New to a ST1300, can't get used to the throttle!

St1300biker said:
but because of the poor ECU mapping on the 13, he could not get used to it so kept his ST11 and got rid of the 13s.
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It's probably as simple as carbs vs fuel injection. A lot of that is personal preference, and for me, ever since 125cc I've not ridden anything with carbs, purely because I find FI easier to work on.
St1300biker said:
I feel a lot better, having just seen a Youtube comparing the ST11 with the ST13.
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Please, share the link to the video, it'd probably be interesting for a number of us.
 
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T_C said:
You'd think with that much experience he would be able to learn. Some people just won't I guess.
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Maybe he can, but simply doesn't see the need to learn when there's other options available to him?

I mean, I like Russ, I've watched a lot of his video's and if Covid hadn't been a "thing" this summer I would have been doing a 2 hour or so ride to him, and him or one of the instructors working for him would have been putting me through a pre-RoSPA assessment. I still disagree with him about which is the "better" bike, but it's a subjective thing & I'd love to have that conversation with him over a brew one day.

The "problems" he lists for the 13, like the low speed handling due to fuel weight I just don't find to be an issue. The throttle, as in this thread, can be tricky to adapt to, but it's not a significant issue. The high speed stability issues have been talked about to death on this forum, and we all know it can be an issue for some & not others, and some can get used to it to a degree.
 
Raymond83 said:
Hi everyone,
I was hoping that maybe what's going on with my bike is an anomaly, but the throttle is very jumpy from the off position, the very first, maybe 1/16th of an inch of twist makes the bike jump. Hard to explain, but sort of a jerky movement. The throttle does not roll on smooth. After the initial jump, it seems fine throughout the range. But that initial jump is really throwing me off. Any advice would be greatly appreciated (except 'get used to it'... lol).

Ray
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I had the same problem with jumpiness. My solution was to put a fatter grip on it to smooth things out right away. I used 'grip puppies'. Good luck.
 
I had forgotten that the 1300 has a much smaller diameter throttle. It did bother me for quite a while - especially since I kept the 1100 for 18 months after buying the 1300. Mainly, my hand felt cramped (massive hands) and I found it more difficult to control. I haven't got a clue when that feeling disappeared. I certainly havent felt that for many years. I had fully intended to keep both models on the road, but I found the 1300 much nicer to ride. The lighter steering was the main consideration for me, even though I absolutely loved riding the 1100s for 6 years and 90,000 miles.

I don't understand how he arrived at his ECM mapping conclusion. The power delivery of the 1300 I found to be super smooth, and so rapid. I realised when I first got it that I stopped accelerating when I felt I had reached 70mph (uk limit), and checked afterwards. On the 1100 I was right. On the 1300 I was having to back off 20mph.

But it is all personal preferences. The 1100 does have a smoother engine. In an interview with the designer of the 1300, I read that he had designed the engine to feel more like a motorcycle.
 
The solution for me for achieving a lighter grip has been to move my throttle hand to the right, rest the heal of my wrist on the bar end and place my thumb on a Crampbuster. That way I've got just thumb and first finger to control the throttle. (Sorry if someone recommended this to me and I have overlooked their post.)

There's sure plenty in this post for new(er) riders to consider if they too have the same issues.

Paul
 
Just started reading "Total Control" by Lee Parks. Very readable book and highly recommended.

In Chapter 9: Throttle Control he covers the surging problems with many fuel-injected bikes, adjusting throttle cable slack to almost zero, G2 Throttle Tamer etc.

He suggests practising throttle control by riding in a straight line, rolling the throttle on and off slowly, smoothly and consistently. Interesting that he has found his students generally roll off the throttle 3 times faster than necessary, but you'll know when you have it right because there will be practically no movement in the suspension.

You will appreciate that I can't reproduce the pages here due to copyright.

Paul
 
St1300biker said:
You will appreciate that I can't reproduce the pages here due to copyright.
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Noted and I'm sure the author would appreciate it as well. But what you wrote is enough to give anybody a great deal of insight to controlling the throttle.

Not that surprising about rolling the throttle off too quickly. Being used to cars and to carbureted bikes the engine braking isn't nearly as apparent as chopping the throttle on the ST.

For me the Throttle Tamer's granularity made it easy for me to practice rolling of the gas. If I took it off now I'd probably be much improved over the days when I first got my ST. But the advantage of the Tamer was significant and immediate. So it stays.
 
Raymond83 said:
Hi everyone,
I was hoping that maybe what's going on with my bike is an anomaly, but the throttle is very jumpy from the off position, the very first, maybe 1/16th of an inch of twist makes the bike jump. Hard to explain, but sort of a jerky movement. The throttle does not roll on smooth. After the initial jump, it seems fine throughout the range. But that initial jump is really throwing me off. Any advice would be greatly appreciated (except 'get used to it'... lol).

Ray
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You needed to adjusting your throttle cable. It's located right by your hand throttle. sliding off the rubber cover use two 8mm to adjusted to taking slack out. Hopefully it will helps.!
 
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I posted in an exhaust thread about a lack of power after installing Delkevics. As it turns out a nut on the throttle cable was dangling. I will assume it was giving me only 3/4 or so of throttle. I did a 24k mile service and installed heated grips. I now have a large amount of throttle snatch. Prior 24k miles it was silky smooth, with a roll on, roll of that was zen like, now its like an on off switch. What did I do?
 
