Bike problems in the wet

The last couple of days my K5 SV650s is starting to have trouble in the wet.

The engine doesn't idle high enough and dies when left to idle in neutral or with the clutch in, this causes problems when I have to go stationary or slow down and is causing some near incidents at round abouts, junctions and overtaking.

The other problem is that even whilst at speeds between 20,30, I'm getting spluttering from the engine and a loss in power then if I roll on throttle that fixes the spluttering but then I get a sudden leap in power and pull away

Getting very annoyed, any ideas whats wrong?

I'll be booking it in for a going over asap.

It doesn't high idle enough? Don't know what you mean by this.

On the FI SV, when you start the bike the ECU holds the throttle valves open, keeping the revs up until the engine warms. At this point the valves close up, and the idle revs are then controled by the idle speed adjuster.

So, either the fast idle doesn't work for some reason and the bike's stalling straight after start up, or it is working and it's stalling once the bikes warmed up, which means the idle speed is simply set too low.

Incidently, whether the throttle boddies are balanced also effects idle speed, so you might want to check this too.

Originally Posted by PsychoCannon

The other problem is that even whilst at speeds between 20,30, I'm getting spluttering from the engine and a loss in power then if I roll on throttle that fixes the spluttering but then I get a sudden leap in power and pull away

Getting very annoyed, any ideas whats wrong?

Sounds like a wet front plug to me.

Originally Posted by Baph

Sounds like a wet front plug to me.

Or that.

Could also be water in your petrol tank if the bike spends it's life out in the weather. If checking the plugs doesn't work u might want to empty your fuel into a bucket and see...

(Happened to me once)

Edit: Oh.. just registered the 'in the wet' bit... ignore me i it never happens in the dry...

What I meant by the idle is I start the bike and I watch the rev counter start at about 15k and slowly drop until it cuts out and dies.

yeah the bike lives out in the drive and my cover got stolen a while back about the same time the bike was vandalised when they failed to nick the bike too.

Will try checking the plugs and failing that I'll dump the fuel and try that

[northwind]

I'd think it's just idling too low then... If the fast idle puts it to 1500, that'd imply the baseline's too low. I'm not very good with pointies, but it's logical at least...

Originally Posted by northwind

I'd think it's just idling too low then... If the fast idle puts it to 1500, that'd imply the baseline's too low. I'm not very good with pointies, but it's logical at least...

T'was my thinking.

It's easy to adjust the idle, give it a tweek and see. If it's due a service then it should be done then anyway.