How much throttle?

[vifferman]

I've been feedleen about wit' my Powah Commando lately, and so need to take note of throttle position vs. RPM. It struck me that in normal use, I never need to use more than a wee bit of throttle, even accelerating hard. Occasionally I might use half throttle, but that'd be about it. Any more'n that, and I'd be in danger of unnecessary acceleration or grossly excessive speed.
I found it was actually hard work to try and use more throttle than about a quarter turn (even thought there's no freeplay in the throttle, and it's a fairly quick acting one). Extra twisting didn't make it go much faster, just resulted in much more intake noise.

It's kinda silly, innit? All that throttle to play with, and most of it unusuble, except maybe on the track or dyno (where they seem to tune bikes at full throttle through the gears, whereas in the RealWorld, probably no-one uses it).

So what about you (if you ride a bike over say, 600cc)? How much would you twist the throttle during a normal ride?

[Swoop]

I like intake noise.
But normal pootlin' would only see a third(ish) used.
But the stop is there to be used as well.

[98tls]

Hear what your saying,i long ago fitted a 1/5th throttle insert,of all the stuff ive done to my old TL it is without doubt the best bang for buck mod ever.

[slofox]

Funny you should bring this up - I was musing along the same lines just recently....

Have never actually measured how much twist I give it but I do know it is not that much...certainly no where near all the way round.

[Blackshear]

To the stop

[javawocky]

You should try my RG some day - the throttle has only two possitions - off and on all the way - got to love 2-smokers

[Hitcher]

Unless I'm mistaken, my throttle only has 90 degrees of movement.

[AllanB]

Have never actually measured how much twist I give it but I do know it is not that much...certainly no where near all the way round.

Easy to do and I've recently done it.

Just put a dab of paint on the throttle grip and a corresponding dab on the switch housing in the closed position. Open the throttle wide (engine off) and apply a corresponding dab on the switch block. A pin head dab is all that's necessary.

Go for a ride, the distance between the marks on the switch block from closed to fully open and the relative position of the paint on the throttle grip is how much throttle you are using.

Cruising at the open road speed limit my Hornet is using f-all throttle.

[cowpoos]

Extra twisting didn't make it go much faster, just resulted in much more intake noise.

err...this should be obvious dude...you have a honda

[madbikeboy]

Interesting thought. With Scoot, you can't open the throttle all the way in the first two gears for long (ohh-ayy, up she rises, ohh-ayy, up she rises, what can do with the dunken sailor...).

I can get to about quarter open in said gears with babelicious pillion on the bitch pad.

On the track, it's different, WFO through the gears down the straights.

Here's an interesting thought for you, Viff. I rode a SuperDuke (with the honest intention of buying it), but the throttle control was nigh on impossible to modulate. V-twin shunt plus a hair trigger made it horrid.

So, here's the thought - I prefer a bike with excellent and progressive throttle response over just about anything else. Am I the only one (Obi Wan). My logic is that throttle control is one of the single most important variables when you're leaned over on the limit (on the track), or riding around in the wet (diesel slick) Auckland roads...

[madbikeboy]

You should try my RG some day - the throttle has only two possitions - off and on all the way - got to love 2-smokers

Funny, I have a mate who rides a ZX7R the same way...

[Ixion]

I don't use the throttle. That makes you speed, and speed kills, (this I know, because the gubbermint tells me so). I just ride everywhere on idle. If I do need to go a *little* faster (taking great care not to speed of course), I just wind the idle speed adjuster up. The BMW has a convenient cold start lever which increases idle speed.

[vifferman]

To the stop

Why do you think I said "over 600cc"? I've owned a 175, 250 and two 500s, so I know how much throttle a smaller bike requires. It's actually not very good for learning throttle control.

You should try my RG some day - the throttle has only two possitions - off and on all the way - got to love 2-smokers

See above.

Just put a dab of paint on the throttle grip and a corresponding dab on the switch housing in the closed position.

I've had a thin silver line on the twist grip and several pencil marks on the switchblock for ages now. (They weren't as easily removed as I thought. oh: )

err...this should be obvious dude...you have a honda

Thanks for that helpful remark. I did actually notice the brand of bike I was riding.
Not that it was hard - I've only ever owned Hondas.

I prefer a bike with excellent and progressive throttle response over just about anything else.

That's why there's no slack in my throttle cables, and the O2 sensors have been disabled.
Even so, the VFR can still be somewhat 'twitchy'. Luckily it has only a poofteenth of the power of a GSXRRRR1000RRRR.

[McWild]

You should try my RG some day - the throttle has only two possitions - off and on all the way - got to love 2-smokers

Yeah if you're not riding at the redline you're not really riding at all.

[driftn]

I can not help my self but to get the thou WFO man. Silly thing to do as you are going much faster than the law will permit in the 2nd cog (on one wheel for that matter). whats even more fun is bump it in to 3rd and you are doing twice the legal limit on one wheel although not at full throttle.

Moral of the story is if you buy a big bike and are not going to use the full extent of the throttle then whats the point? they are designed to go fast and fast they shall go. Very F@#ken fast.

Keep it pinned man.