DavidR8
Site Supporter
- Joined
- May 31, 2017
- Messages
- 1,221
- Location
- Vancouver Island, British Columbia
- Bike
- 2013 BMW R1200RT
- STOC #
- 8968
Starter valve sync virgin no more!
Did my first starter valve sync on STella today. Everything went super smooth and future syncs will be even easier thanks to awesome Carbtune setup and MAP sensor vacuum hose hints from Larry/Igofar.
So the $64,000 question: did it make a difference?
Oh yes it did. The idle is smoother and steadier. And for those of you who read my thread "Starting from a standing stop" you'll be pleased to know that the bucket of bolts sound has disappeared. I can pull away anywhere above idle without any odd sounds, it's all smooth and Jetson-like.
On-off throttle transitions are smoother as are shifts from first to second oddly enough. There used to be a noticeable roughness around 4500-5000 rpm that actually stopped me from taking it that high. That roughness is gone. While I've read that the starter valves are only in play at idle my experience says that if they are out of sync it will affect the entire rpm range.
I just did a quick highway blast for 30 mins of so and definitely saw an improvement on the instantaneous mileage reading. I know it's not accurate but it does give reading that can be related. At 100 kmh, steady throttle of flat ground I saw a high of 29.5 km/litre. Previously I'd not seen a reading that high unless I was coasting downhill.
Here's a before shot:
And after:
(I got the number 4 cylinder even closer with more finessing)
So definitely a marked improvement. And really easy to do. Best two hours I've spent on the bike this far. Aside from riding of course!
Did my first starter valve sync on STella today. Everything went super smooth and future syncs will be even easier thanks to awesome Carbtune setup and MAP sensor vacuum hose hints from Larry/Igofar.
So the $64,000 question: did it make a difference?
Oh yes it did. The idle is smoother and steadier. And for those of you who read my thread "Starting from a standing stop" you'll be pleased to know that the bucket of bolts sound has disappeared. I can pull away anywhere above idle without any odd sounds, it's all smooth and Jetson-like.
On-off throttle transitions are smoother as are shifts from first to second oddly enough. There used to be a noticeable roughness around 4500-5000 rpm that actually stopped me from taking it that high. That roughness is gone. While I've read that the starter valves are only in play at idle my experience says that if they are out of sync it will affect the entire rpm range.
I just did a quick highway blast for 30 mins of so and definitely saw an improvement on the instantaneous mileage reading. I know it's not accurate but it does give reading that can be related. At 100 kmh, steady throttle of flat ground I saw a high of 29.5 km/litre. Previously I'd not seen a reading that high unless I was coasting downhill.
Here's a before shot:
And after:
(I got the number 4 cylinder even closer with more finessing)
So definitely a marked improvement. And really easy to do. Best two hours I've spent on the bike this far. Aside from riding of course!
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