Well that was fun (not!!)

[Blue Flame]

Today was absolutely ****ing down and it just happened to be the day i had booked the bike in for a new front tyre and a new chain/sprocket set.

Anyways, I picked the bike up this afternoon and started to ride home and the old front cylinder issue cropped up again. :shock:

Now as you can imagine given the fact that the last time this happened I ended up in hospital, I was to put it not so mildy (****ting myself). I had a slippy new front tyre, I was on half power, having to keep the revs up to stop the bike from stalling and I kept getting flashbacks about being carted into an ambulance. :roll: (Northy, where's that stuff :wink: )

Anyway I made it home and stripped the fairing off and had a look at the front spark. It was soaking so I had a wee bit of a poke around with the drain hole and dried everything off and the bike started functioning OK.

Gonna go out for my first big run tomorrow in prep for the trip next week but that was a wee set back today after building my confidence over the last couple of weeks.

Just thought I would share !!!!

[K]

Have you got a fender extender on there?

OK, so a shakey ride home - but, you made it. Under very difficult circumstances by the sound of it - so use that as a boost to your confidence.

[Anonymous]

get fender extender thingy. i used to ride when it was really wet and have never had a problem.

well done to you for not cancelling and staying in knitting though mate.

weather is better today so get out there and have a wee bit fun.

did the wrist hold out ok

[Blue Flame]

Yeah the wrist seems to be fine on the bike. Just gotta watch not to grip too hard but that's what I should be doing anyway.

Beginning to really look forward to the trip down south now. Just hope the weather is OK for the camping.

[SVTONYB]

Get a Fender Extender.....they work.

Glad to hear you made it back in one piece and your wrist was ok.

[haggis]

Well done for sticking it out. No wonder you were having an "oh-no moment", anyone would in your situation. Fear of the known, it would seem, is worse than fear of the unknown. :?

It's wierd how some SV's are very sensitive to this and others are not. I've only had it happen twice in nearly 7 years. One of those was fording a burst drainage ditch, about 10" deep and 30' long so not surprising it cut out. And I've been out in plenty long lasting mega-downpours.

No fender extender, no silicone down the plughole, no little flappy bit under the rad either. Odd.

[northwind]

The stuff is on its way, honest! I'd run out of stamps though.

Incidentally, I was in Maplin today and picked up another 3 tubes... That's probably enough to do every SV in Scotland ;) So if anyone wants some, let me know.

[Quedos]

Well done you :notworthy:

and here's me bricking it over a soft suspension!!!

As an aside - hows the wrist??? One of my mates bought me a powerball to help improve the strength in my left wrist(for the cluctch :roll: ) and it works really well.
Just thought it may help as they use it to rescuperate injuries

See http://www.powerball-gyros.com/powerballs.htm for info if interested
:kiss:

[Blue Flame]

It's wierd how some SV's are very sensitive to this and others are not.

I never had a problem with it and have ridden in atrocious conditions in the past. Last year I rode all day up from England in the pouring rain through massive puddles of water etc, and it never skipped a beat. The first time it happened was in March when I had my off.

I have a theory that the crud around the drain point builds up over time until eventually the problem starts. That and possibly the plug cap not being positioned per the manual thus the seal is not tight.

I've given everything a thorough clean today and tried to unblock the drain hole so I hope that it won't happen at the first sight of rain the next time. :roll:

The stuff is on its way, honest! I'd run out of stamps though.

Cheers Northy. I'll slap it on as soon as I get it :P

As an aside - hows the wrist??? One of my mates bought me a powerball to help improve the strength in my left wrist(for the cluctch ) and it works really well.

Thanks for the tip. The physio at the hospital gave me some green putty stuff rated as 'firm' to squeeze. At the the last visit they upgraded me to blue 'xtra firm'. :shock: So my wrist is doing OK. Its the overall movement and the twisting(opening jars) movement that needs more work.

[SVTONYB]

Grant I put a fender extender on soon after buying the curvy sv as I had read about this problem and to date (4 yrs later) I have not experienced the problem.

Who knows maybe it has nothing to do with it maybe its a coincedence but the fact remains I fitted it and it has not happened.

And thats 4 yrs of all sorts of weather except snow :shock:

[northwind]

Mine used to do it all the time... No idea why. Changed the seal twice, cleared the drain hole and all, no luck. I ended up thinking the cylinder head's badly tolerance or something. But the goop does fix it, luckily. Funny thing is, the seal hsa what looks like a grease channel in it, as if it's supposed to be greased but suzuki forgot...

[splund]

I was out today as well and for the firs time i was struck by the wet plug lead problem. Like others, i have been riding in far worse conditions for a lot further and never had an issue till today. I had to pull over three times and keep the engine running untill the heat evaporated the water off.

I will strip my bike down this week but Blue Flame mentions a "drain hole". Where is it and whats best for clearing it out?

[SVTONYB]

I was out today as well and for the firs time i was struck by the wet plug lead problem. Like others, i have been riding in far worse conditions for a lot further and never had an issue till today. I had to pull over three times and keep the engine running untill the heat evaporated the water off.

I will strip my bike down this week but Blue Flame mentions a "drain hole". Where is it and whats best for clearing it out?


Invest in a Fender Extender (they work)

[dirtydog]

I will strip my bike down this week but Blue Flame mentions a "drain hole". Where is it and whats best for clearing it out?


