Is my bike running normally?

[unbelievable]

I rode my new bike into town today (40 mile round trip) and even before I set off this morning, I noticed that as it was idling it was making irregular "put" noises. I just put it down to it needing to get going and carried on with it. Anyway, I've noticed it does it while I'm going slow-ish, about 25mph which I put down to just going slowly. On the way home I noticed it doing it at about 35mph. When I'm pretty hard on the gas (only up to 5,500rpm, I'm running it in) it feels ok. Is this the infamous fuelling? I didn't think it would be doing that at 35mph, and also I thought the fuelling had been sorted - it's a brand new bike.

I don't really mind if it feels a bit rough when I'm going slowly ( I didn't buy it for that ) I just don't want to be causing any damage during this crucial running in time and wondered if I should get it checked out. Is this normal?

[Emmohaswheelsagain]

I wouldn't worry during the running in period. I can only speak for the 9 1/2 but through the first few months I had a few doubts on whether the bike was running true. With a few miles under the belt the engine improved and I became more aware of how to ride the bike in certain conditions. Around town is not good, no one wants to be in 1st gear, least of all a big Morini. The bike wants its head and is best when its off the leash. My solution was to buy a baby morini, 350 Strada, which is great for those trips around town and on twisty B road with tight hairpin bends. The 9 1/2 and all big Morini's need open road where you can ride the bike 'on the pipe' or in your case 'the pipes'.
Enjoy your bike for it has an engine which is second to none

[franky]

The above is spot on....

they do need running in, the engine will get smoother and better with more miles. After its first service it'll run like it should.

its also worth leaving it to tick over for a couple of minutes after start up.

How you getting on with the bike? does the engine feel strong to you?

[unbelievable]

Thanks guys, I feel a lot better about it now.

I always let my bikes warm up for a few minutes before starting off and don't rev them hard for the first few minutes of riding either (to allow time for oil to get splashed around a bit).

It was feeling a bit rough this morning. The low speed (below 35mph) fuelling seems to be an issue. It seems to struggle, feeling a bit rough maintaining a constant speed and the power is either on or off with a lot of engine braking. I'm being careful not to stay at the same speed for too long (for the sake of running in the engine) but sometimes you need to.

The first service is obviously going to make a difference and if the engine is going to get smoother anyway, I think everything's going to be ok.

As regards the strength of the engine - I can safely say we haven't got any problems there

[vtxbrit]

Their are lots of opinions over running engines in, I have always been firm with my new engines as long as you don't labour or over rev them dont be frighrened to give it the odd squirt you will find after the first 1200 miles it will reward you with better performance.

[unbelievable]

Yeah, I'm not shy with the throttle up to 5,500. I build my ride up gradually from letting the bike warm up properly, to riding it gently to let the oil get where it needs to, to pretty much normal riding really.

I don't know if it's psychological but it felt a bit smoother tonight. I realised the best way to describe the way it's performing at low speed is that it feels a little like when you run out of petrol. You know, when the bike starts lurching in fits and starts. It's no-where near as severe as that, it's quite a subtle thing really, but that's the best way of describing it. Anyway, I'm not that bothered now, it felt a bit smoother tonight like I say, I'm learning the bike, dragging the clutch a little when going very slow etc. I'm sure after its first service it will feel brilliant and I can't wait to be able to open her up without having to worry.

[corsaro chris]

Your bike is "hunting" - the revs don't like in town speeds, and even keeping in second sometimes causes the bike to misbehave... especially if you are keeping within the limit!

As earlier posts have it, the engine (and the rest of the bike) will free up by the first service, and in the meantime, just avoid the towns where you can

As they say - enjoy!

CC

[Scoofy]

I have recently run in a brand new 2008 Corsaro. I know what you are referring to about the lurching, especially when cruising around 50km/h. In my experience one thing that did make a difference was making sure that the chain was at the correct tension. If it is too loose, this will emphasize the lurching.

It is interesting in reading in some of the other posts that people seem to think the first service is going to make a difference. To the best of my knowledge that service will not be making any adjustments to fueling mixture. It is basically an oil/filter change and a whole bunch of checking basics.

At 4000k, my corsaro had a blown head gasket and as part of this being replaced, the technician did a full diagnostic and adjustment on the fueling. I live in NZ and apparently the quality of fuel in this country is not great. As such, the factory setting for the fuel mixture was too lean, and I believe this was the underlying cause of the lurching experienced when trying to cruise at 50km/h in 3rd gear. Now that my bike has been tuned to run richer, the lurching has literally disappeared.

So in summary, double check the tightness of your chain and consider having your fuel mixture checked to ensure the bike is not running too lean.

[unbelievable]

Hmm... very interesting. I'll definitely get the fueling looked at during the service and I'll check the chain when I get back to the bike this evening. That's really useful thanks.

The bike feels even better still today, I absolutely love it!!

[unbelievable]

I just thought as I was filling up, it's nothing to do with using Super (97RON) is it? I always use Super to run in bikes because of the cleaning additives.

I'll fill it with a tank of normal next time and see how I get on...