Pinging

[William K Denton]

Jeff,

You're probably lugging the engine, and FWIW, yes bikes are a lot different 
than cars.  I was weaned on a 1968 Camaro w/ a 327CI V8 / 4SP and it took me 
almost five years of driving and shifting Japanese imports "incorrectly" 
before I got it (now I shift my Honda CR-V at redline, woohoo!).

The secret is this... you won't break it or hurt it as long as you stay 
below the redline, so let er rip with the rpm range and see how and where it 
feels right.  I usually don't wind out 1st gear, but after that around town 
I shift around 5-6K rpm.  On the highway or on-ramps, I have been known to 
shift routinely at 6-9K rpm.  I would agree with Mike B. that you should not 
be cruising or shifting at less than  ~3500 rpm in the lower three gears.

Good luck and good revving...
Bill in Yardley, PA
wkdenton at verizon.net
'96 GPz1100

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeffrey Markham" <automan25 at yahoo.com>


> Subject 1: My '96 GPZ still pings after trying several different brands of 
> gasoline. I took the bike to a friend of mine last night who has a lot of 
> experience with motorcycles and he confirmed the pinging between 
> 2500-4000rpm. He suggested that often on the ZX1100 (and possible the GPz 
> as well) the carbs are quite lean from the factory in order to pass 
> emissions; my bike perhaps more so since it is a CA model. He suggested 
> opening the pilot screws up 1/2 a turn to see what happens.
>
> Before doing that I wanted to ask again here if any of you have had 
> similar pinging trouble between 2500-4000. If so, how did you fix it? For 
> me it only happens in that range if the bike is under a heavy load (i.e. I 
> really give it a lot of gas) It does not ping when driving the bike like 
> normal. Never the less I don't think it should be pinging under any 
> condition.
>
> Subject 2: How do you folks use your gears under normal riding conditions? 
> By this I mean 1. how far do you let the engine rev up before switching 
> gears, and 2. how fast do you let the engine run when cruising at a steady 
> speed? For example when I'm cruising at 35mph - 40 mph I'm usually in 4th 
> gear. In 4th at this speed the engine is just a touch below 3000rpm. The 
> GPz is my first bike so I'm really used to driving a car with a manual 
> tranny and not a motorcycle. In most cars I'd never cruise at a speed 
> above 3000rpm, my gas mileage would be terrible and the engine would be 
> loud and annoying. My Olds Intrigue, which is an automatic, barely spins 
> at 2000rpm at 60mph. So, is it totally different with motorcycles? Should 
> I be cruising at 4000 instead. Any ideas would be welcome.
>
> Subject 3: Is there a place online with an archive of the email traffic 
> that is sent through this GPzList? I'd love to be able to look at past 
> messages?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -Jeff Markham
>
> Jeffrey R. Markham
> Digital Designer
> automan25.com
>
>
>
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