First HARD Ride Report

Finally passed the break-in sessions and let the girl LOOSE in the mountains of upstate NY. I have discovered the 3K RPM stumble mumble and spit. I have removed all the emissions stuff and installed a Leo Vince V-10 slip on muffler. Saved 17 lbs and gave the girl a growl. I have NOT done any Beetle remap yet. I really wanted to get a baseline performance feel before I made any changes. I can see where there will be benefits now, and I know where I want them. I've run the bike HARD for these 2000 miles that I've piled on in upstate NY. The pandemic thingy has made the roads EMPTY and the police nowhere to be seen. Kind of like a 'Free-For-All' if you ride within your limits and don't draw outrageous attention (44 years experience sport riding). I've run the bike into the rev-limiter in top gear (an indicated 142 mph). I seriously DO NOT recommend doing this. It's violent, and I can only imagine the universals and gears were torchered for that instant!!! I'll never let that happen again. I'm running RedLine Shockproof in the trans & diff. The brakes feel & feedback are SPECTACULAR! The handling is well balanced and very inspiring. The stock tires are surprisingly sticky and durable (3000 HARD miles on them now). The forks & rear suspension are VERY adequate. And now the WTF moment: The dreaded 'Hung Throttle' has appeared. What's the 'Hung Throttle'??? My 2009 Aprilia DD750 has on a few occasions refused to return to idle. Engine rpm hanging at about 2000 rpm!!! When this occurred, while downshifting and braking hard prior to corner entry, it is VERY unnerving!!! You're expecting engine braking and what you get feels like acceleration!!! I thought I had lost my mind and didn't shut the throttle down completely. Then it did it again, and again. Very sporadically, but when it happens, you BETTER be ready for it. I had to stand it straight up and brake to the max front & rear to avoid running off the road. I've discussed this issue with Aprilia peeps and it seems to be a 'Fly by Wire' thing. No fix available that I know of. So, it happen just once so far on my GRiSO. Luckily I wasn't full honk into a corner. I pulled the clutch in and observed the engine rpm hanging at about 2000 rpm. I revved it a few times and it slow returned to idle. Not happy about this development! Anyone else experience this? Any ideas what this could be? Other than that issue, I'm in LOVE with the girl. Sorry for the length of this post. But you asked for my GRiSO Experience. So there it is. Feedback encouraged. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Tracy Road? Loved that area when I lived in Schenectady

Dilliw wrote:

Tracy Road?  Loved that area when I lived in Schenectady

Mostly from Orange County up into the Catskills, Big Indian Wilderness, Ashokan, Pepacton, ect...

The GRiSO is not a RBW machine. Hanging throttle will most likely be either a gummy stepper motor or more likely simply that the bike is incorrectly tuned. Check the air bleeds. Are they both open?

Could the oil level be a bit high? Sending extra oil into the airbox and then fouling up the stepper? (causing hanging idle)

That's the first thing to check. Don't fill more that halfway between the 'Add' and 'Full' marks on the stick.

As for the gears and universals taking a pounding? Not a concern. Certainly riding a GRiSO that fast, especially with stock suspension, is hard work for the rider but the mechanicals should be fine.

Pete Roper wrote:

The GRiSO is not a RBW machine. Hanging throttle will most likely be either a gummy stepper motor or more likely simply that the bike is incorrectly tuned. Check the air bleeds. Are they both open?

I will check both. The stepping motor controls exactly what???

usedtobefast wrote:

Could the oil level be a bit high?  Sending extra oil into the airbox and then fouling up the stepper?  (causing hanging idle)  

Having read the problems with oil on this forum, I added exactly 3150ml on the oil & filter change (filled the filter first also).

Groovitz wrote:

Pete Roper wrote:

The GRiSO is not a RBW machine. Hanging throttle will most likely be either a gummy stepper motor or more likely simply that the bike is incorrectly tuned. Check the air bleeds. Are they both open?

I will check both. The stepping motor controls exactly what???

The stepper motor controls the idle speed. You haven't felt the need to play with the throttle stop screw on the LH throttlebody have you?

Pete Roper wrote:

Groovitz wrote:

Pete Roper wrote:

The GRiSO is not a RBW machine. Hanging throttle will most likely be either a gummy stepper motor or more likely simply that the bike is incorrectly tuned. Check the air bleeds. Are they both open?

I will check both. The stepping motor controls exactly what???

The stepper motor controls the idle speed. You haven't felt the need to play with the throttle stop screw on the LH throttlebody have you?

