Bike problem

hello all, have another question to ask of the well knowledged individuals on this site (or certainly more knowledged than me )

right so the sv had a service a couple of weeks ago, new oil, filter, plugs, carbs balanced, the lot.

Bike then left outside for a couple of days in all this poor weather, then a ride back to cardiff. halfway through the ride the bike seems to lose power now and again as if its missing or something i'm not sure. i thought well i have some exams then i'm heading back wolves at the end of the week so i'll see how it goes then.

Same problem, not constant and the bike can go nicely at motorway speeds but it seems it is abit juddery, losing power. At one point turned the throttle up for an overtake, power didnt really go through to the wheels.

Now when i started the bike up to go down to cardiff, it was almost as if the engine was frozen or something that would make me think that, not firing right until it had had a few more starts/ revs. then steam as it was wet anyway, but possibly ice i dunno?

all i can think of is that perhaps abit of moisture, iced over, near ht/ front plug, once melted slowly started to find a way through to the plug and is causing it not to fire correctly all the time? In the service they said they had set the HT further in to avoid the problem happening again (as i had a one cylinder adventure in a brecon storm)

also when idling its not staying steady, someone told me this was called hunting i believe. just flickering around not able to find its idle (varied between 1100/1200 to 1400 maybe)? the bike doesnt stall or anything

heading back cardiff tomorrow so dont have any time to take it in the garage that serviced it really, anyone any ideas on what it might be/ anything at all? if it was what i suspect after previous help from fizzwheel and others i can get to the front plug and everything

cheers,
Draper

oh took it out for a spin just, does seem a little juddery when going around the block and that, certainly doesnt seem to be a smooth ride but perhaps my brain is making that up but thats what it seems like

Possibly carb icing. Happened on my kwak this last weekend too.

Was it wet or a lot of moisture in the air at the time? And are you 100% sure that the person who looked at your carb did as they said. Also I take it from the photo I can see on your avatar that you don't have a fender extender fitted.

As you took it round the block I would guess that it was dry then, whats your start up procedure, do you give it a little choke to get the bike going. Once the engine is warm is it still doing this, as it sound like a fuel/air problem.
Could be that the person that did your carbs did not put the air box back on properly as it can be a bit fiddley. All 3 hoses should be attached to the bottem and check the seals of the airbox to the top of the carbs, in fact if you pop the tank up is the airbox really woobley? I would check that its not loose. If you do take it off also check the rubber seal around the rear part of the airbox, mine came loose and was letting in some more air and showed up as these sort of symptons.

have a look at this page if you need a manual to get the airbox on and off - www.sv650.org/sv_manuals.htm

yes i do have a fender extender, just not when i first got the pic in the summer, but thanks for noticing that grinch

the garage that serviced it are friends of my parents friend who use to be a biker. I cant be sure they havent done something, but it seemed fine on the way home and until i was closing in on cardiff. But i suppose everyone can make mistakes

trying to think now of when i first went dont cardiff, it was cold i know that, no rain, perhaps abit moisture in the air

on start up i try no choke, with abit of throttle, that seems abit wierd at times when the bikes left outside, turn up the throttle more once its going, and it starts to die. So i usually end up putting a small amount of choke, not touching the throttle and that normally does the job, then turn it off straight away and use some revs to warm it up. It doesnt get to idle speed straight away but a little bit less i was told was better than choking engine?

yes it happens when warm, as motorway its obviously been going for a while, and yesterday it was running for about 10 mins which should be enough to get it a bit warm

Moisture in the air and cold weather can cause the carb icing as the air that gets into the carbs freezes and this then starves the bike. Normally if you stop wait 5 minutes for the heat from the engine to warm the carbs again it goes away. You can tackel this with 2 ways, most super unleaded like BP or shell does help reduce the effect of carb icing, so you could test this. Or you could add some Silkoline Pro FST which you should get from most bike shops or places like Halfords, this is an addative to prevent carb icing, but it can be expensive per litre compared to just using Super unleaded.

I would also look at checking the fit of your airbox as if it is loose it could be screwing up the air mix or even letting in extra moisture to the carbs, as the engine fueling is setup with the airbox on.

right thanks bear and grinch, i'll have a butchers at the airbox now see if its wobbly or anything suspect (not that i really know what to look for but i can do wobbly)

if its happening in a ride though can it be carb icing? as they should be well warm now

water in fuel?