I believe it's on the right hand side of the front cylinder

[SVTONYB]

This may already have been spotted but here goes anyway

I have a curvy svs 2002 and I fitted a fender extender soon after buying her and never had any problems(touch wood).

After reading about grants hiccup I popped into MO and had a good look at the K6 pointy svs. I noticed that the fender (mudguard) was a lot shorter than the one on the curvy and I also noticed that the pointy has a rubber flap hanging from the radiator as if in an attempt to prevent spray from front wheel getting to front sparkplug.

Is this rubber flap on all pointies or is this a new thing that the engineers at suzuki came up with.

[Blue Flame]

The flap is on all the pointies but is clearly ineffective :evil:

I have now received and fitted a fenda extenda to try and minimise the chances of this issue from arising again ! :)

[SVTONYB]

If they are fitting them to all pointies then that would suggest to me that they are fully aware or the problem but in true Suzuki stylee opt for the cheapest preventative measure :evil:

Grant have you written to Suzuki to complain about your off and the contributing factor in your coming off being the problem that they are clearly aware of but are not addressing

[splund]

So where do i get a fender extender from, how much are they and do they look ok or a bit naff.

Pictures anyone?


:?

[northwind]

Grant have you written to Suzuki to complain about your off and the contributing factor in your coming off being the problem that they are clearly aware of but are not addressing

I'm not Suzuki, but "The accident was caused by not stopping riding as soon as the fault first presented itself. Riding a malfunctioning motorcycle is unsafe" Bet you a pound.

[scooby2102]

Jim experienced the same thing in NI when it was ****in down (curvy)

Can honestly say that me own 03 pointy has been out in torrential downpours many times and never missed a beat.

Being a mechanic in a previous life, its really strange that the problem affects some bikes but not others

Makes me think that the problem could be anything from the plug lead end cap insulation right back to where it plugs in to the ignition coil, even the lead or coil itself breaking down when soaked.

If mine ever does it, it will be gettin hosed down to bring the fault on then try and diagnose from there as its definitely a liability out on the road.

As an aside, just noticed there that in the manual, the flap is called "the front radiator cover", keeps them right I suppose :?

[Blue Flame]

Grant have you written to Suzuki to complain about your off and the contributing factor in your coming off being the problem that they are clearly aware of but are not addressing

I'm not Suzuki, but "The accident was caused by not stopping riding as soon as the fault first presented itself. Riding a malfunctioning motorcycle is unsafe" Bet you a pound.

Northy you are, I suspect, correct.

When it first happened I was all for taking Suzuki to task but after a couple of weeks lying on me back and contemplating things I cooled off a little. I have said this in previous posts however what i was mainly considering whilst contemplating the accident was whether there were any lessons I could take away from the incident and do differently if it happened again in the future. The answer is 'Yes'.

Whilst the root cause of the the incident was the front cylinder issue there are a number of contributary actions that resulted in the accident itself.

1. I suspect that I was concentrating too much on the issues with the bike and not on my surroundings
2. When I surged forward I panicked (probably because of 1. above) and 'grabbed the brakes.

I am happy that I have lessons that I can take away and learn from. If there was nothing that I could have done differently then I suspect I would not be back on the bike (or perhaps any bike) today.

I may employ a different tact with Suzuki and make suggestions rather than an out and out complaint.

[northwind]

I'd still make a complaint, were I you... Surprised you've not already! Get moaning, man!

[SVTONYB]

Same hear mate I know youve calmed down now and want to get some positive from the negative but if it were me I would write a letter or get someone to write one for me if for no other reason than to see what Suzuki say about it

[splund]

Scooby my 04 bike never missed a beat till last weekend. I've had a good look at the lead and there were a could of things i noticed;

1. the lead was leaning over t the lefthand side of the bike and coming into contact with the engine casing.
2. The lead was dirty around the plug cap cover.

I clean the plug lead up, using WD40 and cleaned the ceasing around where the cap seals around the casing, and made sure the spark plug lead is away from the casing, by making sure it sits vertical.

Looking at the layout of the bike i no understand how the plug lead gets dirty and wet. The fron fender is very short at the back of the forks. This allows spray from the wheel to come up past the vertical. You will have a plastic plate in the shape of a D, bolted to the underside of the forks. This stops wheel spray coming stright up and hitting you in the face, and generaly making a mess. This plate sits in line with the top of the radiator. So wheel spray covers the engine right up to the top of the radiator. The little rubber flap helps reduce the spray getting to the plug but is ulitmately ineffective as the spray will still come through the radiator and onto the plug.

Taking the bottom of the flap and tucking it back up against the casing will mak it a little better but wont stop the spray getting through the radiator. One way to do this is fashion som for of spray guard to sit behind the radiator which may reduce its cooling effect as it could reduce the airflow through it, or fit a fender extender. I got a fender extender from Mickey Oats yesterday and fitted it last night.

These things I think will help but even with the extender i don't believe it will completely stop it from ever happening again. Regular cleaning of the plug lead and its sealing grommet would be a good idea, otherwise I think its only a matter of time.

[northwind]

The silicon grease fix is more effective than the fender extender, believe it or not... It also prevents corrosion of the plug, which the Extenda doesn't always, which shows its keeping out more water. Extenda's still good to have though.