Quote:
Originally Posted by kkim
if others choose to because they want to improve the throttle response from idle to midrange, why does that bother you so much?
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I dunno, I'm afraid what I'm thinking may not be fully expressed in what I'm typing, and I'm afraid what you think is bothering me isn't actually bothering me much at all. Where I'm coming from is that this site has now, and will always have, people who are brand new to this sport and know very little about motorcycles. That's a good thing, and I'm very glad that folks like that found us. The ninjette is a spectacular bike to start out on, and anything we can do to encourage that is a good thing. (It also happens to be a pretty spectacular bike for experienced riders, but that takes some time to sink in for folks).
I'm also fully supportive of anyone who wants to mod their bike however they choose, it's the best way to learn more about them and get their hands dirty while they are playing with something they enjoy. It doesn't bother me in the least, and while our own ninjette has some pretty tame modifications compared to some others on this site, some of our other bikes over the years have had quite a bit of work done to tweak this, that, or the other to make the bike exactly what I wanted it to be at the time.
I guess it's just that I don't want those same newbies with a brand-new bike and zero experience as of yet, to see jumping into carb tuning as the first plan of attack when they are having problems balancing the clutch and the throttle. Of course it's important for a motorcycle to work properly, but to point a new rider in the direction of their motorcycle being the problem rather than simply more practice in using the controls, I think it gives them an out that is unwarranted. In some ways it downplays the importance of actually being good at this before you share the public roads with other traffic. It's a cliche, but as fun as motorcycling is, it's also a pretty serious commitment that really can't be dabbled in once someone leaves the parking lot.
The fact is if you searched out 10 used ninjettes on craigslist, you'll find that 8 of them have never had their carbs touched and somehow their owners put thousands of safe, happy miles on them. That takes nothing away from those owners who have tweaked them to better fit what they wanted out of the bike, it's only to illustrate that no, every bike does not have a problem out of the gate, that's all.