How much throttle play do you have? I keep mine at 0 but Honda recommends something like 1/16-1/4". First thing I'd do is check and adjust the throttle play as necessary.
 
ST Gui said:
How much throttle play do you have? I keep mine at 0 but Honda recommends something like 1/16-1/4". First thing I'd do is check and adjust the throttle play as necessary.
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Would 0 be better /smoother then 1/16? Nevermind, I'm reading and reading, you all have been here before.

Edit for history
 
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I read the first 3 pages of this resurrected thread, and skimmed the rest to the end.
We know that same-model bikes will have somewhat different characteristics, but usually in more minor, or subtle points, like where the friction zone is, and such as that. I've owned FI as well as carburetor bikes, and for 14 years my KTM 950 was carb'd, and in all likelihood it still is.
Moving to the '08 1300 was no problem at all, aside from getting used to 200 extra pounds.
My 1300 throttle has never given me any grief, although there IS a degree of driveline snatch, which is easily dealt with, but this has been present with EVERY bike I've ever owned.
I doubt I could explain it any better, as well as how to mitigate it, than has @jfheath in the first couple of pages in this thread.
I don't deny it exists or frustrates the OP, but I haven't noticed any lag at launch, or stumbling, all the way through the gears. And sometimes I'm fairly assertive with my starts, and I enjoy the way this big fat pig can get its legs under it, and hustle off the start line.
While heavy, it is no slouch if you wanna be quick.
 
I also cant easily get used to the immediate acceleration with such little throttle movement either. Ive even installed a throttle tamer which didnt tame much.
I find having no cable freeplay doesnt feel right. I like a tiny bit of slack.
The direct drive set up contributes to this snatchy feeling. Ive only ever had chain driven bikes before.
 
Honestly, there's about a 99% chance it's not the bike, at least not that there's anything wrong with the bike. Early FI was abrupt. It is what it is. Try a gen one VFR800 or a gen 1 fuel injected cbr600. The ST never got an update to its FI that I know of.

Think about how you can change the way you use the throttle or the way you use the clutch or the way you think about how the bike launches. Think about when you are getting all the way off the gas and whether you really need to be all the way off the gas at that place where you don't like the impact of rolling back on the gas. Think about whether you can recalibrate your thoughts and feelings about how the bike behaves.
 
Willsmotorcycle said:
I posted in an exhaust thread about a lack of power after installing Delkevics. As it turns out a nut on the throttle cable was dangling. I will assume it was giving me only 3/4 or so of throttle. I did a 24k mile service and installed heated grips. I now have a large amount of throttle snatch. Prior 24k miles it was silky smooth, with a roll on, roll of that was zen like, now its like an on off switch. What did I do?
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Which nut ? There is a nut that holds the metal tube with a 90 degree bend in position under the handlebar clamp, and there is a locknut on the cable itself to allow the cable slack to be adjusted. I think that there are also adjuster on the lower end of each cable, but you have to get under the airbox to get at those.

You Must have some slack in the cable. It is important. There are two cables - both attached to a wheel that operates the throttle bodies in the engine vee. One pulls to open the throttle, the other pulls to close the throttle. At any time, the one that isn't pulling should have some slack in it.
If it doesn't ever have any slack, then both cables are tight and in effect they are pulling the throttle bidy wheel and the engine up towards the handlebars !
The throttle body on the engine has a string spring. When you let go of the throttle hand grip, it should snap back to the closed position. Really very quickly.

What I am saying is that you may need to adjust the slack in your cable. Make sure everything is moving smoothly. Also - Has the cable routing been disturbed?

The other thing you have done is to add heated grips. Is the new rubber catching on the brake lever clamp or switch gear clamp, preventing it from moving smoothly? Have you got plenty of slack in the grip's power cable so that it can give full movement of the throttle grip ? Is the flange of the plastic tube of the throttle correctly seated in the switch gear groove?
Does the throttle grip move freely on the bar end (it should almost feel as though it rattles around when the cables aren't attached.

Having the throttle grip freed up so that it moves easily and smoothly is like having an engine upgrade.

Then adjust the cable to reduce the amount of free play to within spec. I make my free play less than that, but you have to be aware of the points i made in my post on page 2 of this thread.
 
OkieRider said:
Honestly, there's about a 99% chance it's not the bike, at least not that there's anything wrong with the bike. Early FI was abrupt. It is what it is. Try a gen one VFR800 or a gen 1 fuel injected cbr600. The ST never got an update to its FI that I know of.

Think about how you can change the way you use the throttle or the way you use the clutch or the way you think about how the bike launches. Think about when you are getting all the way off the gas and whether you really need to be all the way off the gas at that place where you don't like the impact of rolling back on the gas. Think about whether you can recalibrate your thoughts and feelings about how the bike behaves.
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Agree - my 1997 TL1000S was the first FI bike I owned and it had an abrupt throttle I never got used to fully in the 4 years of riding it. I have noted a subtle "snatchiness" in the throttle in the 6 weeks I've been on the "new to me" ST1300 but nothing I'm not quickly getting accustomed to and not even close to the frustrating experience I had on the TL.
 
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