Sacré Bleu... or should I say Sacré Screw?

This is what I fear.

Pete Roper wrote:

Groovitz wrote:

Pete Roper wrote:

The GRiSO is not a RBW machine. Hanging throttle will most likely be either a gummy stepper motor or more likely simply that the bike is incorrectly tuned. Check the air bleeds. Are they both open?

I will check both. The stepping motor controls exactly what???

The stepper motor controls the idle speed. You haven't felt the need to play with the throttle stop screw on the LH throttlebody have you?

I have not touched any adjustments on the throttle side of things at all. And I have not had time to fiddle with it either coz I'm 600 miles from home and "Murphy" has this Law I don't care to get involved with right now. I plan on buying the TB Balance tool when I get back home and see how that works out. The 'Hung Throttle' is a little annoying. Comes back down to idle with a few revs. NOT like the Aprilia that REALLY hangs up there and makes for some SCARY shyte!!! 2500 miles in ten days on the girl!

To balance the TB's you need a manometer and Guzzidiag or equivalent. You have to have the means to re-set the TPS after the TB's are balanced. There are several write ups here on the procedure but be aware you must NOT under any circumstances move the throttle stop screws for any reason. Ensure that they are bot still sealed with yellow paint, (It's usually the left hand one that gets messed with. The right is much harder to get to.). Likewise the linkage rod ball joints should have their locknuts sealed with paint and should never be touched. The only things on the TB's that should be touched are the air bleed screws and the high speed balance screw on the bell crank mechanism.

If you find that someone at the place you bought it off has messed with the throttle stop screw by digging the paint out and moving it do NOT move it again until you have access to Guzzidiag or another diagnostic tool and then it may be possible to salvage the situation. It depends what's been done to it.

If you're lucky it will be a simple, easily rectified, tuning issue. Let's hope.

Groovitz wrote:

... I'm 600 miles from home .... 2500 miles in ten days on the girl!

Where are you just now?

If anywhere near Cross Junction (Winchester), Virginia, I have the TB balancing gizmo, GuzziDiag, lift, and many other tools.

That is not to say that I really know how to use any those, but if you are close enough to stop in, we can likely figure it out.  

1921!

Bill

My GRiSO used to do the same thing, back when it was newer. The issue gradually happened less often, and now at 11,000 miles, it hasn't happened for a long time.

Groovitz, I'm in CT and cruise the Catskills all the time. We should hook up one of these days for a ride.

My 2013 1200 Sport does this intermittently also. It's not the sacred screw as that had never been touched. The TBs are balanced and I've followed the tutorials closely. 2,500km ago I had the stepper motor out to clean it. There was some oil mist in the orifices. I've just recently had the bike off the road for about 6 weeks and the problem started again - probably the most consistently that it has done so. I gave the bike a good thrashing for a couple hundred kilometres and now it is happy. This problem doesn't seem to be consistent at all when it's happening. I can only think of the stepper being a bit grubby and causing the issue. I'm very careful with my oil levels and found the right quantity to fill to. It is an annoying trait. I believe the stepper vacuum can be cut off and it fixes the problem.

tgriff5747 wrote:

Groovitz, I'm in CT and cruise the Catskills all the time. We should hook up one of these days for a ride.

I'm back in the barron, tourcherously flat & square landscape of South Florida But I'll be back in the North East in early October for some more speedy antics. Will get in touch on here. Thanks

Bill Hagan wrote:

Groovitz wrote:

... I'm 600 miles from home .... 2500 miles in ten days on the girl!

Where are you just now?

If anywhere near Cross Junction (Winchester), Virginia, I have the TB balancing gizmo, GuzziDiag, lift, and many other tools.

That is not to say that I really know how to use any those, but if you are close enough to stop in, we can likely figure it out.  

1921!

Bill

Thanks for the offer Bill. I'm back in South Florida, I appreciate your helpfulness.

I would definitely recommend doing the Beetle map upload and do another hard ride. It's like getting a new bike! There is probably no reason it would fix the high idle problem, but it did in my case. You'll want to do it anyway, so give it a shot!

It may also be mechanical, with the motorcycle off, does the throttle body return fast and hard or does it stick? Could be 2 causes...one a too tight bar end, impinging on the throttle, or you have to adjust the position of the whole throttle a bit by loosing the 2 hex screws and moving it a bit so the wires aren't "pinched". Throttle should return with a proper snap, which will also make acceleration smooth and enjoyable.