The perfect idle

[Viirin]

Just looking for some shared experiences on what you found to be the best idle

According to my new tach my bike idles at around the 1.5X1000 rpms - the bike runs fine but shutting the throttle suddenly at high revs can seem a bit too jerky sometimes

I vaguely remember someone saying that the proper idle is higher than you might think but i could be wrong (as usual)

as always, any info is appreciated

Vii

[blaine]

I always found that 1200 RPM was ideal.Any higher would be like riding around with the choke partly on.
:cool:

[5th_bike]

According to the book, it should be 1300±50 rpm. The engine should be hot when adjusting the idle setting.

I found that after the valves were set, it idled really regularly.

[Water Warrior 2]

Viirin, what you are experiencing is engine braking when the throttle is chopped. Adjust the idle as mentioned by others(1300 + or - 50 and learn to be a little smoother with the throttle. Lynda's 800 V-twin has a fair bit more engine braking...........sort of like dropping anchor. I like it because you don't need to be on the brakes just to slow down a bit or control speed so much when going down a hill.

[Viirin]

Cheers for the responses guys

Dropping an anchor sounds about right

as this is my first bike it seemed strange as the car didn't have nearly the same level of engine braking force as the bike and so bad habits reared their ugly heads

this time in the form of pulling in the clutch, closing the throttle and slowly releasing the clutch to engage the engine more gently

No surprises that this temporary coasting is enough to fail your full license test over, i tried to revert back to just closing the throttle but now i feels safer doing it the other way

I thought having a higher idle speed could reduce the jerkyness of it but can it increase it if the idle is too high?

vii

[alantf]

Originally Posted by Viirin

I thought having a higher idle speed could reduce the jerkyness of it but can it increase it if the idle is too high?

vii

I've noticed that when the engine is hot (and therefore the idle speed increases) the jerkiness vanishes. I put this down to the engine liking the higher revs. Whether this theory is correct, I dunno, it just seems that way to me. As for the engine braking - I've never noticed much. I still have to use the brakes, even in a lower gear, when going downhill. It seems that the jerkiness must be yet another of the GZs idiosynchrasies.

Just one more thought - Our bikes (the carb) are set up differently to the American bikes. I wonder if that could be why we both experience this, but the Americans don't seem to? :??:

[blaine]

Originally Posted by Viirin

I thought having a higher idle speed could reduce the jerkyness of it but can it increase it if the idle is too high?

vii

Yes,if idle is too high,it will cause more jerkiness,as it will be harder to let the clutch out smoothly with the bike revving.
:cool:

[Water Warrior 2]

Alantf, you may be on to something. With the different U.S. specs the engines run leaner and have more of a tendency to run on as it were. Richer European specs give you a little more pizzaz with the throttle and a little more engine braking with no throttle.

[Viirin]

Alan, I agree with you 100% with the European thing (turns out my bike was built in Spain) and about the reduction in jerkieness when the bike gets hot - this should take less and less time now with the weather inproving

Blaine, i'll try dropping the idle from 1500 to ~1350 and see what happens, your advice has yet to steer me wrong and you should probably start charging for it - you've missed out on millions from me alone

Not to highjack my own thread but but just on a side note i started a new job as a green keeper at 5am but the commute requires some motorway (...or "highway") driving - whats an acceptable amount of revs to run consistently without blowing the engine (in still on the 15tooth)

Not that theres much traffic at that time but i don't think i could stand the embarrassment of being pulled over for going to slow

[alantf]

In England there's no minimum motorway speed. In RI the minimum is 30MPH. Over here the maximum is 120k/HR (75MPH) & I feel comfortable around 60MPH on the GZ. :2tup:

BTW, trying to get my geography straight! You're in RI, right? :??: If so,I think your speeds are in K/HR so that's around 100K/HR comfortably