Engine Stuttering
 

Since getting my fairings back on and riding around a lot, i've had no problems until last night. Comming home i noticed my engine was lagging a little bit. i thought it may be user error, and even when keeping the throttle steady the bike would lose power for half a second and then catch up, kind of like chopping the throttle and reapplying it in second gear.

The bike has ridden fine since the accident, the only thing i can think of is either fuel lines or coolant issues. The bike had been sitting for over a month w/ only half a tank in it, which leads me to think fuel line problem. But i ran the bike til it quit and refilled with fresh juice, so its not stale or bad gas. i actually noticed the problem after going 150 miles on a fresh tank.

The second thing im thinking is my coolant system. My resevoir broke in the accident, and i was using a "fixxed" one until i could get a new one. This caused my coolant to basically go away, and i stopped riding because of this. I filled the coolant to the "upper" level on the new resevoir before i started riding again, but it hasnt seemed to fluctuate at all. Im thinking i may be overheating or something, because the bike wont start the problem until the bike is warmed up.

When idling, the tach will bounce between 1.5 and 1 . and sometimes if i let it go enough it will bounce so much that the engine will die.

I'll have to check the spark plugs too, but this prob is new to me. any body have some ideas?

I don't have a clue, but I will say this....

When I had my honda, she ran hotter than my suzi, and when she got really hot, say in bumper to bumper traffic she seemed to have a similar issue, wanting to sputter a bit and die, but as soon as she cooled or got moving again it corrected itself. Never could find an issue other than just being too hot...

well im running around 180 on the expressway and a little above 210 on the through ways, which is not really above normal. so i've nixxed that issue, i really dont think its the coolant or radiator. my fan is working as well.

comming home i made sure to keep my eye on the tach and when i get those drops my tack jumps down like i killed the throttle and then shoots back up, and then my oil light comes on for a second or two. I doubt it has anything to do with the oil, but im gonna go check the level anyways, and probobly just change it out to be sure.

got it into the garage and let it idle for a few minutes, no problems what so ever. Revved it up to 5.5 (where i seemed to have the most problems) and it was fine. revved to 10, fine, reved to 15, fine... Last night the bike would sit in N and sputter and die after a while, i just let it go for 5 minutes idling (till it got a little too hot) and no problems...

Gonna have to suck it up and check the spark plugs later, i suppose, but lets hear some more options.

Damn man, My R1 runs at 160-165 on the highway and like 195-200 in slow traffic.

makes me think of an intermittent misfire issue. how are your plug wires?

Clean your air filter, change the spark plugs, and pour some seafoam in your tank.

Should be good to go.

I thinking a heat issue with electronics...

good call on the sea foam. i've allready added an octane booster (i put reg unleaded in yesterday instead of premium, doh) and am working on draining the tank a bit to add a fuel line cleaner. but...

im thinking its an electronics problem too, but not with heating issues. I lost my terminal screw for my pos end of the battery a while back, and used a small nut and bolt to put it back on in sort of a quick fix sort of way, and forgot to get something a little better.

I'm thinking while riding my terminal was coming undone, and causing the engine to die, and the stuttering may have just been due to a bad connection in the first place.


I will fix this as well, but im in the process of trying to figure out how to drain my gas tank right now to add the fuel line cleaner... think i should pick up some seafoam as well? stuffs dirt cheap, but i dont want to put too many additives in the gas.

Im missing the old days w/ my F3 where i could just turn the petcock off and remove the tank.

so? there are so many dif variables considering location and weather, i was only thinking a coolant issue if the bike was running highway temps above 210 or so.

the fuel issue might be with the reg gas, i know my pig hated life with 87 octane

so far from my own experience and folks ive talked to, hondas run notoriously warmer than other brands...mine always ran higher than any other bike, getting as high as 235 and even at highway speeds she still ran about 185-195, depending on the weather and speed. Sit for even a few minutes and at least 220!

My gsxr runs lower than that and doesnt reach as high temps in similar conditions and like I said, i did some comparisons with fellow riders on different brands and that was the overall finding...

:panic: holy crap, you put 87 in your bike??!!

My bike (while basically just a sport tourer) is tuned for 87 from the factory and runs perfect on it.

try running a can of seafoam through... my bike did that after being stored for a while... the carbs were a bit gummed up... maybe your injectors are a bit clogged...

cheap fixes first

i've never had a problem w/ 87. i used to run it all the time on the f3, never once had a gas issue... cept for the couple times i ran out.


Since buying the rr i've only used 87 a couple times, with no ill effects, but most of the time i'll pay a little more for the better gas. I'm thinking that bad gas coupled with tank sitting for a while may have put some crud in the injectors or backed up the fuel filter.


But to be honest, im really banking on this electrical issue, it just seems like it would explain everything. i lost power mid ride the throttle would cut like it did, and when it came back on the oil light would come back on like it does when the bike is turned on. i wish i would have set my clock earlier to see if the time on that would have changed as well.

already put fuel line cleaner through it, which will do the same thing as sea foam. im running it for a bit as we speak to see if it has any issue, then i'll take it around the block and go from there.

ok... I just say seafoam cause it's the best I've used... I've use generic carb cleaner, injector cleaners, even a few name brand ones... and none did their job as well and as quick as seafoam...

good luck though...

might of been 82, dont know... it was in the boonies and it was lucky to have gas, ask osp

remember that gas station at the end of 555? omg 50/50 gasoline/vomit mix.

Just got back from a little ride, and the bike ran better than it has since i dive bombed the guard rail. Im fairly certain it was the the problem with the terminals.

damn, well, i can understand that. I am just not in the habit of putting anything less than the best in my bike...:idk:

problem solved. case closed. It had to be the terminal. the grated highway they were working on yesterday must have jiggled the screw to much.