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Palephase

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  • Have you attended a California Superbike School school?
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  1. I wound up buying the Q3s from my local independent shop. Of course, I paid more for them that way, but for that matter I could beat the school's price significantly at either of a couple of large on-line retailers. However, since it is in my interests to have at least one competent local shop in my area (and, sadly, that sure isn't the local Honda dealership in my experience), I'm willing to pay a reasonable premium to do business locally. I have not really exercised the tires much, but first impressions are a huge improvement over the Road Attacks for ride quality. Even when the RAs were new, they were nowhere near as comfortable; in fact the carcass they used was so stiff, they could probably have been advertised truthfully as run-flat tires. They were also slower to turn in that the Q3s are; it takes the most moderare of bar pressure to flick the bike over now. Grip is much improved, though I have not yet had any chance to put them to the test; my usual riding route seems to be about 50% white paint in any interesting corners at intersections, but so far they seem to inspire more confidence than the RAs ever did. Wet traction is unknown, but I suspect I be able to comment on that before the week is out.
  2. Thanks for your ideas, Timmer. The O2 sensors were replaced with 02 Eliminators when I had the PC III put on. I was still inclined to think electrical gremlins, but I just got the bike back from Livengood's, and Brian seems to have fixed it by seriously leaning out the 5K +/- 750 rpm range. The engine really seems to like the new map because it accelerates much more strongly than it ever had before, and the 5K bog down is imperceptible now. i can still feel it but only because I am looking for it, and then it only seems to happen with very high ambient temps, say around 95° and higher. To my surprise, leaning out the sub-VTEC range has actually dropped the operating temperature by 5-10°. I'm still scratching my head over that, but I'll take it. However, Brian also echoed yours and Robert's point about cleaning, lubing, and reseating connectors. I'll be doing that when I change the oil in the next couple of weeks.
  3. I think I am going to have to say my pennies for the higher-level courses. They gave me a ton to work on with Levels 1 & 2, and in conjunction with some of the carry-over items (e.g. recovery from loss of rear wheel traction) from American Supercamp -- which i attended a few weeks before -- I am definitely feeling a lot more confident than I was even six months ago. BTW, you have a refined palate for motorcycles.
  4. Hi,Robert, no, in fact I have not yet sorted through the connectors, and considering the relatively low amplitude of the signals, a noisy, high-impedance connection here or there could explain a lot. If that does not work and the recent trip to Livengood Motorsports does not turn up a significant finding in a bad sensor, I may just give Kevin a shout on the phone. Thanks much for the tip!!!
  5. Thanks for the useful comments on the Q3, Tyler. I think I'm going to give the home office a call for pricing on the VFR. Even if the Q3s would not wear as well. with my current;y avallable riding time, tire aging is more a factor than tire wear, so I will gladly trade off a couple of thousand theoretical miles of wear for improved confidence in braking and emergency maneuvers.
  6. Here's a question for the experts on FI systems: What predisposes some EFI systems to cause stalling and surging at constant throttle settings? Do they they default to throttle position sensor readings in the absence of exhaust mixture data? For background, I have an '02 VFR which I dearly love 95-99% of the time The remainder of that time is a period of frustration mixed with vary degrees of apprehension when the engine will lose power, and then suddenly come back to life with a violence that leaves me wondering when it will break the drive chain. It can be so severe that I have actually looked back to see if a cage driver had caught me napping and hit me. The bike exhibited this behavior in stock form shortly after I bought it about 3 1/2 years ago with 7400 miles on it. I took it to a local shop which specializes in building much sough-after race engines and in which I have high confidence. They installed and tuned a Power Commander III, removed the lambda sensors and replace with 02 Sensor Eliminators, disabled the flapper, and blocked the PAIR valves, all of which are typical mods by VFR owners to address such issues. It worked fine for about two tank fulls and returned to its insidious behavior. Initially, the shop owner and I thought it was due to the vagaries of the VTEC system, but I began to pay more attention and noticed the issue was well below the VTEC transition range (6800-7000 rpm) at a much lower 4750-5250 indicated RPM, and even though it is more likely on ride home in the late afternoon when the outdoor temps are in the 90s, I've had it happen on mornings with temps in the low 50s, and correspondingly with coolant temps as high as 220° and as low as 168° indicated. The bike is throwing no fault codes and the Dynojet read-out shows the VTEC transition is just about ironed out and a little bit of a flat spot from about 4000 to 5000 rpm in the torque curve (typical for VFRs). By installing the PCIII and removing the lambda sensors, in theory we have broken the control loop, yet it seems to me that the ECU is trying to assert control anyway, and by going up or down 1500-2000 rpm several times over the course of about a minute, I can usually tame the bucking bronco. A little Google searching tells me VFRs are not the only bikes known for this behavior even though it does not seem universal, and the problem usually occur at constant throttle inputs at about 5000 rpm for four-cylinder engines. There are many how-I-finally-healed my-bike testimonials, but for every person for whom the technqiues work, you can find at least one more for whom the same "fixes" were ineffective, which tells me that few if any understand the root cause(s) and that most are simply putting bandages on symptoms. I would greatly appreciate a response from anybody who understands the inner workings of the typical ECUs and who can comment on how the electronic governance within the black box, because it seems like the popular wisdom is actually misinformed.
