Bad weather bike?

Its an intermitant problem, went out this morning and the bike started up fine, went out for a run and ended up covering 120 miles without one hic cup....I assume this means water in and about the spark plug which has dried up?

[Taipan]

Make sure that little drain hole on the r/h side of the head is clear too...

Originally Posted by monkimagic

Is it me or does everyone elese bike give up with the bad weather.

I put down to carb icing .

Ever thought,should have got a pointy?

(cuts finger on the can of worms thats just been opened)

Originally Posted by monkimagic

Its an intermitant problem, went out this morning and the bike started up fine, went out for a run and ended up covering 120 miles without one hic cup....I assume this means water in and about the spark plug which has dried up?

make a point of soaking every electrical socket/ plug etc etc with loads of wd40..i do this reguarly even in summer, and as i say ive never had these issues in 26 years of riding..spray plenty on each ht lead/plug cap too

Also once water gets in the front, its difficult to dry as it doesnt evaporate with HT lead still connected.

fender extender helps as mentioned, but I gave the HT cap a good smear of silicone grease to make doubley sure.

You may threfore be getting moisture ingresion in one, some or lots of electrical components. Its not a bad idea to try and "waterproof" connectors - in turn, take apart each block connector you can find (get the fairings off!), spray with WD40 to disperse the water, then some electrical contact cleaner to remove any oily residue, then round the top of one half of the connector block, some vaseline.

You can try some silicone sealant around the spark plug leads, but as I epexct many have said its the front one prone to getting very wet. You can get a fender extender for the rear of the front mudgaurd which helps, although some people dont find this very good looking so use the silicone method.

As for carb icing, PRO FST or, a cheaper alternative, isopropyl alcohol in a tank of fuel (1-2 % per volume of petrol, volume for volume...about 200 ml in 17 litres of fuel I think) does help. I, and a few others, use super-unleaded fuel (such as shell V-power) during the colder months. This is more expensive, but I've not yet incured any problems symptomatic of carb icing, and possibly it is cheaper than using PRO FST (although more expensive than isopropyl alcohol!)

Try out a few things, a few differant fuels (not just the ones one company has to offer, try fuels from differant manufactures...I have never liked texaco fuels!)

Happy riding

Matt

Originally Posted by sv-robo

Ever thought,should have got a pointy?

(cuts finger on the can of worms thats just been opened)

Thinking I should have stuck to Honda...

This is my 4th Suzuki and each one has been a pain in the ass. I am a Kawasaki man at heart though.

I had a bit of trouble with carb icing last winter- FST generally sorted and helped starting too (smoother and less/no knocking depending on using 1% or 2% in the tank and how far below zero the atmosphere was).


Or water getting in- was terrible for this when I first got the bike (with an extenda)- however, the bike is generally fine with this now- even sat in the rain overnight (she lives outdoors). Last time it happened, it was stood outside a pub in Camden for a few hours in monsoon-like rain. Took about 25 mins of high revs (Camden-Shepherds Bush) to sort it.

Oh, and when I gave it a spray of WD40 in the drain hole recently to make sure it's clear- was a right bugger for a half hour commute, then OK. Must have shifted some water...