My question is this: what kind of gas do you put in your 500R? i put premium (like 93 grade i believe?) just recently, and i believe it's been causing some stalling especially in lower rpm's...which makes sense, as that's when compression ratios would be lowest...i think anyways, i'm certainly no bike mechanic

so should i put regular (85ish) premium (87ish) or super premium (93ish)

 

You may have your idle set too low. I'd check that first. As for octane, my son only runs 93 in his 500 which is also what the owner's manual for my Nomad says to run. However, I've ran 87 octane in the beast with no ill effects.

 

Putting premium in your 500 is like shoveling cash into a woodchipper. Unless your bike is pinging or making a valve-knock noise, go with the lowest octane you can get away with. The additives added to gasoline to raise its octane actually reduce the available energy in the gas by a small fraction.
The recommended octane for my ZX9R is 90, but 89 does the job just fine.

Two things you can do to for the idle:
~synchronize the carburetors (this is a good idea regardless)
~adjust the idle **** (the black **** facing downward between the two carburetors) so that the engine is idling at about 1400 rpm when hot.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Peace!
-CCinC

 

it's not too low of an idle, it was like it struggled in the low rpms, but when i got it past 3k it would go just fine. i put some regular unleaded in it last night, and that seemed to curb the problem...i'm gonna go ride around today for a few hours, so we'll see if that was the problem!

 

oh and also...did i mention the bike is brand f'n new? kinda irritated that right out of the gate i'm having issues with well....anything

 

If the bike is brand-new, it probably sat around the showroom for a few months (or years?). That gasoline sat in the fuel tank and carbs and is probably not too potent. Running a fresh tankful ought to clean 'er out and set 'er right.
If not, I would ask the dealership to synchronize the carbs. If you ask nicely (and ask the salesman you bought the bike from) they might even do it for free. If they charged you a "dealership set-up fee" I would tell them that the tech clearly made a mistake in setting up the bike.
It's a very simple operation that can be done in a few minutes. Might be good to call ahead, in case their service department has a backlog. (Seems like everyone wants work done this time of year.)
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Peace!
-CCinC

 

well, putting lower octane didn't seem to help much, BUT there is a very weird fix that i do not understand at ALL. it tends to do this "stalling" where the pistons refuse to fire more than half the time after i "hot rod" it. it can only go up to 4k because of the break in period, but this stalling happens usually right after i full throttle to 4k in first gear, then 2nd gear, then 3rd gear. ( i know this is probably bad for the motor, so i dont do it often)

so anyways, the "fix" that i've noticed works is if it stalls out, i switch the fuel reserve tank dohickey lever to this:

---------------0

the manual says keep it at this:

0
|
|
|

but when i do, it stalls out after a period of time mixed with hot rodding it

even weirder, it still puts gas in the carburater (sp?) when i have it like this: 0--------- which is supposed to be the "off" position

so i guess i have another question, how are you guy's gas reserve lever thingies configured? is it like ascii drawing number 2 like the manual says it's supposed to?

 

pointing to the back of the bike is off, pointing down is on, pointing forward is reserve.

I can start my bike and make it to the end of the street with the petcock off.

If you are noticing a problem with the bike running smoothly with the petcock in the on position but it works fine in the reserve position then chances are you have a blockage somewhere. At least that's what it sounds like to me.

 

First, STOP GOING FULL THROTTLE ON THAT NEW ENGINE.
Next, if the bike runs fine while the petcock switch is turn to RES (reserve), but runs poorly when the lever is turned to ON, I would ride the bike almost out of gas, then take it to the dealership and tell them the gasoline they left sitting in the tank while they were waiting for you to come buy the bike has gummed up the petcock. It's a simple matter of removing and cleaning the petcock, which will be a snap if you show up with the tank almost drained. They shouldn't ask you to pay anything.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Peace!
-CCinC

 

wow, i feel like an absolute newb. i assumed just because i heard gas sloshing around in the tank, that meant i had gas...

they really, really, really need a gas meter on these damn 500s [:@]

sorry for even creating this thread, but i really do appreciate all the advice and how helpful you guys would have been if i wasn't an absolute idiot.