After my first real trip on the little lion, I thought I would share good and bad points of the bike. I bought the bike to do some dirt track farm road riding in the midst of longer tours. As most probably know its not great in the dirt and mud, but okay for fireroad type of terrian, I pushed the edge a little and got myself in trouble with it that was on me. I did a lot of mountain cornering roads and the bike handled well as far getting down in the corners and powering up the steep climbs. There is the ongoing, mind bogling fuel gauge which is annoying as hell, I went 130k on E??? How did they design this? Also annoying is the engine kill switch on the kick stand sticks so starting it in neutral and then putting it into gear kills the engine sometimes 5-6 times in a row.
The main problem though is the engine choking which at time is really dangerous and I found it happening more and more as I road. Between 4-6 rpm, esp in 3,4 gear the engine will choke out and then come back, sometimes in quick procession. If the throttle is babied its mostly okay but accelerates hard as in trying to pass and it cuts out, which I found on the highway at 160 to be very scary and problematic. I have already tried decatting it, but found it too loud. I haven't had the air filter or spark plugs changed yet because I don't trust the two Beneli shops I've seen (Thailand). I'm wondering if it is a timing issue. The bike only has 6k on it, 2,500 of which I just put on it, so I find it pathetic, after riding hondas for the last thirty years.
I appreciate your comments but pretty sure it's not the side stand sensor that is choking the bike at speeds since it's so regular. Also when I de-catted it, it changed the rpms where the choke happened. It also seems to be pretty common among other owners. But I would like to have the sensor removed because I don't need it and it is really annoying when it happens.
And just FYI, 10,000 miles (16k km) and I've never had this choking problem you're talking about. I've never heard of anyone else having this problem on a Leoncino or TRK502.
Charles,
Thanks for your advice and I am going to get rid of that side stand sensor. Aside from that though I have read other riders who say have the same problem with their bikes and how de-catting, and changing air filter and sparkplugs has mostly fixed it. I am now changing my air filter and plugs and so we shall see.
So, there is a flat spot in the power band where the bike feels like it hits a wall, and accelleration is slower and vibration is higher. That's right around 7000rpm. Is that what you're talking about? Or are you talking about an actual problem with the motorcycle?
If that is what you're talking about, then I understand. I've done a full decat (headers and midpipe), filter, and ECU flash and I have more power across the board. But shittier gas milage, which was never that good to begin with. The biggest change was from the air filter. That was the last thing I tried, but I recommend it be the first. The bike simply can't breathe, and there is significant top-end power to be had with inexpensive mods. Won't change much below 6000 rpm, but above it the bike is night and day better.
Yeah, now were on the same page, I would call it a little more than flat spot but yes, and it also triggers the engiine light occasionaly. So tommorow its new air filter and plugs, get rid of the pissy sensor on the kickstand and then we shall see.
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