because people have way too high of an opinion of themselves driving in the snow, either that or they don't consider the bus an option. If you left the bike on PRI for any length of time, you should check the airbox and oil to make sure that no fuel overflowed into the engine. If the oil smells like gas, has risen in level in the sight glass or if there is gas in the airbox, there is probably gas in your crankcase. If so, don't start the bike until you change the oil and filter, as gassy oil is a terrible lubricant and can hydro-lock. Once you change the oil and filter, you should be good to go. HTH Also, with a vacuum petcock, you can leave it in the ON position when parked, since it won't allow fuel to flow without vacuum from a running engine.
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Aug 16, 2012 21:43
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Old gas (non-ethanol) takes years to varnish up. Ethanol gas breaks down much faster, in a matter of months, but it breaks down in a different way. I've seen it in our shop in new scooters sitting on the showroom floor. One model that didn't sell well and it sat around for a year or more, I had to clean crap out of the idle jet at least twice. Ethanol breaks down into a gelatin kind of poo poo, just thick enough to clog jets.
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Aug 17, 2012 01:17
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Tamir Lenk posted:Absent some spiked tire rig like in the Bond movies (if that even works IRL) This is apparently an ice racer of some kind: 
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Aug 17, 2012 01:30
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:Old gas (non-ethanol) takes years to varnish up. Ethanol gas breaks down much faster, in a matter of months, but it breaks down in a different way. I've seen it in our shop in new scooters sitting on the showroom floor. One model that didn't sell well and it sat around for a year or more, I had to clean crap out of the idle jet at least twice. Ethanol breaks down into a gelatin kind of poo poo, just thick enough to clog jets. My "regular" gas station is non-ethanol as well.
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Aug 17, 2012 01:35
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n8r posted:My "regular" gas station is non-ethanol as well. The gas station down the street recently started advertising "100% ethanol free" on all their pumps. Sho nuff. 15% better mileage. Ethanol is for suckas.
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Aug 17, 2012 02:33
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 Bah.
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Aug 17, 2012 02:43
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Ethanol is even showing up in Canada. I think Shell is the only station that is ethanol free AFAIK, but I would like info if others aren't (or Shell isn't).
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Aug 17, 2012 02:44
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In Northern VA, I haven't seen any non-ethanol gas in at least 5 years, including Shell.
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Aug 17, 2012 03:16
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Hey! Any of you guys have good google-fu? I'm trying to confirm my K bike uses a Hal effect speedo sensor so I can order a nice Acewell instrument cluster to replace the mess on the front of my bike. You have to order the model with the correct speedo sensor type, so I looked into it and I'm pretty sure it's a Hal. Anyone know off the top of their head?
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Aug 17, 2012 12:12
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So it's a BMW of some sort, and you think it uses a Hall Effect speedometer? Do you have a speedometer cable leaving your instrument cluster and going somewhere? If so, can you follow it? I googled BMW K100 Hall Effect and found this: quote:The rear wheel had a metal disc with "teeth" on it that a hall effect pickup in the final drive was set near and detected the passing of the sheet metal "teeth"...the speedometer then displayed this as kph or mph and drove an odometer by a form of servo motor. From here: http://velobanjogent.blogspot.com/2011/08/k100bmw-motometer-instruments-german.html So yes? If I were you, I would google BMW [model of bike] Hall Effect and see what comes up.
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Aug 17, 2012 12:40
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PadreScout posted:Hey! Any of you guys have good google-fu? I'm trying to confirm my K bike uses a Hal effect speedo sensor so I can order a nice Acewell instrument cluster to replace the mess on the front of my bike. You have to order the model with the correct speedo sensor type, so I looked into it and I'm pretty sure it's a Hal. Anyone know off the top of their head?
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Aug 17, 2012 13:27
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Sagebrush posted:This is apparently an ice racer of some kind: 
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Aug 17, 2012 15:03
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Somebody explain shift lights to me. I see them offered as aftermarket for a lot of bikes and I don't get the point. Some of them can be tuned to where you prefer to shift, so I'm assuming they're intended for drag racing and dialing in your shifts to achieve the best time. Then they just became something else flashy to have on a bike? As a casual rider I don't want something flashing at me every shift and can't understand why any casual rider would want that.
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Aug 17, 2012 16:01
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