TBS Envy

I went and got a new front tire for Brigitta since the one she came with was nearing it's TWI or Tire Wear Indicator; not to mention the thread pattern on Metzeler ME77 tires are unstable on grooved surfaces as I've mentioned before.

I got Metzeler ME880s, 110/90 18 tires, same pattern as the ones on Maria and I know that grooved surfaces don't matter to their thread pattern! Now to wait for the arrival of the tire irons I ordered online and some dynabeads and I'll be putting the new tire on Brigitta.

So, you'd think that having seen the new tire, Brigitta would be happy with things. Apparently not, I took her for a ride to the dealer to get some oil for topping off the bikes. On the way back she suddenly died on me, once while slowing down to a stoplight and the second time while stopped at another light. Not good.

She also seemed to run rough/surge while accelerating on an uphill while nearing home. However, this was a symptom I could diagnose with some certainty. The carburetors might be out of sync! I guess she'd seen me give Maria a TBS or Throttle Body Sync and wanted a sync of her carburetors so she wouldn't be left out! ; )

It took me much longer to do a sync of her carburetors than it did for me to do the TBS for Maria, let me tell you! There's three adjustment points per carburetor vice two per throttle body for Maria and of course changes to one caused adjustments to be required on the others.

Finally figured it out to the point where while the manometer oil levels did not exactly match at idle, they were within an inch of each other. The important part being that the levels remain steady and close ot each other under acceleration! The levels would separate a bit at the 2000-2500 rpm range then merge back closer as I approached 4000rpm then hold steady. The engine sounded smoother too since I ensured I had a good idle setting of 1000 rpm.

I got her buttoned up, which involves just putting the vacuum fittings cap screws back on. Simple. No fairings to mess with. I kind of like that.

Went for a test ride involving all the hills I could find nearby, she ran way smoother and I think only surged once in 2nd gear at around 5500 rpm which I'd normally not run at so it was all good.

So, now that I've given her the same TLC as Maria since they've been together, hopefully she'll stay smooth running. : )

14jul08 update: I had the engine quit at a stoplight again today, have raised the idle to about 1150-1200 to see if it helps.