Snatchy throttles

[dern]

A feature of some of the bikes I've owned more recently is a snatchy throttle. This is when you transition from off to on and the response is not smooth and the worst I've found for this are the KTMs I've owned. The 1190 is pretty snatchy but the bulk of it tends to smooth it out somewhat but it's still there. The 1290 SD is snatchy as hell and frankly is starting to annoy me enough to consider selling it.

I'm guessing that some people will ride around this and like the brutality of the machine and let the electronics sort out the throttle transitions but I don't. I like the power but I want to ride smoothly and even when I'm on it I want the bike to do what I ask and not throw the jerky throttle response in to the mix.

My 2007 CBR1000RR doesn't do this to anywhere near the degree except when you ask for a load of power, My 2005 636 is as smooth as butter. I've heard that the new yamahas are pretty bad with snatchy throttles but have no direct experience, it just came up while I was looking for a solution when online.

What's going on with these newer bikes? Is there a solution?

I've ordered aa racetorx kit to remove the slack from the fly by wire throttle as that's supposed to help and I guess that I could consider a remap but I don't know if that fixes it. It's difficult to get a straight answer as some people don't think that there's an issue in the first place.

Is this something I'm being too sensitive about or have any of you come across the same problem?

Ta.

[KungFooBob]

I think off/on snatchiness is amplified on bikes with lots of engine breaking, like big twins. It's less apparent on IL4's.

Saying that, the worst bike I had for it was a Tiger 800.

[weeksy]

SDs have always been guilty of it. There used to be a company called G2 who did throttle cams that sorted many of the issues... but still they were very on/off. However you do get used to it with more time on the bike.
But then you ride something more refined and you think "WTF, this is how bikes are supposed to ride then"
The 690 has a bit of it, but with less power it's far more manageable.

[Skub]

It's increasing emissions laws at the root of the matter. You need to junk all the Euro bollox and get to the bike underneath.

A good dyno operator and an ecu flash sorts it.

In my case it was money well spent.

[Numnut]

People on the 790 owner group of FB say nice things about these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313822489854 ... R8iuy9jxYA

They fit the SD too, so could be worth a shot.

[MrLongbeard]

I think off/on snatchiness is amplified on bikes with lots of engine breaking, like big twins. It's less apparent on IL4's.

Saying that, the worst bike I had for it was a Tiger 800.

My first FI bike, 1050 speed triple, was a sod for it, the 1850 Harley there's no sign of it at all.
Whether that's because its a big old under-stressed lump smoothing it out or Harley programmed the ECU right I don't know, maybe because the striple was regular throttle and the Harley is fly by wire :dunno: but it adds another wrinkle into the mix

[wull]

Gone are the days where you could adjust the throttle cables to solve this problem. As has been said, a flash or properly set up on a dyno can help smooth this out, also a good wrist action can help, at least that’s what I keep telling the wife anyway

The transition on the beemer is spot on.

[dern]

People on the 790 owner group of FB say nice things about these:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313822489854 ... R8iuy9jxYA

They fit the SD too, so could be worth a shot.

That's interesting as that uses the same photo and description as the racetorx spacers at twice the price... https://racetorx.co.uk/product/ktmsk/

[dern]

Gone are the days where you could adjust the throttle cables to solve this problem. As has been said, a flash or properly set up on a dyno can help smooth this out, also a good wrist action can help, at least that’s what I keep telling the wife anyway

The transition on the beemer is spot on.

Tempting to go back to a carb'd fireblade and get rid of all this shite... oh no, wait... carbs.

[Demannu]

The xsr was horrible in anything other than B mode until I had it remapped. Hit a pothole and the bloody thing would take off in the lower gears.

[Numnut]

That's interesting as that uses the same photo and description as the racetorx spacers at twice the price... https://racetorx.co.uk/product/ktmsk/

That's pretty cheeky really then! That aside, a lot of people seemed to think they were well worth fitting, so hopefully it'll improve things.

[Taipan]

This is something that has put me off of bikes in recent years. I commute on my bikes so am often riding right at the point this problem manifests itself. I get sea sick with some bikes as the throttle jerks on and off. My F800R was a real pain for this and I sent the ECU to mototuning in Dublin for a generic ECU reflash. Absolutely transformed the bike. I just couldn't get it to do it anymore even if I tried. My MT-09 isn't too bad, but bad enough to be annoying and of course I've been spoilt by the F800's improvements. If you like the bike, get it remapped!

[A_morti]

It's increasing emissions laws at the root of the matter. You need to junk all the Euro bollox and get to the bike underneath.

A good dyno operator and an ecu flash sorts it.

In my case it was money well spent.

My cb300r (euro4 compliant) is the worst bike I've had for this, by a distance. I often end up slipping the clutch at low speeds. When I first got it I assumed the usual stuff: chain tension, clutch and throttle cable adjustment, etc. But no amount of adjustment would help.

I think it's fuel cut at closed throttle that's causing the problem. Basically every time you're transitioning from closed to small throttle openings, you're bump starting a stalled bike, and that almost matches what it feels like.

I reckon a remap which gave it just a sniff if fuel at closed throttle would help a lot, but as far as I know you can't remap Hondas and I'm not throwing Power Commander money at a 25hp commuter bike.

[Mr. Dazzle]

This won't be a problem on electric bikes. Smooth as a butter spread silk wrapped baby's bum.

Just sayin'.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

The bikes I've ridden with snatchy throttles have been injection and if they had carbs you'd think they had too small pilot jets or no air bleed, as A_morti has said it feels like fuel has been completely cut off to the engine.

[Mr. Dazzle]

as A_morti has said it feels like fuel has been completely cut off to the engine.

It usually has, to make sure the bike meets requirements for (not) emitting unburned fuel.

They actually massage in all those pops and bangs of fuel burning in the exhaust, they're totally unnecessary. In fact you have to be really careful to make sure the extra fuel you've added for the overrun completely burns up in the exhaust so you still meet emissions. How's that for daft?

The other problem is you get into a sort of feedback - jerky bike makes jerky hand which makes jerky twistgrip input....and repeat They put special programme steps into FBW cars so you don't get yourself into that sort of feedback.

[Dodgy69]

Doesn't the big SD have engine modes. Whats it like in rain mode or whatever they call it. ?

[dern]

Doesn't the big SD have engine modes. Whats it like in rain mode or whatever they call it. ?

Don't know, it drops it to 100bhp so never tried it.

[Scud]

BSD at Peterborough are the people for remaps on KTMs, not particularly cheap and are usually booked up for a month or so in advance but we’ll worth it.

[Whysub]

My 2008 Street Triple is like this, but I have learnt to live with it, although it still catches me out now and again.

I had the racetorx spacer fitted to my RC8, but not my RC8R. Ridden back to back, the RC8 was still the jerky one of the two.

Neither my injected N-Max scooter nor Himalayan have this issue.