Valve adjustments and color tuning

[Thistledown]

74k on my ’06 RSV and running great, but time was long past due for the valve adjustment. I have done all maintenance work in the past but the valve adjustment with shims and special tools seemed a little much for me, and wow, did I guess that right. After reading a post a week or so ago and seeing Muffinman’s comments I decided to give him a call and make an appointment to take my RSV to his place in NC. He was great, ordered new plugs, gasket set, fuel filter and he had the shims we were likely to need. He said something about color tuning and I said ‘what’s that” I balance the carbs my self. He said we should do it. What a difference. Here is the story, my RSV for the first 50K or so always went to reserve tank at 200 miles, like clock work, almost never varied more than a mile or two, last 10K or so it was looking for the reserve tank around 175 miles. Fuel mileage, was always 42-44mpg for the first 50K the started dropping to 38-42 lately.

Well we did the valves, one intake tight by .001 and two exhaust open by .004, not bad enough to cause any damage yet, nor would I think any effect on mileage. The carb balance was off a little but not too bad, but the color tuning really made a change. Here is what we have now, noticeably more power in 2nd,3rd &4th and get this, mileage very, very carefully checked and getting 46.8 mpg, ½ of the mileage check was with two up and the other ½ solo. Now the bike was looking to go to reserve an 214 miles instead of 200 miles as when new, 175 miles lately.

We spent a solid 6 hours, and we both worked, I don’t believe any one could do the job in less than 8 hr, Muffinman did a fabulous job and although a lot work I had a good time working with him, and I would say that unless your really good it’s not a job to mess with by your self, there are some parts that I doubt one would ever figure out with help. Great job, thanks Jeff

[mm482]

I am getting on Muffinman's list to do my 86VR and RVS. I am just waiting for the weather to cool down some.

 

Earl

[jfoster]

What is color tuning?

[tibadoe]

What is color tuning?

 

I copied this off one of the web sites that sell Colortune:

 

The secret to Colortune is a special, temporary spark plug with a glass viewing window. This lets you actually watch the fuel burning in your cylinder!

 

A handy color chart tells you whether the mixture is rich, lean or just right. As you adjust the mixture, you'll see the change instantaneously. You can rev the engine and watch the flame color during transitions, too. Use Colortune for your car, motorcycle -- even a tractor -- any engine with a standard 14mm spark plug. An essential tuning tool for carbureted or modified engines.

[CrazyHorse]

I found the colortune useless and hard to use on a 1st gen.

[frankd]

Jim,

 

You may have saved me from ordering one....why don't they work on a 1st Gen.? Is it because you can't see the window?

 

I do know that the idle mixture can make a big difference in your gas mileage. When my 83 was a couple of years old, my mileage got a lot worse. I was talking it over with my dealer, and he suggested that I bring it in and have the idle mixture adjusted and the carbs. synced. When I would pull a plug, it'd be dark, indicating a rich mixture. They hooked their emissions tester (probably O2), adjusted the carbs (yes, they all were rich) and my gas mileage was back to normal. I was wondering how they all got rich and wondered if the floats needed adjustment, but no----things stayed the same over a lot of miles and years.

 

I'd like to verify if I have the idle screws in my 89. I peaked up the idle speed with the mixture adjustments, and turned them a tiny bit inswards (lean), but I'd like to have a way to tell if they're OK.

 

Frank D.

[Yammer Dan]

I found Color Tune hard to use on 1st Gen because of engine heat. It is hard to change from cylinder to cylinder without burning fingers. Hard to see in window but can be done. Wish I could find mine....

[CrazyHorse]

Jim,

 

You may have saved me from ordering one....why don't they work on a 1st Gen.? Is it because you can't see the window?

 

I do know that the idle mixture can make a big difference in your gas mileage. When my 83 was a couple of years old, my mileage got a lot worse. I was talking it over with my dealer, and he suggested that I bring it in and have the idle mixture adjusted and the carbs. synced. When I would pull a plug, it'd be dark, indicating a rich mixture. They hooked their emissions tester (probably O2), adjusted the carbs (yes, they all were rich) and my gas mileage was back to normal. I was wondering how they all got rich and wondered if the floats needed adjustment, but no----things stayed the same over a lot of miles and years.

 

I'd like to verify if I have the idle screws in my 89. I peaked up the idle speed with the mixture adjustments, and turned them a tiny bit inswards (lean), but I'd like to have a way to tell if they're OK.

 

Frank D.

 

Hard to put in the small cavity. Hard to see and did not see a change in color. I just use the rpm method instead.

 

I found Color Tune hard to use on 1st Gen because of engine heat. It is hard to change from cylinder to cylinder without burning fingers. Hard to see in window but can be done. Wish I could find mine....

 

Agree with you Dan.

[TheKid]

I am getting on Muffinman's list to do my 86VR and RVS. I am just waiting for the weather to cool down some.

 

Earl

 

Are you all planing a valve weekend so a few members can get together or is it going to be a 1:1 teach and learn for you? I am def interested in getting my checked on my 07 RSV. It runs great but I cant remember if I had it done earlier. Just curious because I am def interested in seeing it done and helping.

 

Robert

'TheKid'

[phertwo]

I'm still in the process of doing all of this maintenance on my bike since I'm waiting for a new stator. My stock stator is fried so the bike is dead-weight right now - perfect time for valve adjustment.

 

At 52,000km (~32,000 miles) on the odometer, I completed the valve adjustment and found that cylinder 2 had two intakes 0.001" too tight and cylinder 4 had one intake 0.001" too tight. I swapped the shims and now its all right on spec. The job is time consuming, and there are sooo many things to take apart and put back together, but I didn't think that it was difficult. It just looks intimidating but if you keep track of every screw, hose, various parts, its really not very hard to do.

 

I also have a colortune kit that I've yet to use. I ordered it but never got the chance to use it. I have the kit with 4 spark plugs so I can just adjust all 4 mixture screws at once. If you plan on getting a colortune, I'd suggest the kit with the 4 plugs.

 

I'll be pretty happy when she's all back together (its been over a month of dead-time), it will feel like a new bike!

[warriorhoneybee]

i need to do mine also.i have an 06 with 67200 and dont know when its been done.

[1rooster]

Hey Muffinman.Is the price the same with a sidecar???????????