08-13-2017, 01:29 AM
Trying to figure out if type of gas has a role in this adds another variable that's difficult to gauge, but maybe reporting experiences sheds light.
I have over 9k miles on the bike; about a 1500 miles ago, I started running non-ethanol gas because I wanted to see if it improved gas mileage. I've always gotten around 45mpg city, maybe 51 on hiway, some members here report getting 50-57 consistently. I figured maybe "better gas" could help. So for 1500 miles I ran the non-ethanol (6 months?) and I think mpg did improve by 2 per gallon. Then right before my first high idle at 1500, I had to fill with regular unleaded, one tank. Did the change in gas type trigger the high idle? I would say probably just a coincidence, but really, who knows?
That's when I left the bike for 3 weeks due to travel, got home, added 4oz of seafoam--which I had used once every 4 months during the life of the bike--did the throttle reset, and the WOT numerous times. Ever since the bike sat for half an hour that day, I have had no problems with idle except maybe yesterday when after an hour plus ride, it dipped to about 850 for one stop, but then stabilized at 1000 shortly after. With this one exception, on the 6 rides since the high idle went away, the 1000rpm has been solid.
Since that one tank of regular non-leaded (87 octane?) I've used the non-ethanol only, maybe 3 tank fills. However, I'm not going to be a fanatic about using non-ethanol. Our bikes should run fine on regular non-leaded 87. In fact, I'll start running other gas now to see if I can trigger the high idle again--that would be interesting.
Bottom line for me: before the first ride after experiencing the 1500 high idle, I added 4 oz of seafoam and throttle reset while bike was cold. Then I rode WOT numerous times in gears 2-4 mainly. The idle during this one ride fluctuated between 1000-1500. Then the bike sat for 30 minutes...and no problems since.
I have over 9k miles on the bike; about a 1500 miles ago, I started running non-ethanol gas because I wanted to see if it improved gas mileage. I've always gotten around 45mpg city, maybe 51 on hiway, some members here report getting 50-57 consistently. I figured maybe "better gas" could help. So for 1500 miles I ran the non-ethanol (6 months?) and I think mpg did improve by 2 per gallon. Then right before my first high idle at 1500, I had to fill with regular unleaded, one tank. Did the change in gas type trigger the high idle? I would say probably just a coincidence, but really, who knows?
That's when I left the bike for 3 weeks due to travel, got home, added 4oz of seafoam--which I had used once every 4 months during the life of the bike--did the throttle reset, and the WOT numerous times. Ever since the bike sat for half an hour that day, I have had no problems with idle except maybe yesterday when after an hour plus ride, it dipped to about 850 for one stop, but then stabilized at 1000 shortly after. With this one exception, on the 6 rides since the high idle went away, the 1000rpm has been solid.
Since that one tank of regular non-leaded (87 octane?) I've used the non-ethanol only, maybe 3 tank fills. However, I'm not going to be a fanatic about using non-ethanol. Our bikes should run fine on regular non-leaded 87. In fact, I'll start running other gas now to see if I can trigger the high idle again--that would be interesting.
Bottom line for me: before the first ride after experiencing the 1500 high idle, I added 4 oz of seafoam and throttle reset while bike was cold. Then I rode WOT numerous times in gears 2-4 mainly. The idle during this one ride fluctuated between 1000-1500. Then the bike sat for 30 minutes...and no problems since.