81 gs1100e - track day tuning -mid throttle

[CincinnatiKid]

Put 140 mains in. Started it and ran it. It was starting to rain so i didn’t get a chance to open the gas up at all. tomorrow.

Found the throttle cable melting culprit. For some reason, the 12v supply spade terminal on my turn signal relay melted itself out of the relay itself and the hot wire came to rest on the carburetor mounting rail, as pictured. That must have energized the carb bodies and then the throttle cable by extension. Oddly the lighting fuse didn’t blow, and no other electrical faults are obvious…

[CincinnatiKid]

140’s!!!!!

inital test ride on the interstate says WOW speed and pull! Need to look towards the low-end richness… it’s a bit stumbly when snapping the gas open off the line.

having a tach is nice!!!!

[CincinnatiKid]

Pulled the plugs expecting to see them looking richer, but they looked basically the same as before the 140 jets. Just checked them in the garage, cold engine…. Not sure if that test means anything if it’s not a proper plug chop.

Might try up another size?? Speed costs money but $4 per jet is stacking up slowly but surely!!

______


An aside: off thread focus, the zuki left me stranded at peak rush hour on a busy Chicago interstate interchange near downtown (290 out of downtown, just under the renovated us post office building… if you’re familiar). All spark lost. Crank, no start. Lights ok. Full tank of gas. No tools. Awesome.
happened unexpectedly in early June about 160 miles from home in Wisconsin but spark came back about 30 sec after it left, I didn’t even come to a stop, and it never happened again until a few days back.

got the Moto ambulance, made it back to the bike, let in, started right up. Carted it home, still starts, haven’t ridden it since. I suspect CDI advance unit. Just fought through diagnosing a shot, intermittent cdi unit on a 87 kawi 500 ninja a few months ago.

had a Dynatek S ignition sitting in new in box for a few years that I didn’t end up needing (new coils fixed it), but in order to run it, I found out yesterday after opening the box, I need to source a centrifugal spark advancer plate from a pre-80 gs1000.

anyone got a lead?

[CincinnatiKid]

New ignition in, secondhand advancer installed.
timing shows accurate with the gun for both coils, but I had to really go to the limits of the adjustment on the Dyna pickup plate to get both pickups to register @ the right times. Made me suspicious. So far so good though

Had a small gasket leak on the stator cover that turned into a full stator and R/R replacement. Hopefully for the last time.

i have 145’s in there now, have taken a ride to work with them, but haven’t checked wot performance yet. I dropped the needle down one clip position preemptively, helped keep the midrange drivable. Pilot seems rich at this time but I’m going to leave it along until the needle and main gets set.

I think stock size pilots are in there now (27.5??)
any precedent for people having to use one size down from stock after going up on the mains?

[CincinnatiKid]

Mains: 145
needle: dynojet needle at the 4th slot from the bottom (a bit leaner than middle)
pilots: 47.5
idle screw: 2.5 turns out

hindle 4-1 stainless exhaust
k&n pod filters

this is the best the engine has ever run, and I can’t imagine needing more from it for my street riding

thanks

[Rijko]

Glad you got it sorted
Sometimes it can take some time and experimenting to get it right ..

[CincinnatiKid]

thanks... i can't believe it was able to run as well as it did for years with such small main jets in there.

in regards to track day tuning, i decided last year to retire the GS from track service, but it's replacement, a 1989 kawi ex500 ninja, had poorly timed issues (first, a CDI box, then a water pump seal) that made me have to bring the GS to the track for the first two track days this season. now the ninja is rock solid, and i have done one track day on it. it does have a tach on it, and it took me the first half of the day to realize that with an 11,000 rpm redline on the engine, i need to keep the engine at 6500+ through corner exit if i want to have any real drive coming out. and dont shift until 10.5k! it was a whole new way to ride an engine (never ridden a two stroke), and after feeling how well that parallel twin pulls higher up in the RPM range, i am frightened and excited about how much i was absolutely missing by riding the GS too low in the power band, and being about 10 sizes too lean on the main jets.

maybe i'll bring both to a track day in the future

[Rob S.]

Happy to hear they're dialed in. How about some pics?

[Rijko]

Ha, that's cool, i used to have an EX500. (2-cylinder, 4-stroke)
The difference could hardly be bigger between the EX500 and GSX1100.
You should ride both, the EX500 steers razorsharp compared to the 1100 and allows
mid-turn braking and course corrections where the 1100 likes it better
if you choose your line and stick to it.
Great learning experience to be able to ride both.

Maybe go back to original sprockets on the 1100, much more fun in general.
Better pulling out of sharp corners, really the only advantage of heavier gears
would be a bit less rpm on the highway but on the track standard gearing will
probably improve lap times by a lot.

[CincinnatiKid]

Happy to hear they're dialed in. How about some pics?

From the second track day of the season, side stand zip tied,

[CincinnatiKid]

From the first day may 23

[CincinnatiKid]

Only one photo per post eh?

[CincinnatiKid]

Last one

[Rijko]

We love pictures ... looking good there Cincinnatikid

[CincinnatiKid]

Did the 20th annual motoworks track day @ Gingerman raceway in west Michigan today, I did it a few years back on my GS11, and met dale (username Dogma) and his GS1000GL, he was there today, and we pitted next to each other and hung out all day. It was super helpful to be able to rap with a fellow GS owner/enthusiast in person, and ride with each other.

I’ll bring my gs next year