Fast idle button
 

I have a 748s with the little click on fast idle button and I always use mine in the morning.

After 8-9 hours at work the bike is uncovered outside it starts without the fast idle button, no hesitation just fires up first press. Even though the weather is getting very cold.

My main question is, is it best not to use it if you can help it as it revs at 2000rpm when this is on. I usually knock it off as soon as i can and ticks over fine.

I presume it doesn't work the same as a choke on a carbed bike.

Whats the best starting procedure?

Thanks

Lee1980 ;)

The fast idle button just opens the throttle as if you were twisting the throttle a-little yourself.

Avoid using it.

If you need to give it extra throttle for a moment in cold weather to prevent stalling, do it manually. Running a superbike at the higher fast-idle RPM is a very bad idea because measurements have shown that it takes as long as 90 seconds for oil to reach the vertical cylinder rocker arms and camshafts. So you're running on a surface film of oil that's left over from your last run until the sump oil reaches the cams. So it's best to wait for this to happen at as low an engine speed as possible.

Thanks Shazaam
 

I will try it in the morning with out it as well. Does the bikes cpu know it is cold and adjust according to the temperature?

Thanks

Lee1980;)

Yes, Ducati's fuel injection CPU has a coolant temperature sensor and an air temperature sensor.

Engines need more fuel when for a cold start as there is no heat in the ports and chambers to keep the fuel atomized as vapor, so it condenses. Fuel as a liquid burns very badly in the combustion chamber, so throwing more at it ensures enough stays as vapor for some sort of combustion. Injected engines get a very nice fuel spray from the injectors and this is why injected engines behave better when cold.

A coolant temperature sensor is used so that the computer can add additional fuel to its fuel map while the engine is warming up, and also to retard ignition timing when the engine gets too hot. The computer stops enriching due to low temperature at between 80 and 90°C. So at least from a fuel correction standpoint, the proper operating temperatures for a fuel injected Ducati is above these temperatures.

Further, on a cold morning the air is denser so an air temperature sensor will prompt the CPU to add fuel to its 20°C ambient fuel map to compensate. If the day is hotter than 20°, it reduces fuel.

Thank you again
 

Shazaam you must know everything there is to know about bikes.

Thanks

Lee1980;)

Thank you Lee. I look forward to your future postings.

And to all the others here who have made a public thanks for my comments or help, a thank you to you as well. But isn't that why we're all here, to help each other and learn? I feel I learn just as much as you do from my attempts at being helpful or informative.

Please, keep in mind that I didn't invent the answers. They were given to me somehow or I found them somewhere along the way, sometimes in pieces. But in any event, they're is not mine to keep ... so I share them.

Sure, it takes some effort on my part, but I don't consider that a burden, it's really a pleasure to be able to help others who have the same interests. In all honesty, I have learned a great deal from many DSC members in this forum, who have proven, time and again, that it is all of us in combination that makes this place work. Some give a big piece, some a small, some offer an anecdote that along with others reveal a pattern to a problem. But who's to say which small piece will be the keystone. All of our pieces together make a bridge to understanding.

Shazaam!

Hello Shazaam,

After your last comments I would have no problems putting you forward as Honorary President. Unfortunalty I have no power. . .

Another page to my "Shazaam Workshop manual"

regards

TopiToo

There is an argument that says that at low revs the loads on components such as cam lobes is increased compared to running them at higher revs.
Can't remember why this should be right now though.

Thats correct rockhopper,when you first fit a new cam you have to run it in at 2000rpm straight away and not let it idle

You can adjust the fast idle speed by adjusting the slack in the throttle cable with the adjuster on the throttle housing. Less slack will increase it, more will reduce it.
Mine runs at about 1200rpm on the button, not a lot above tickover but just enough to let it start.
I've found that if the fuelling is set up correctly, it won't usually start from cold without the button. Especially in our climate. If it does, then it's probably a little rich??

Was frosty this morning not sure of temp but it started with out the button first time.

I think i'll use if it, won't go with out it for now.

Thanks

Lee1980 ;)

I remember now Ant, i read about that years ago when i was building Mini engines. If you fit a really hot cam its possible to knock the lobes off if you let it tick over too slowly from new.

Just a question for interest shazaam. Are the dukes you get over in sunny california very different to those over here in blighty? eg power and emission restrictions. AND if so what are the legalities of removing them to get a proper full blown bike?

US/California Environmental Standards
 

Southern California, particularly around Los Angeles, has long had a severe air pollution problem because of the large number of vehicles, weather, and landscape topography. Over the years this has been a driving force for the State of California to institute more stringent exhaust emission standards than the rest of the U.S. So for a long time, there were two standards for pollution control equipment on vehicles sold here. One for vehicles sold in California, another less stringent one for the rest of the country. So, there are laws against a resident of California buying or importing a new bike that doesn't have emission equipment certified for California roads. Highly-polluting two-stroke bikes have long been outlawed on the roads here (they're legal for off-road use) although some enterprising blokes still get them on the road somehow.

In recent years Ducati has certified their models for sale in all the States so there's no equipment differences now. My guess is that most European countries have now instituted limits on motorcycle emissions that are the same as the U.S. since the manufacturers biggest market is here, so we essentially drive the standards development.

Motorcycles have always been regarded as a minor contributor to the overall magnitude of the problem. They produce fewer pollutants per mile than cars and trucks. But they're starting to get more attention from the regulators - witness the phasing-in of requirements for catalytic converters on new bikes like the 999.

So early Euro-spec superbikes, since they didn't have to meet any pollution standards, were shipped with different EPROMS that gave them richer fueling and more power than U.S. bikes. Some models had more radical cam timing that couldn't be certified for the U.S. market so you got those models, but we didn't.

The interesting part is that unlike automobiles and trucks, there's no tailpipe emission testing of motorcycles (yet) so it's illegal ... but no problem ... to replace EPROMs, raise compression ratios (higher NOx emissions). and remove charcoal canisters that trap evaporative hydrocarbons from the petrol tank and sump (although really there's no performance improvement in doing so.)

The other regulations concern noise emissions. The federal government's Environmental Protection Agency establishes limits on noise levels for every vehicle that's imported. So mufflers (silencers) and air intake noise reducers (like those rubber venturi blocks on late-model superbikes) are installed.

Automobiles and trucks are regularly scheduled to be tested for excessive exhaust noise in order to be licensed, but motorcycles as yet are not. So, if you get stopped for a traffic violation, you'll probably also get a fix-it ticket for defective equipment that gives you a month or so to quiet-down the exhaust. Consequently, the streets here are rich with Harleys having straight-through exhausts that sound like the HAMMERS OF HELL. Here in California, the ultimate car culture, every kid with a Honda Civic has an exhaust pipe the size of a coffee can. But I digress.

Thats where I remember it from as well rockhopper when I built my 1380 mini engine!

Thats right Ant. I bought David Vizards book about building A series engines. 751 cam and 12G295 cooper head with double valve springs. Drove like a two stroke bike with a deffinate power band when it came onto the cam.

Happy days.

I still have the book and an rc40 exhaust.......:D

So what...........
 

..........was the 12G2940 head? Was this the cooper S one?

Blimey, this is taking me back!!!

The 12G295 was fitted to the 998 cooper (coincidence or what!!), the 1098 MG and some marques of Miget and Sprite. It had larger valves that standard and double valve springs allowing to rev higer. Take the rocker cover off and the head number is cast into the surface.
I didnt go the RC40 route, i had a Peco big bore one coming out of the middle with twin chrome tail pipes. Loads of noise!

But the microbore pipe before it.....