[lemon]

Two things I wanted to ask those in the know:
1. My clutch lever is very stiff.. After riding in stop-n-go traffic that I'm subjected to pretty much every day my left hand is stiff and swallen and cannot perform other important duties. Anyone knows if there's a way to fix this?
2. I asked this when I had my Monster serviced at Riverside Ducati and they said it was normal but here I am asking anyway.. Do all Monsters have rough and uneven idle at startup? Every morning I warm up my bike for couple of minutes and at full choke idle ranges from revving over 4k RPMs to pretty much stalling at under 1K RPM if I try to adjust the choke a little.. It gets less "jumpy" once the bike is warmed up and goes away as soon as I drive off. Is this normal?
TIA,

Dimitri

 

[lemon]

Nevermind the 1st question, should've looked two threads down.. :

Dimitri

 

[ScottRNelson]

My bike idles at 3000 with the choke full on. As soon as it is running cleanly (a few seconds of running), I'll drop the idle down to 2000 rpms. My particular bike won't idle steadily at 1500 rpms using the choke control. The speed either drops, or it goes up higher.

I turned the idle mixture screws out half a turn on each carburetor so that I can ride it after less than 30 seconds of warmup, even on cold mornings, without the choke.

 

[CRASH!]

I too have found the idle control to be almost an "on-off" proposition.

At full choke, I idle at 3k. It's taken a lot of practice to be able to back it off to a 2k idle. I make very small adjustments in the position to get it down because I don't like the cold engine running at 3k.

I try to keep it at 2k while I check all my lights and put my helmet and gloves on.

Then I turn the choke off. It generally idles pretty roughly at that point, but I take off right away and everything smooths out.

So I'm generally idling under choke for probably a minute before I'm ready to go. It's a little worse in cold weather, but not much.

 

[lemon]

Thanks guys! I feel better that ALL Monsters show this behavior, not just mine..
Now totally retarded question: I looked around and found couple of adjustable clutch levers that should fix stiff clutch issue I asked about earlier. Can someone explain how the adjustable lever works? Do I adjust it so the lever is closer to the handle bar? Or does it have a different mechanism in it that provided for a smother clutch-in/out? I'm just curious as to how it actually can cure the problem..
Thanks again!

Dimitri

 

[CRASH!]

The adjustment changes the "static" position of the lever, so changing it can help to accomodate different reaches.

It doesn't affect the travel required for full clutch disengagement (or braking on the other side).

I'm not sure about proportionality on the master cylinder, so I'm not sure whether it changes the effort. I've played with mine and, frankly, haven't noticed any effort difference.

But I suppose it would help to bring the lever in closer because then you're not applying the force with your fingers extended as far. Just make sure you have enough travel, particularly on the brake lever. For casual riding, you never get deep into the lever, so if you adjust it too close, you may find that you run out of travel when you need HEAVY braking.

 

[jblouch]

An aftermarket clutch slave cylinder will help the stiff clutch pull.

I've found that it works best if I start the Monster w/o any choke or throttle and let it idle for a minute or two it in the mornings (it will start and idle this way). If I try to finesse the choke or throttle, I find myself glued to the motorcycle for the first few minutes of start up just to keep it going. Some choke might be required when it's colder, but for the summer this is how it seems to work best.

 

[CRASH!]

That'll never work here! Not on my bike anyway.

It was 55 degrees when I got up on Sunday (it's better today).

Our (Dmitri and mine) summer ain't quite like yours. I went to ASU. I know.

I can sometimes start and idle with no choke when I go home in the afternoon, but first thing in the morning. Not likely.

 

[Bloodshot]

Wow jarhead, you can actually get your bike to start with the choke/fast idle? Now I'm not in AZ, but even on 90+ days in CA I have to engage the fast idle lever (not a choke on FI bikes) most of the way for at least the first minute...

 

[lemon]

Roger that. In New England's summer, I'm not able to start the bike in the morning without full choke being on..
Thanks for the feedback on the lever, I'll give it a try.

Dimitri

That'll never work here! Not on my bike anyway.

It was 55 degrees when I got up on Sunday (it's better today).

Our (Dmitri and mine) summer ain't quite like yours. I went to ASU. I know.

I can sometimes start and idle with no choke when I go home in the afternoon, but first thing in the morning. Not likely.