Locking rear wheel
 

Hi people

New rider here on a K3 SV650s. Passed my DAS 2 weeks ago. Last weekend went to Marlboro to visit a mate (first ever 'proper' ride). Travelled up from Weymouth in the dry - no issues and loved it. Upon entering Marlboro it started ****ing it down big time. 30 mins later lost significant engine power - 2 mins after that (and luckily in 30/40mph slow moving traffic) experiened a rear wheel lock up which resulted in me performing a 'speedway style' 45 degree skid up the A4. Got off (smoked 6 fags) and have the bike transported back to Weymouth.

The garage I bought the bike from are telling me this is due to water getting into the front sparkplug which resulted in the power loss (down to 1 cylinder) and the subsequent lock up.

Fitted a new CR8E spark plug (the one I removed was a CR9E??) and took her for a test drive where the engine is still very snatchy - not driveable really.

Garage now coming out to replace the rear s/p as they claim this is the cause.

Please can you guys give me some guidance as, whilst i loved my first 108 miles of riding, I'm now left with very little faith in a machine which, for no discernable reason, is trying to kill me!

Sorry to hear about your rotten experiences with your new bike :( The thing to do to cure the front cylinder problems is to fit a fender extender and to put some silicone grease around the plug cap. Do a search for threads about poor wet weather running or missing front cylinder and there'll be lots of suggestions about what to do. Good luck getting it sorted and getting your confidence back :D

'ow do :D

The SV is notorious for suffering from the front cylinder cutting out in wet weather - caused by spray from the road getting onto the front spark plug and shorting it out

Firstly fit a 'fender extender' if you haven't already got one - the Pyramid plastics one does the job nicely http://www.pyramid-plastics.co.uk/ca...age.php?pID=98

Secondly, a good squirt of silicon grease around the spark plug should stop any water that does get past

hth

Just the grease will do it. The Fender Extender's still a good thing to have though, helps keep the bike a bit cleaner ;)

Oh mate what a shame! In your nievety you simply popped in a new spark plug to suffer exactly the same problem! :?

Good advice as mentioned above should put the problem behind you. :)

My advice would be to learn to ride and understand the SV better. That may sound harsh, but even though there was a problem, only ham-fisted rding would cause those circumstances to occur. The SV is a great bike, but it's v-twin behaves differently to a more benign inline-four.

Give it time and apply yourself to it and you'll be surprised at just how much fun you can have on an SV.


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Nah, I totally disagree with that. Usually with the 325 fault, it's intermittant, but if you lose the cylinder completely it's more than enough to slide the rear through engine braking. That's what happened to Blue Flame, who's got a few safe miles under his belt.

Yes but the second that it goes, the clutch is pulled in and then feathered till traction is regained.


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Eh, sorry Jonboy, I dont get how "ham fisted riding" can cause a rear end lock up on a motorway (apart from changing down and dropping the clutch).

Yes, it does sound harsh :-)

Edit - just read your reply above - I see what you mean......

It was harsh, but I suppose it sounded to me like an attack on the SV (which is unforgivable :wink: ). The front plug problem is almost normal and I haven't heard of any dangerous incidents, though I fully appreciate the rear can start to slide if the power is severely reduced but it's not as though the engine has actually stalled, so I figure there has to be a lack of rider input (or perhaps too much input) to have this kind of scenario occur.


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