K6 a bit ill

[Hardened Rider]

Just got home from work, 50 mile blast. Got off the motorway into a 30, bike a bit twitchy on throttle, almost like it was surging. Turned the corner into my road, Oil light came on bike died. Pushed to house, gave it 10 mins, checked oil level, spot on. Started, would not turn over without my holding the revs at about 3000, stinks of petrol, exhaust proper banging away. Any thoughts? Cheers.

[yorkie_chris]

Wet front plug perhaps.

[Hardened Rider]

Na YC, it's been dry as a bone all day.

[yorkie_chris]

Coil, HT lead or plug breaking down. Something loose on the intake side.

[Hardened Rider]

Coil, HT lead or plug breaking down. Something loose on the intake side.


Cheers fella. I'll get on it. Could bad fuel do this? Also not sure if this could make a difference, but tried starting after it had cooled down for a bit and it was fine, for about 5 seconds.

[yorkie_chris]

Sounding more like a big air leak, the FI bikes have auto-enrichment at first.

Check nothing around the airbox is loose.

Bad fuel could do it yes, but I think that would have shown itself far sooner.

[Hardened Rider]

Sounding more like a big air leak, the FI bikes have auto-enrichment at first.

Check nothing around the airbox is loose.

Bad fuel could do it yes, but I think that would have shown itself far sooner.

Just tried again, engine cooler about 38oC. Started perfect first time, no problems, didn't need additional throttle, engine sounded fine, no banging from exhaust, oil pressure light went off as it should. Idled fine at around 13-1400 for about 15 seconds then slowly died off til stall.

Gonna check the airbox now.

[Baph]

I had similar issues with my K6 refusing to idle over the very cold spell. In my case, water had got into the front plug & then froze. Great!

Yours does sound like too much air on intake (as YC said). Airbox/filter being the prime suspect.

It seems to be time for the K6's to start developing faults at the moment.

[Hardened Rider]

I had similar issues with my K6 refusing to idle over the very cold spell. In my case, water had got into the front plug & then froze. Great!

Yours does sound like too much air on intake (as YC said). Airbox/filter being the prime suspect.

It seems to be time for the K6's to start developing faults at the moment.


Cheers Baph, what would I be looking out for when inspecting the airbox/filter?

[Hardened Rider]

Just took it out for a quick blast, put some more fuel in. Rides perfect over 5000rpm, below that and it's like riding a kangaroo.

Is it safe to ride like this or could I be causing damage?

[zsv650]

It seems to be time for the K6's to start developing faults at the moment.
bah don't say that mine'll start playing up now :(

[Baph]

Cheers Baph, what would I be looking out for when inspecting the airbox/filter?

Anything out of the ordinary really. Are there any rips in the air filter for example?

Just took it out for a quick blast, put some more fuel in. Rides perfect over 5000rpm, below that and it's like riding a kangaroo.

Is it safe to ride like this or could I be causing damage?

If the bike is running very very lean (which it will if extra air intake is a problem), then prolonged use does have a certain risk of damage. Take the spark plugs out & check what they're like.

If the plug looks like it's been detonated, or the core has melted, that's a good sign of lean mixture. But post back here with the state of your plugs (and photo if possible). This will help steer everyone, as your problems could be lean fuel mix, or it could be electrical sensors etc.

[yorkie_chris]

You can have a mix lean enough to feel absolutely naff without obvious signs of melting the plug. Depends where it's lean. but, post a pic of the plugs anyway.

[Hardened Rider]

I'll post a pic of the plugs on Friday.

Risked my commute back into work this morning. Bike ran sweet. Idling was spot on, not one thing out of place. The only difference between the two journeys is last night I was hitting 10-11k rpm, sometimes for periods of 3-4 minutes, this morning I didn't go over 6k rpm, sitting at 80 most of the way.

I want to diagnose this even if the problem has gone away, just for closure. I'm sure plenty of people with FI SVs will start getting these problems now they're getting a bit older, higher mileage.

[Baph]

I'll post a pic of the plugs on Friday.

Risked my commute back into work this morning. Bike ran sweet. Idling was spot on, not one thing out of place. The only difference between the two journeys is last night I was hitting 10-11k rpm, sometimes for periods of 3-4 minutes, this morning I didn't go over 6k rpm, sitting at 80 most of the way.

I want to diagnose this even if the problem has gone away, just for closure. I'm sure plenty of people with FI SVs will start getting these problems now they're getting a bit older, higher mileage.

It could be a poor ground. Mine was behaving oddly recently (37k miles), so I've just done a little work too (reg/rec replaced, main earth points re-crimped etc).

[Hardened Rider]

Think it was the air filter, half expected to find a dead bird in there. Installed new filter, bit shocked to find out I should be on my third one by now. Noticed quite a number of threads on here regarding the mayo caused by condensation, whilst I was in the air box I took a gander at the crank case filter, the bottom of this thing looked like someone had squirted mayo all over it, pure mess, initial thoughts were head gasket. I have the same symptoms like many of you on here. Sight glass milked up, mayo in the oil cap. I never do short journeys, always 50 miles minimum. Checked coolant level, hasn't dropped. And doesn't look like the oil level is filling either. Must be just condensation.

[Baph]

I have the same symptoms like many of you on here. Sight glass milked up, mayo in the oil cap. I never do short journeys, always 50 miles minimum. Checked coolant level, hasn't dropped. And doesn't look like the oil level is filling either. Must be just condensation.

When the engine is cold, take the radiator cap off. If there's mayo in there, start worrying about head gaskets. If there isn't, change the oil/filter & carry on as you were.

[Dicky Ticker]

Coil