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Having trouble tuning your Honda Shadow? Experiencing issues you've never seen before? Want to better understand where to start tuning and what to look for? In today’s blog post, we’re discussing all things tuning—including our top tuning tips and the best resources we’ve found for Honda Shadow owners.
Tuning your Honda Shadow properly is as important as filling it up with gas. A great tune equals better performance and more power. But where’s the best place to start?
First of all, if you’re having any issues tuning your Honda Shadow, you definitely need to visit the TJ Brutal Customs Knowledge Base. Once you’re there, you’ll find an entire section dedicated to Honda Shadow Performance & Tuning.
Visit the TJ Brutal Customs Knowledge Base
The Knowledge Base also includes a host of articles on Honda Shadow Manuals, Diagrams and Tech, Honda Shadow FAQ’s, and an insane amount of Honda Shadow How-To’s (including tutorials, videos and diagrams). This resource is invaluable! Take a moment to pop on over there and explore it a bit. Start with the Introduction to Tuning Your Bike and work your way down the Knowledge Base.
The introduction mentioned above contains all the basic information you need to properly tune your Honda Shadow using TJ Brutal Customs parts. From there, you can move on to jetting.
Typically, if you’re working on a dual—or even a single—carb Honda Shadow, you’ll want to start tuning from idle all the way up to wide open throttle. This means you should be able to tune the whole bike and never even leave first gear.
Start up your Honda Shadow and get it into first gear. At this point, all you’re tuning for is the throttle stage. The throttle stage is either idle, ¼ throttle, ½ throttle, ¾ throttle or wide open throttle (it’s a fractional measurement that works off the position of your throttle sleeve). If your bike is idling, you can mark that on your throttle assembly as idle. From there, go to wide open throttle and mark that as wide open throttle. Cut that in half—that’s your half throttle. Go back a little and you’re at quarter throttle; go forward a little and you’ve got ¾ throttle.
Tune your bike in each of these stages.
This diagram from the support page shows you which jetting circuit relates to each throttle stage.
If you’re having an issue with your idle, you’ll need to figure out if it’s too lean or too rich. Not sure how to do this? You’ll find loads of information over on the Knowledge Base to help you diagnose rich and lean conditions. Start with this page.
Want more specifics on diagnosing rich vs. lean conditions or adjusting your jets? Watch this video!