  7. Anybody running Q3s on a VFR800 (5th or 6th Gen)? I have 3 year-old Road Attacks on a VFR, and need to replace them since they are now hard and sketchy even with 32 psi in the front and 34 in the rear: I am not demanding much from the tires but they still seem inclined to slip a little even at the modest lean angles I am achieving and despite my having scrubbed the rear in from one edge to the other and having gotten all but about a 1/4" width scrubbed on the front. I spend most of my riding in a commute, so I am not racking up huge miles annually, so the RAs have plenty of tread left but the aging of the compound has made it a priority for me to replace them. Other VFR riders seem to mostly gravitate for the Michelin Pilot Road 2s or 3s, but wondered if anybody thinks the Q3s might be better for street use where long-wearing characteristics and low slab time is involved? Thanks in advance for your comments.
  8. If you want to economize, Cycle-Gear's Heat Out stuff worked great when I took a 2-day at Barber in early Jun. Admittedly, the weather was a little cooler than normal, but it still got warm, and that gear did the job just fine for not a lot of money.
  9. I know this thread is a bit old, but I also need a long oval helmet and even the RF1100 and 1200 did not feel quite right and put pressure on my forehead. Likewise, I think Web Bike World's fitting guidelines are too inconsistent. I bought a Bell RS-1 sight unseen off Revzilla based on customer comments re sizing and got it right on the first shipment. I went with a medium instead of large or XL for a very snug fit (fit the the crown, not the face) and love it. Tossed my old EXO-700 and see no reason to look back.
  10. Thanks for the welcome. Few forums seem to focus as much on the techniques and technical aspects of riding. I actually found out about the school some years back by following a link to the forum which turned up in a Google search. How is the Level 4 training? I am a long ways from taking it (I have my work cut out to drill in the lessons from Levels 1 & 2), but it seemed like it would be intense. Congrats on the new bike. I was truly astonished by the school's S1000RRs. My usual ride is a VFR800, and I had never ridden a liter bike before, but it's amazing how easy to ride BMW made that bike. I think there's a lot to be said for seeing how your bike handles in your hands, so in some ways I almost wish I had had my VFR, but I think I honestly got more out the class riding the S1000RR than I would have on my bike.
  11. Greetings. all. Name's Mike. I am new to the forum but not new to riding, although the two-day Levels 1&2 camp at Barber last weekend certainly made me feel like it as Cobie Fair -- with the patience of Job, I might add -- deconstructed my plethora of riding issues and brought me up to basic competence. As a student told me who had taken the one-day Level 1 on Saturday told me as I was checking in to my hotel, it is amazing how many years one can ride -- particularly on the street -- and simply "get by" without really mastering the fundamentals. I made up my mind to get technique down and worry about adding speed later, as anybody who had the misfortune of getting behind me in a corner could attest. But the level of instruction CSS provided really went a long way to clearing up some basic misconceptions of essential aspects of riding, so at least I now have a solid foundation on which to build new skills. Looking forward to getting to know other forum members and contributing in my own small way to the forum. Cheers, Mike
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