Tell me is it all in my head? Flogging = better running bike?

[ChrisH]

I may be crazy, but it seems like if I flog my bike now and again it seems to run much better. Typically I ride the speed limit, and my only real fun is taking corners, but nights like tonight I rode the bike a little harder acceleration wise and it seems like it improved the charcacteristics. I've noticed this previously. Is it all in my head, or do others notice this too?

I have a 2010 M696 with slipons, mwr air fliter, reflashed ecu, and electraeon throttle cam, and the bike has about 6300 miles on the clock for whatever it's worth.

[hillbillypolack]

Might be psychosomatic, might be coincidence.  I notice when I'm riding with commitment (not puttering) the bike is in its element.  Intentional, clean upshifts, working the bike through the upper end of the revs make the bike shine.

Bottom end putzing makes the bike ornery.

[Curmudgeon]

It really shouldn't unless you're running rich and slow a lot..., but... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_tuneup

Try some 100 Octane non-oxygenated unleaded mix in there occasional. That you should be able to feel. 

[ChrisH]

Ha I like the Italian tune up! It summarizes my normal ride though. My bike is primarily a commuter, and my commute is only about 5 miles each way so I ride about 20 miles a day (home for lunch) so it rarely gets above 60 mph and that's only for about a mile of my ride, the rest is stop and go. Tonight I averaged about 80mph cruising in 6th and a few stints of about 100 - full out accelerating from 4th. The bike seems happier, but it very well could be psychosomatic I suppose.

[Curmudgeon]

In that case you probably are clearing out some cobwebs.  About the Italian tune-up, high speed and high RPM are not the keys. You need to accelerate hard under load.

BTW, 5 miles isn't even going to warm up the machine. Good thing we have stainless headers.  7 miles at least before it's warm enough to give you decent mileage. Probably 15 miles to get a full heat cycle through it.

Maybe you need those Italian Tune-Ups!

[ChrisH]

Yeah, depending on traffic conditions I may not hit 3 bars on the heat gauge during my commute. the commute is like this:

45mph, stop, 30mph, stop, 45 mph, stopwait wait wait wait wait wait 5mph, wait wait wait wait wait, 45mph, stop, 45mph, wait wait wait wait 60mph, work
                       
So tonights ride, 35 miles each way averaging 80 with brisk acceleration, and those brief moments of pure joy reaching to 100 felt great for me and the bike.

[Goat_Herder]

Back when I was in high school, my buddy would borrow his dad's truck out for the weekend.  It's a Chevy with a V-8.  Every chance we got, we would gas it and peel out.  Usually burn half a tank of gas just out on a Saturday night.  His had mentioned a number of times that, after we took the truck out, he would notice that the truck would run better and stronger.  So I guess the "Italian Tune-up" has some truth to it. 

[thought]

it also just might be because the monster engines just feel so much better after 6k rpm.

though i do agree that sometimes you take the bike out and for some odd reason the bike feels really really good that day.  i always just wind up chalking it up to weather/temp conditions working well for it.

[NorDog]

This is an interesting topic.

One day after my ride home from work, the wife asked about my day.  I replied I just had one of the best rides in a long time.

"What makes a ride good?" she asked.

I was dumbfounded, or rather, speechless.  Her question was, of course, a good one, but I didn't know how to answer.

The traffic was its usual backed-up mess and I lane split as I usually do.  But there was a flow to the ride.  The bike seemed to run flawlessly and my choices for lane positioning, engine speed/gear selection/turning, and passing seemed to be perfect.

In any event, the truth is that I can't define it or quantify it other than to say that it was perfect.

Of course there was bike flogging involved, and the ol' gal just gave back more than was asked.

[He Man]

the opposite can also be true, after riding the monster on the track, it feels like a pussy on the streets.

[ChrisH]

Ha I could see that. I've nev done a track day, but we have the new f1/moto GP track opening up soon enough so that will happen!

[DucNaked]

It really shouldn't unless you're running rich and slow a lot..., but... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_tuneup

Try some 100 Octane non-oxygenated unleaded mix in there occasional. That you should be able to feel. 

What would the reasoning be to run 100 octane? Not trying to be a smartass. I was always under the impression that in the monsters you run the lowest octane you can without engine pinging. I thought running the low octane reduced buildup on the valves. It's not like the monsters have very high compression. Thoughts?

[battlecry]

Does the 696 ECU have learning or self-tuning abilities?  I'm not familiar with the newer bike's electronics, but on a few cars I've owned, the engine and auto transmission management computers can tune to the daily commute and responded well to a battery disconnect to reset the adaptive maps for w/e flogging.