How my stock G-1 bike evolved

firefly

firefly

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I bought the bike in March 2012, its a 2004 skunk, it had only 4800 miles on it & was very clean now has 12K. the bike was not ridden much & had what felt like a lean surge that made it hard to control at low speeds in city traffic. Jetting was an option but I like to keep the bike stock & find less drastic measures to clear the problem, after adjusting the exhaust valve, synced the carbs & set the TPS to 5000RPM the lean surge diminished but was still there.

Two things cured what I thought to be a lean surge.
1- I used 50cc of Liquimoly carb cleaner every tank for 10 tanks.
2- Installed the 4* ignition advancer (basically eliminated the surge instantly)


The bike use to require choke to start even on hot days now I use no choke it starts right up & the RPM doesn't shoot to 4K or more to start, it takes much less starter to fire up and not die if throttle is closed (very clean idle curcuit).

The surge completely disappeared proving that it is NOT a lean surge its more a dirty carb circuit issue, the combination of continuous carb cleaning & the 4* advancer opened up performance with strong acceleration and super smooth throttle response.

Note: when using carb cleaner its important to calculate how much per gallon & not just dump a whole bottle in one tank, high quality carb cleaners like BG-44 or liquimoly work best over ~ 6 tanks or more since they are also cleaning the combustion chamber from carbon deposits, believe me once throughly cleaned the stock jetting performance becomes superb lean as it is.
The 4* advancer is a cheap mod with great performance gains.
 
bigbaddave43 said:
Dirty carbs(IE clogged pilot jets) is the cause of the lean condition at the low end. You are confusing the cause with the symptom.
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I think you're right the clogged pilot caused the lean surge but why people go jetting when the problem is just clogged pilot? at this point jetting will only just make it less efficient & running richer that it should.

then on the other hand why did the lean surge instantly disappear when I installed the 4* advancer? it should have leaned it even more?
I am confused but the bike runs fantastic in stock form now.
 
firefly said:
at this point jetting will only just make it less efficient & running richer that it should.
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It is jetted lean stock at the low end to pass emissions. It is rich stock at the high end to allow for after market exhaust etc. Rejetting the mains, raising needles and opening the idle screws optimize the setup. Mileage on the gen1 is about the same after rejetting for me, but performance is improved. Most carbureted bikes respond well to opening the idle screws some.

firefly said:
then on the other hand why did the lean surge instantly disappear when I installed the 4* advancer? it should have leaned it even more?
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Maybe the timing advance increased torque enough to mask the lean condition. My old VW bug responded well to advanced timing years ago.
 
Riding mainly in city streets I am at a max of 8K RPM so I don't really care for the top end at all though on free ways the thing flies reaching speeds of 100 mph at less than 8K. my vmax was like a steam engine compared to this bike. looking back I am glad the vmax engine seized, good riddance.
 
Thanks for the post I might try that carb cleaner on the next few tanks on my 2002, she always needs the choke to start up, even in warmer weather.
 
Klurejr said:
Thanks for the post I might try that carb cleaner on the next few tanks on my 2002, she always needs the choke to start up, even in warmer weather.
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try the 4* advancer, you'll be pleasantly surprised, its a big bang for the buck & very easy to install just make sure you have a new gasket on hand.

Liqui Moly Carburetor and Valve Cleaner

one bottle gives you 6 50cc treatment per each full tank, I use a plastic baby bottle from 99 cent store to get exactly 50cc
 
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I don't understand how a timing advancer keeps the bike stock but a jet kit not....

Ivan's jet kit was the best mod I did to the bike, I can even get more mpg then stock if I'm not throttle happy

:flash:
 
donoharm said:
I don't understand how a timing advancer keeps the bike stock but a jet kit not....

Ivan's jet kit was the best mod I did to the bike, I can even get more mpg then stock if I'm not throttle happy

:flash:
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The timing advancer is easily reversible & does not involve fussing with the carbs, Ivan's jetting require permanent alteration of the carbs & that is not reversible, I took off and successfully cleaned my vmax 4 carbs so carb work for me is not a huge deal but I do try to avoid it as much as possible.

some people like me want to keep their bikes as close to stock as possible with reversible mods.

for my riding a tuned close to stock bike is more than adequate, I don't care much for top end since I'll never go 160mph all I need is smooth & strong low & middle range that is what I mostly use.

as for MPG who cares, unless all the extra fuel is wasted as carbon deposits from running rich, to me the lean stock setting is great with a slip on & timing advancer I feel no need to make the bike faster its plenty fast for me in lane splitting heaven (California)

Jetting is great if done right but takes some fiddling to get it right & most of the time its off you have to compromise on something
 
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