The VF500F and throttle snatch

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by Cherryriver, Aug 4, 2021.

  1. Cherryriver

    Cherryriver New Member

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    I've gotten my "garage find" '86 500 going very well now, and have been riding it with confidence it will get me back home- always a good thing with a 35-year-old bike.
    New Pirelli Speed Demon tires are making a very nice difference, too.
    So in real life, my remaining complaints are down to two of any consequence: the seat is mushy and not really too comfortable for more than 45 minutes or so, and the throttle snatch is rather worse than I expect for a sophisticated carbureted bike like the VF500F.
    Now, when I got the bike the carb rack was off. The seller had left it sit in his garage for an unknown number of years after a minor drop and then went to resuscitate it. However, he'd sprayed carb cleaner and believed he'd damaged the carb diaphragms beyond repair and gave up.
    I looked at the diaphragms and did not see any trouble. They seemed reasonably pliable with only modest wrinkling. Given the bike is running so well in the middle and upper ranges, I didn't give them any further thought.
    For starters when I got it home. I went over the carbs three times. I installed new slow jets as the originals wouldn't come clean. Everything else in there cleaned up pretty well, though.
    I reinstalled them as per the book, with the air screws turned out 2 1/2 turns like it says.
    The idle is steady as a rock, a good sign.
    I confess to not having performed the air screw setting procedure in the book. The bike was running quite well so I moved on to the tires and so forth.
    I invited suggestions as to where I should be looking to correct a much-too-snatchy low-opening throttle response. It gets jerky enough in low-speed traffic and local operations as to be annoying, almost neck-tiring if the throttle is worked with even the slightest carelessnees.
    Bill
     
  2. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    I don't think I've ever felt that a VF500F is too "snatchy". From what you describe regarding how well it performs in all the other areas, I'm kinda at a loss. I don't think it is carb related. Carb problems will almost always create the opposite problem. Or at the least be lazy, and then come on too strong. Doesn't sound like that's your issue.

    Did you check the condition of the rear sprocket dampers behind the hub when you had the wheel off?. They do wear, but more importantly, the shrink and get very hard from age. If you have excessive lash I can see the on - off transitions being abrupt.

    Verify your chain tension. Low probability on this one, but you did just have the rear wheel off.

    The other possibility is that you're just not used to this bike. I dampen low speed on - offs with my clutch. It's just something I do automatically without thinking about it. I can imagine a lot of my V4s could be considered "snatchy" in traffic if I didn't do it. But knowing my bikes are performing and maintained properly, I know it's just what it is.

    Good luck!
     
  3. Cherryriver

    Cherryriver New Member

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    Yeah, the idea of throttle snatch on this bike was a surprise.
    The chain is in adjustment. I am indeed kind of a chain fanatic- I got 58,000 miles out a DID on my ZX1100E.
    The hub rubbers aren't that great. I looked into new ones, a couple of hundred bucks!
    In the olden days we would cut shims from rubber plumbing gaskets to take up the slack. I know I really should be doing that on this bike.
    I also have a beater V-Strom 650 in the garage- it really, really needs new rubbers back there. Shame on me.
    I know better- that aforementioned ZX got new shims every 30,000 miles or so.
    I will take up the suggestion.
     
  4. Colddevil

    Colddevil Member

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    This is exactly where my mind went. The only bike I'd ever felt that throttle "snatchiness" at low to no throttle was on my FZR600, and a lot of it disappeared when I installed a second rear wheel with better cush drive rubbers. Since I didn't know any better at the time, I just assumed it was a property of early 90s inline-4 sportbikes.
     
  5. Cherryriver

    Cherryriver New Member

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    Heh, throttle snatch, thy name is Versys 650.
    My wife traded in a Ninja 650 for an '18 Versys 650LT. The idea was to gain a "touring" bike to go with her SV650S.
    The snatch on that thing was Yamaha-esque. Prodigious. (See: early-2nd-gen FJR1300, for example. Yow.)
    I spent a pile of money on an ECU flash from a very reputable shop, Shoodaben Engineering, and it only improved things a bit.
    She traded the bike in after only 2200 miles on a Ninja 400.
    I rode it a fair amount and despite be a deeply-involved Kawasaki guy, I didn't care for it either. The bike had some good features and all, and of course it's the darling of the Zach Courts-Ari Henning-Spencer Roberts coterie, but I did not argue overmuch about her ditching it, apart from the financial impact.
    Next chance I get to get the 500's rear wheel off I will tend to the shims.
     
  6. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    not enough throttle cables freeplay ?
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2021
  7. Cherryriver

    Cherryriver New Member

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    Well, actually I have a bit too much freeplay on those. Typically, the conventional wisdom is to tighten it up to reduce bucking. But haven't done that yet.
     
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