WaveyDavey Enters the World of VF500F

Hah! Nope, just like the ability to keep my stuff ready to go all year long.

Also, non E doesn't mean high Octane. It's usually low to mid grade.

 

I am trying out the 86 NonEth in the VF500. I also live over 5000 feet so I will see if I can feel anything? The KLR is not very picky. Ethanol is a pretty powerful solvent as you know it can help polymerize almost anything it if sits long enough at the right temperature. My 500's gas tank was evidence of that.

 

The NonE here is 86.

 

Yeah, that's what you said. And that's why I recommended that you verify the min RON rating for that bike and what Octane that converts to. Detonation kills.

Min is probably 91 RON.

 

Looking at my local Speedway Gas stations corp data, they claim the RON of their 91 Octane (up to 10% Ethanol) = 91. The 86 octane non eth I put in yesterday sounded a wee poppy when under firm acceleration. I filled up today with 91 today. I will check it out tomorrow and report back.

 

Capt. I have been hunting around for some #40 lows and have not had any luck yet. I may experiment with the upsize later this year . Any suggestions for sourcing would be super.

 

Never Mind. I found some at Dennis Kirk.

 

These look correct to me ?

• EBC
• RD N424-25 Pilot Jet - 40
• Part #: 17340240
• Jet Size: 40
• Quantity: 4 @ $4.70

https://www.denniskirk.com/ebc/rd-n424-25-pilot-jet.p173402.prd/17340240.sku

 

Hmm not thinking these are correct. Back to square one.

 

Capt. 80s directed me to Jets R Us https://jetsrus.com/index.html I have some #40 jets on order. I may switch out the #38s sooner than later. I have an AMCA ride in June that is mostly over 10,000 feet. This isn't the only reason I am changing. My 500 still has a doughy spot between 3 and 4 thousand rpm above that she flys. I am researching other potential causes, that aren't me not understanding the bike yet.

wavey

 

Try Jim @ Romaxcycles.com. He has a lot of carb parts. I bought some jets, o-rings, etc. from him. If you don't see what you need on the website call him. He's very helpful.

 

have u tried experimenting with washers under the slide needles to fix that ?

 

https://vfrworld.com/conversations/40-jets.53081/

The link above has some back forth with Capt. 80s pertaining to jetting and

Not yet but I am about to. I am also moving on to #40 pilot jets.

 

I rode the 500 up to Colorado today, 85F here in NW NM, and 60 in Hesperus Co. (Hesperus is about 15 miles West of Durango ). I rode the bike up to about 9000 feet +-. There was a particular 2 mile pull up grade on hwy 160 I wanted to try with the jets that were in the bike( #38 pilots, and 92&95 HS's) The bike performed well at hwy speeds, 60-70 as long as I didn't let the rpms get much lower that 65oo. She did not have much go taking off from a dead stop, and throttle response first gear speeds was pretty week. All in all, the bike was quite snappy if kept it rev'd up.

I have a ride in June that will spend 3 days above 10000 feet. I am not trying to jet specifically for that altitude, but I am going to install some 40's and try a shim on the mains. Let's just say I am curious? While the carbs are off I will inspect the diaphrams and blow out all the passages again.

Got KLR ride on NMBDR for a week in two weeks. I will be working on the Honda again after that.

WD

 

Something ain't right. And it feels like more than a needle shim and 1 step on a pilot.

Sounds like it runs ok when it is pretty much all main jets. But the drastic drop off in performance below that seems more than just a slight tweak in low speed jetting.

 

So this may not make that much difference, but I had set the pilot screws to about 1 -3/4 turns a few weeks ago for test purposes at my altitude (5300) it did not make much difference at home but it may have added to the impact at 9000 feet? I neglected to turn tham back out while at altitude. If not low speed jetting what else can cause this impact? Any non-fuel delivery aspect would be impactful at any speed I would think? It idles perfectly and will pull away from a stop really smoothly with a gradual roll of the throttle. If you try to really get on it off of a dead stop it loads up pretty badly and takes a moment to recover. Is there a timing advance hesitation of some kind. My experience with older pre-CDI car primary electronics would have me investigate distributer spring tensions and vacuum issues. I wish I was more informed on diagnostics. Don't get me wrong, the bike is still quite pleasant to ride. For that I am thankful!

WD

 

Turn a pilot screw in: Leans it out. Better for altitude
Turn a pilot screw out: Richens it. Better for sea level

But this marginal in effectiveness. It is just metering a little bit of fuel for idling and taking off from a stop. Yes, it is adding that fuel all the time, but by the time you are rolling into the throttle that amount of fuel becomes negligible compared to what is now coming out of the main jet holder.


It's really hard to diagnose what may have become nuances in drivability. But it sure seems like some of the comments you make sounds like you have a fairly serious mid range problem. ie: falls on it's face, and then finally becomes better when the throttle is opened enough to be mostly main jets.

That bike is not (should not be) that sensitive in the midrange. And yours is mostly stock.

- Something not right / plugged / partially plugged in the carbs still.
- Diaphragms bad / damaged / pinched

But again, without actually riding it, it's hard to say if this is nit picking or an actual issue. Still sounds like an issue to me.

 

For sure! Wish there was someone closer to take her out for a spin. (NW NM nice place to visit!!??) In the meantime I am getting my process down for going through the carbs again after my back country trip.

WD