Shock adjustment

He did give me a history of what had been done, both in writing from the owner before him and the things he had done in the last 6 months prior to my purchase. He didn't do any of the work himself but had a bike mechanic work on it. I'm a PC tech by trade. I used to work on my cars back when they were actually serviceable and I had my parents garage and yard to work in. I don't remember the name of the spark plugs off the top of my head, but they were the same brand listed in the owners manual. I still have my gap setter from working on my car. I haven't actually looked deep enough under the covers to see how easy it is to get to the spark plugs. I already ordered all the new screws/etc for the windshield, plus the plug and also the 2 cover screws that the PO stripped because he apparently used the wrong screwdriver taking them off. I'll keep an eye out for the service manual. Thanks.

To my knowledge, the bike hasn't been sitting idle for a long period of time. The only thing I haven't checked yet is the air filter as that required taking off the top cover to get to. Could that really cause a rough idle problem? It seems to me that bad/oily plugs would cause a rough idle. Granted, I'm no mechanic, I have a rudimentary understanding of things. And it seems fine at speed, it's just a little rough at idle, around 1,200 rpm. I also had a HELL of a time trying to make a left turn while going up a STEEP hill behind 3 other cars... but I'm sure that was just me having problems with the clutch and 1st gear. I was getting afraid I was going to strip the gears it was going so bad... It was just so hard to go up that steep a hill in VERY short bursts. If there's a trick to that, I'm all ears.

PS - I just checked out PartsFish and they have FOUR ST1100's listed. I only knew of 2... the regular and the TCS/ABS version which is not the one I have. How do I know which one of these is mine?
 
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Zeoran said:
It was just so hard to go up that steep a hill in VERY short bursts. If there's a trick to that, I'm all ears.
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You need to practice slow riding skills. Have you ever ridden a bike before? If not, you would be very wise and would greatly benefit from getting into a riding course in your area. Going slowly up a hill can be much harder than on the flat, if you haven't learned how to do proper slow speed control with the clutch and throttle.
 
Zeoran said:
The only thing I haven't checked yet is the air filter as that required taking off the top cover to get to. Could that really cause a rough idle problem? It seems to me that bad/oily plugs would cause a rough idle
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The air filter, if clogged, would be more problematic at high speed than at idle, but certainly check it out. If you have a shop type light, shine it through the filter pleats from the inside. If you can't see light, or very little, around most of the surface, it is toast.

If the plugs are black, or oily, that indicates some other possible problems. Start a new thread if you encounter things you aren't sure of.
 
I rode a 1982 Honda Goldwing Interstate for a few years but that was about 20 years ago, so it's been a while. And my ST1100 handles a lot differently than my Goldwing did. I'm sure I'll get better as I get used to it, it was just insane going up a 45' incline in 1st gear with no room to really gain ground and it was hard enough just not LOSING ground every time I eased up on the clutch. It was a hellish balance of putting enough clutch to not fall backwards but not too much to stall or lurch forward so much I hit the car in front of me. I also had a car behind me that was way too close for comfort.
 
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