Pulsing/ surging
 

Just wondering if anyone has any idea concerning a pulsing or surging feeling while at any speed or any gear with steady throttle. The bike has tons of pull and starts and idles perfectly. But while riding it feels almost like going over small smooth bumps in the road. Is this a vacuum leak, jet kit too lean , ????? Not sure. Need suggestions as it is driving me crazy.

K&N filter, two bros. pipes and jet kit.

not been maintained very well by previous owner but I am getting to everything slow and sure.

thanks in advance.

Re: Pulsing/ surging
 

This is embarrasing to admit but this very thing happened to me on Friday night. I was in a pissed off mood and went out for a ride with some buds to clear my head. The bike was running just as you describe. Turns out I left my choke on. :oops:

Right. Choke on or maybe bad chain. It's always hard to diagnose over the internet.

Re: Pulsing/ surging
 

Man, I wish I could say that is what the issue is but I never leave the choke on. I did though adjust the clutch lever recently by pulling the rubber cover back and tightening it so the choke lever would not pull back in whenever I try to use it. But I do remember this pulsing feeling before I adjusted it. Any other thoughts?

thanks for replying by the way. I do appreciate it.

joe

Re: Pulsing/ surging
 

Interesting call on the chain because I am waiting on a new chain from MAW right now !!

I bought the bike a week ago and have had to do alot of basic maintenance to it that should have been done. Decided to buy it because of the price and knew I could do alot of things myself.

I wonder if that could be it.

also wonder about fixing the choke lever and maybe if I need to tighten the nut which keeps it from pulling back in while the choke is all the way in as opposed to out.

joe

If you put it up on a stand and slowly rotate the wheel, you'll probably see a kink/tight spot in the chain. That's your culprit.

Re: Pulsing/ surging
 

I will do that with the stand this evening. I am almost sure that will be it. The more I think about it the more it makes sense. It idles perfect , but at any speed slow or fast it has a very steady pulsing. I hope that is it anyway. Another friend suggested that the bike is running lean and I was dreading taking the carbs apart. I can do it but I hate messing with carbs at all. I will cross my fingers and let everyone know whether the chain was the culprit or the choke knob adjustment thing either way.

thanks alot to both of you for the thoughts about it.

Peace, Joe

My bike did this from new.
Spoke to dealership about it and they said, thats what V-twins do...

I have since done some testing of my own and put it down to 2 things:
Fuel
I find it surges more on Regular than Premium or High Octane

Air fuel mix
I had a play with these settings after replacing air filter with A/M one. Bike needed jet kit to run properly with the air filter so i set it back to close to where the settings were, and the surging seemed to stop.
Also thought it may have something to do with the standard air filter from Honda and its "ridge" as since last service it is noticable again.

Now you have eliminated the airfilter as you have K&N and it should have been re tuned after jet kit with different settings for the air fuel mix... which really only leaves 1 constant in the equation...
Fuel.

Re: Pulsing/ surging
 

It ended up being the chain for the most part. There is still a tiny bit of a surging feeling that still annoys the hell out of me but not real bad at all. It may be a fuel issue or the v twin thing. I just sold my ninja 636 which I had for a year and the ride is very different. Either way, I do love the hawk and the character that a v twin has. Not to mention all of that torque !!!

Thank you to everybody for your help.

Joe

Remember that chains stretch in the first 500 miles or so and then don't need much adjusting until right near the end of their life. That surging feeling is usually a good indicator that the chain needs adjusting - even if you think it doesn't because you've just changed it to a new one.