kwong2001
Hardcore RCTalk User
Well, I've come to the conclusion that "wasting my time" messing with them little toys cars has actually helped me with tuning my motorcycle. A year ago I installed a K&N air filter which caused the engine to run lean, so as a result had a jet kit installed. Bike never felt right compared to stock jetting with the stock air filter, full throttle below 6k would bog the engine, which got really annoying when I didn't have the engine in the powerband.
Put up with the wrong jetting for a year until a month ago when I found I was leaking coolant. Got in touch with my mechanic, she (yes, a girl) had two other bikes ahead of me. I waited a bunch and she never contacted me again. So i started thinking about it, got the balls to fix the leaking coolant, and change the jetting. I figured it was lean throughout the powerband.
Had to pull the body work off, and each change I made to the carbs I had to remove the tank, air box, and carbs, then put it all back on. First time I put too big of main jets in the bike. Second time I went back to the original installed main jets since the bike pulled great in the top end, only change I made was richer on the needle setting. Bike didn't run all that great, ran too rich down low, but the midrange was right. Third time I went in there, I leaned out the fuel screws a half turn, and that seemed to do the trick. Slightly rich, but runs pretty damn good.
Now my bike is just about perfect, in a month or two I'll tear the bike apart again, change the oil, install steel braided brake lines, an ignition advancer, and lean out the fuel screws an 1/8th turn on the carbs and I should be golden.
Anyhoo, seems to me like tuning r/c cars have really helped. The concepts are exactly the same, work the top end first, then work your way down the rev range until it's right. Even the feedback you get from the engine is the same. R/C cars have really helped to develop the ear for what the bike is doing. But I will say, it's a pain working on my bike though, every change I make requires hours of work, it's nothing like an r/c cars, can't just pull the car body off and use a baby sized screw driver, and most importantly, won't get instant satisfaction/feedback.
But I'll tell ya what, it's really nice to know one more thing that I can do and not have to pay for labor to get it done. I might take a little bit longer, but it's a good feeling. Now if only I could get the balls to do a valve adjustment and carb sync (think 16 valves and 4 carbs)...
Put up with the wrong jetting for a year until a month ago when I found I was leaking coolant. Got in touch with my mechanic, she (yes, a girl) had two other bikes ahead of me. I waited a bunch and she never contacted me again. So i started thinking about it, got the balls to fix the leaking coolant, and change the jetting. I figured it was lean throughout the powerband.
Had to pull the body work off, and each change I made to the carbs I had to remove the tank, air box, and carbs, then put it all back on. First time I put too big of main jets in the bike. Second time I went back to the original installed main jets since the bike pulled great in the top end, only change I made was richer on the needle setting. Bike didn't run all that great, ran too rich down low, but the midrange was right. Third time I went in there, I leaned out the fuel screws a half turn, and that seemed to do the trick. Slightly rich, but runs pretty damn good.
Now my bike is just about perfect, in a month or two I'll tear the bike apart again, change the oil, install steel braided brake lines, an ignition advancer, and lean out the fuel screws an 1/8th turn on the carbs and I should be golden.
Anyhoo, seems to me like tuning r/c cars have really helped. The concepts are exactly the same, work the top end first, then work your way down the rev range until it's right. Even the feedback you get from the engine is the same. R/C cars have really helped to develop the ear for what the bike is doing. But I will say, it's a pain working on my bike though, every change I make requires hours of work, it's nothing like an r/c cars, can't just pull the car body off and use a baby sized screw driver, and most importantly, won't get instant satisfaction/feedback.
But I'll tell ya what, it's really nice to know one more thing that I can do and not have to pay for labor to get it done. I might take a little bit longer, but it's a good feeling. Now if only I could get the balls to do a valve adjustment and carb sync (think 16 valves and 4 carbs)...
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