Lean and Mean

[dave]

Within the third thread I read here this morning, two different people referred to the CB's fueling as "lean". And one added "probably due to emissions regs."

Perhaps its a exception, but my CB has never had the slightest issue with fueling with the OEM setup. Its the smoothest running bike I've ever ridden, and I've ridden a LOT of bikes. Honda has published a great amount if detail on the effort they took to produce a linear power delivery for this bike.

Did/does your bike run poorly in the lower RPM range as delivered? Was it bad enough you felt modifying the FI system at your expense was necessary? Did you discuss the issue with your Honda service dept? If so, what did they say about it?

I've had a problem with my 2014 CB1100 running poorly from the day I bought it. There's a post I started here on this subject somewhere a few months ago. I took the bike back to the dealer the very first opportunity that I had, and it's been back four times now. My bike runs poorly below 3,000 RPM; it's especially bad at 2,000 - 3,000 range. I took my bike to an independent mechanic who diagnosed my the problem as the throttle bodies were not properly synchronized - I posted a picture to this forum of the electronic vacuum gauge readout. I did not have the throttle bodies synchronized at the independent mechanic because the bike was brand-new and I wanted Honda to fix it. The dealership simply rode my bike and stated that it ran "fine"; there was no problem. The second and third times I returned it to the dealer they performed a diagnostic evaluation, and of course everything was "fine". I have been and continue to be in contact with the factory now. The fourth visit to the shop was to have a "factory representative" test ride my bike and provide his "expert" opinion - same reply - the bike runs "fine". I cannot go into all the details of my dealings with Honda but the battle continues. I asked them repeatedly "why don't you just perform a vacuum test yourself so that you can confirm my findings"? They told me the throttle bodies are factory set and cannot be adjusted (this is not true). I told them if the throttle bodies cannot be adjusted then they needed to replace the defective ones on my bike - they had no reply for this. After multiple phone conversations with the factory I have convinced them to perform their own vacuum test (can you believe they initially told me that they didn't know how to perform a vacuum test on this bike!!). Right now I am waiting for the "official factory representative" to visit my dealer so that he can witness the results of the vacuum test. I haven't read all of the posts you guys have added on this subject because my wife if waiting for me to visit our relatives now (I will read them later), but I know that absolutely, without a doubt, my bike does not run well below 3,000 RPM. You can hear it mis-firing! It is extremely annoying to ride around town when you travel from one stop light to the next at low RPM, and very light loads. Also, on the back roads when you allow the RPM to drop below 3,000 in the corners the problem immediately becomes obvious. As soon as the RPM increases above 3,000 it starts to run good again. This topic has hit a really sore spot with me because I love this bike, except for the fuel injection problem.
I am sure that synchronizing the throttle bodies will greatly improve the performance of my bike. If Honda does not do it then I will get it done myself (I even told Honda that I was considering having Honda purchase my bike back from me under the Lemon Law act here in California - this is what suddenly got their attention).