Irregular tickover

[Ricky]

I have had my FZS 1000 for over a year now and the tick over seems very Irregular. Tried adjusting it a few times, but does not seem to help.
The bike is a 05 with 19500 miles k&n filter and slip on exhaust, not ivanised.
On Sunday  had to lift the tank to reroute my sat nav cable, and while  there checked the throttle position sensor and that was set correct.
The bike sounds like  it's hunting with the revs never still.
Is this  normal?

[slappy]

Try balancing the carbs.

[Ricky]

I had the carbs balanced last year and still the same. I have to say that recently noticed that there are a lot more vibration though my feet and hands, how do carbs go out of balance?

[PieEater]

Mike would be a good one to comment but with a more free flowing air filter and exhaust,  with the stock needles the bike is possibly running too lean at idle.

I can't comment on why the carbs go out of sync but balancing them is something I do annually (easy 15 minute job with a Morgan Carbtune or similar) and there is always a small amount of adjustment required, afterwards the reduction in vibration is noticeable. So with the bike suffering from excessive vibrations and the hunting issues I'd have to agree with slappy that a carb balance would be a good place to start.

[Tefer]

Mine is like this


Normal filter with slip on exhaust. I wondered if i had a small air leak somewhere? I am due to see Mike in July for some Ivanising so maybe he will find something while doing that...

[Ricky]

I have been on Mike's list but unfortunately he has not been able to get to me yet, but I am hoping very much that he will be able to get to me soon.
When I had the carbs balanced last year and the plugs where changed they looked ok.
Did not want to spend  money  on a carb balance if Mike was going to do his magic, but with not knowing when he will be coming not sure what to do?
The vibrations have differently got worse recently so what to do, is the bike running lean?

[solorider]

have a look at your coils and the leads, they can break down or corrode, mine had something similar and it was a broken pin in one of the plug leads at the coil end

[Dustydes]

Leads or plugs can cause this. Check drain hole is clean and no water moisture around plugs.
WB40 leads etc
New plugs ?
Air leak, if you get a can of easy start and spray around pipes engine revs will pick up if air leak.
Be careful and check leads and plugs first for shorting, don't spray too much, its flammable.
Old trick we used on cars

[Ricky]

When I bought my bike it came with a slip on can that has no maker marks, there was some paperwork  with it and a invoice for a viper can. Viper cans userly come with embossed Viper marks, this has northing.  Having  looked  on eBay I think it is a sp engineering can but could  be wrong.
I have had the dp restricter out and think the bike goes better.  But it back in today and the bike does tick over a bit better and there seems less vibration at higher revs, but will run for few days and then take it out again.
With the restricter out will the bike be running more lean?
There is a black  sooty residue around the end of the can, is this saying it is running rich?

[Gnasher]

This could be several things like fuel metering valve, stuck open en-richer, blocked pilot jet/s, air leak.   It's unlikely electrical that doesn't normally cause hunting.   


Has the bike been standing for a while say over winter? 
Does the bike pull ok?
Is it running fine say above 2000rpm?
Does it cut out or die as you rev?
Are all the down tubes getting hot?
 

[Ricky]

The bike has not been standing over the winter but when I bought it a year ago I think it may have stud for awhile.The bike runs and revs ok,it pulls with out flat spots and the down pipes  look OK but will check next time.
The bike starts with out choke but needs a few revs to run or will die. If you try to add choke  it dies.

[Gnasher]

Ok, as the bike appears to run fine under load it's sounding more and more like a metering valve issue.

 
Hunting is normally 2 main reasons 1, the metering valve is worn or not seating correctly which allows more fuel in and gives you the climbing/dropping (hunting) in revs.

 
The other is float height, it's possible a float is damaged/stuck, try tapping the float bowls one at a time and see if it has any effect, if it does it has at least given you the faulty carb.  There is a third an air leak but you can normally hear these as they have to be quite bad to effect the engine.
 

 
Another although less likely due to the hunting your getting is blocked pilot/s.  Try this start the bike let it idle for a minute not much longer, now be careful and quick, lick 2 fingers and very quickly tap an exhaust header at the bend as it leaves the head.  You will hear/feel a sizzling of the moisture on your fingers if the cylinder is firing correctly anything less than a nice sharp sizzle tells you one or more are cold the cylinder/s isn't firing correct i.e. missing this suggests it's a blocked pilot jet/s.   This will again give you which carb is at fault.

 
Only way to tell is to strip the carb/s but at least you'll know which one/s.  You'll only have to remove the float bowl to get at the float, metering valve or pilot jet.

[Falcon 269]

I'd synch the carbs and run a tank or two of fuel with carb cleaner (Redline off ebay) to see if that helps clear any partial blockage in the pilot jets and passageways.

If the carbs have never been off the bike, the float levels will be spot on from the factory.  They always are.

I wouldn't discount plugs or plug leads if the problem persists. 

Some Fazer 1000s do have a lumpy idle irrespective of what you do to perfect the carb synch and so on.  Those are the Friday afternoon bikes.   On the other hand, there are those that are accidentally blueprinted on the production line and those run like sewing machines.

You can do the 'which pipe is the hottest/coldest' test if you wish but I suggest you use a spray bottle with water not your fingers.  The results are same but without the sizzle coming from your flesh ...

My apologies to all who are waiting for me to come up dates for a visit to England this autumn.  We're still touring Europe at present and we won't know what our calendar looks like later in the year until we get home at the end of June.  I will be doing my very best to fit in a trip towards the end of August/early Sept, I promise.

[Gnasher]

The bike sounds like  it's hunting with the revs never still.
Is this  normal?

Are you sure it's hunting, this is a rise and full of rpm at idle or is it just lumpy idle?


The 2 are very very different.   

[Ricky]

Hi not had chance to ride the bike on long runs recently,just been on short runs to keep the bike currant.
I have the baffle in and have increased the tick over up a few hundred  revs to about  1250.I think the hunting is less but the tick over is still a bit Irregular.