Popping on deceleration

[Enmerdeur]

Did they raise compression in the '14 Race/'15 standard? My '13 Race and from what I have seen of '14 standards run flawless on pump 93, at sea level.

Yes it would be nice to get some compression readings to compare. With my S3 head with the 0-6,000' insert it blows 150 at 5,000 feet.

[Calgarytrev]

Well I have noticed some popping, nothing major on decel but it's running so good and smooth all around I don't know if I'd worry to much about it. It's not crazy loud or pinging just noticed it after reading this thread lol. Maybe I'll try some race gas mixed with 91 and see if it lowers the pop but man it runs smooth right now

[GMP]

I've suspected that one reason the '13 at least is so smooth and managable for a 300 is the compression is on the low side. Also why it revs well. This is from 0 to 1000' so I have way more than enough power. All I do is add a little Startron to pump gas and I'm good to go in all conditions. I've had GGs with maxed out compression that prefered a pump/race gas mix. If race gas is a problem as it can be, and chasing the last bit of power is not neccessary, maybe a head mod for local fuel and altitude is a better long term solution.

[Metalefty]

Yesterday, I ran a tank of gas through with the octane booster but it didn't make much difference. The gas station I got the gas from does have "up to" 10% ethenol, I wonder if the ethenol might have an effect also. There is a gas station down the road that has no ethenol at all in their gas, I'm going to fill up on that for this weekends ride and add the same octane booster and see what happens.

[Calgarytrev]

Yes I would stay far away from any ethenol blended gas it's aweful in anything if you ask me

[GMP]

Sure, if you have that option, but 100% gas here has been gone for a long time, not counting race gas from drums sold in shops. Impractal expensive and inconvienent for most that ride a lot. Plus if you have to get gas during a long event like a dual sport or even at a station during a multi day trip you have to deal with it anyway. 300 2strokes have always been more of a PIA to jet down low as a rule, the '13 Beta just seems exceptional, but why? I really think its that compression bump, maybe not quite optimum squish to go with it, along with the fuel. I don't think its the octane alone, its the ethanol effectively leaning the mixture.

Have you tried the next richer straight dia N2ZW needle? What I find interesting is I can run either needle at the transition temperature range in the chart (60 deg). at 0 - 1000'. No ping, pop, run on or other lean conditions but the bike is stronger with the W needle. In fact I turned turn the PV adjuster in a half turn. So this tells me that the bike may be borderline lean with the J needle at that temp, but not ping or pop yet, possibly from the lower compression. Just a thought.

[Calgarytrev]

Funny you said the richer needle, I've talked to a few guys up here at 3500ft that are on my bike and there running the jd blue needle on the second clip. I've only ever used the jd red needle in my gasser and it ran amazing but the blue needle isn't even in area of being right from my understanding. It runs so bloody good right now except for the light popping I don't want to mess to much with it but trying another needle is no big deal to see if that helps.

[GMP]

You should have received the N2ZW needle with the bike. I also have two of the half clip leaner versions (N8RW and N8RJ) but never had the need to use them. I don't know what the JD needles for the Beta are like but for all other applications I've delt with the Blue and Red were quite different, Red being unusable (lean) at sea level in most cases. There are a lot of needles to experiment with, I have quite a collection, but simply jetting by the chart for temp has proven to be excellent. I can't comment on altitude, we don't get much over 1000' around here, with many races near the ocean.

[Calgarytrev]

That's what was confusing because I heard the chart was very good but it was aweful for my bike. Not only was the clip height aweful for mid range but the recommended pilot was to far out to even keep the bike idling. Main is fine but the clip and pilot were off. I'll just keep experimenting but I like the feel now so if race gas will get rid of the knock then I'm all good with that. I can get it from about 4 local shops and vp has a station 10 minutes away so I won't be hard pressed for availability. If it doesn't work then I'll start trying different needles but also like the performance people say they feel with the mix!

[Metalefty]

So this past weekend I started fresh by emptying the old gas then added 91 octane no ethenol added and octane booster. The bike still had some decel popping, not as much but still there, acceleration was noticably stronger. During a lunch break I moved the needle from second from top to bottom clip, this made the bike run rich and blubbery with the same decel popping so I moved the clip to the top notch and the cleaned up the acceleration but still the same decel popping. I'm removing the carb this week and disassembling everything...again, to see if I missed anything.
About 30 miles into a rocky desert ride I noticed a little harshness in the front forks, I thought it was air building up so I just ignored it and kept plugging away. 10 miles later the front end seems vague in turns so I stop and it's a flat. When I realized it was a flat I was concerned that I had put multiple dings in my rim because I was riding hard. After a quick check, no dings, I'm really inpressed with the strenth and quality of these rims. It was getting late and there wasn't much time to change the tube so I rode it back the last 10 miles slowly with no dings. Good stuff. When I changed the tube the next morning it turned out to be a pinch at the wheel lock.
I've got about 22 hours on the bike and it continues to impress me every ride, I'm faster than I've ever been and that's scary at times because I'm so confident in the bike I feel I'm getting in over my head in certain situations then the bike somehow pulls it together and I'm still on two wheels, sometimes I think it's the steering damper since I've never ridden with one before.