First breakdown - not even 600 miles on the clock :-(

[stefano]

Hey,

just to share my rant at my first problem with the bike

So I take her in for her 600 mile service, and until then she'd been working perfectly (btw I ignored factory break-in recommendations and just throttled her from the 3rd outing). Drive her from the mechanic's directly to destination (my grandfather's house on the lake), 100 miles with approx. 60 miles of highway.

On the highway, after about 40 miles, the friggin FI signal turns on. Bike's working fine though, so I continue.

When I slow down for the toll-booth, I realize the revs won't go down all the way! The engine revs to a min of 4/5 K and just sits there. So I turn the bike off after the toll booth and let her sit for 5 minutes while I smoke a butt. Turn her on again, idle is back to normal, I'm thinking, phew, problem solved! I start riding again only to find out that now the opposite is happening, she won't go above 7K revs! I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to NOT be able to speed and accelerate hard with a sportsbike rubbing your crotch!!!

I had to drive her for the rest of the way (AND BACK, of course) with a max speed of 75 m/h in 6th, with cars of all sorts and even damn SCOOTERS overtaking me!!! I'll never forget it

Anyway, took her in last Saturday to see what the problem was, basically the 636 has a double butterfly valve system with primary and secondary valves controlling airflow in the inlet manifold. The electric motor that controls the secondary valve movement broke, therefore the valves aren't opening and the engine is basically choking. Yippee.

The electric motor has been ordered, hopefully it will arrive by week's end so that Saturday I can take it in again and get it replaced.

Bike still under guarantee so I shouldn't be paying anything, no damage to the rest of the bike... but I've already lost out on 2 weekends of good riding and the cold weather is coming FAST by my parts

Thanks for listening to me blow off some steam! This experience leads me to the obvious questions: in your experiences, how reliable have your Kawas been? Have they given you trouble? How often can I expect to be taking the bike in for problems such as these???

Hope I'm the exception to the rule and your bikes run just fine

[Kevlar636]

I've had mine since April 2005 and haven't had a problem. Since purchase it's been on the highway, city streets, and three track days. I've changed the oil at 3000 mi and switched to synthetic at 7500mi.
It's too bad that you've experienced this problem (it's the first I've heard of). Good thing she was still under warranty! I'm pretty sure you're the exception to the rule.
I've owned a 95 zx6r and never had any problems with it either. Hopefully you won't experience any more problems. Ride safe!!

[Thmastr]

Originally Posted by stefano

Hey,

just to share my rant at my first problem with the bike

So I take her in for her 600 mile service, and until then she'd been working perfectly (btw I ignored factory break-in recommendations and just throttled her from the 3rd outing). Drive her from the mechanic's directly to destination (my grandfather's house on the lake), 100 miles with approx. 60 miles of highway.

On the highway, after about 40 miles, the friggin FI signal turns on. Bike's working fine though, so I continue.

When I slow down for the toll-booth, I realize the revs won't go down all the way! The engine revs to a min of 4/5 K and just sits there. So I turn the bike off after the toll booth and let her sit for 5 minutes while I smoke a butt. Turn her on again, idle is back to normal, I'm thinking, phew, problem solved! I start riding again only to find out that now the opposite is happening, she won't go above 7K revs! I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to NOT be able to speed and accelerate hard with a sportsbike rubbing your crotch!!!

I had to drive her for the rest of the way (AND BACK, of course) with a max speed of 75 m/h in 6th, with cars of all sorts and even damn SCOOTERS overtaking me!!! I'll never forget it

Anyway, took her in last Saturday to see what the problem was, basically the 636 has a double butterfly valve system with primary and secondary valves controlling airflow in the inlet manifold. The electric motor that controls the secondary valve movement broke, therefore the valves aren't opening and the engine is basically choking. Yippee.

The electric motor has been ordered, hopefully it will arrive by week's end so that Saturday I can take it in again and get it replaced.

Bike still under guarantee so I shouldn't be paying anything, no damage to the rest of the bike... but I've already lost out on 2 weekends of good riding and the cold weather is coming FAST by my parts

Thanks for listening to me blow off some steam! This experience leads me to the obvious questions: in your experiences, how reliable have your Kawas been? Have they given you trouble? How often can I expect to be taking the bike in for problems such as these???

Hope I'm the exception to the rule and your bikes run just fine

LMAO We should start a thread with quotes of the week... this one would definately make it! too funny lol.

My falling appart 93 ex had problems all the time... my 06 zzr hasnt given me a single one..
Given I don't have FI, but kawis are know for having iffy electriclal systems..

Mechanically are awesome, but electrically they are a bit iffy.. if you want very very reliable bikes, both mechanically and electrically switch to Honda.. and also pay about $500 more for the motorcycle... comparable to the kawis suzukis or yamahas.

Plus kawis just look sexier..

A motor braking at such low milage is weird though. I have not had a problem in my 2700 miles... I am getting ready to make the second oil change... I want to change it at 3000 miles (2500 since the first oil change) I baby my bike.. I have only redlined it once by accident..

[Falx250r]

sorry to hear man, i put over 1200 miles on mine in about half the time as you, and i havent found a problem yet. Look at the brightside at least your under warranty

[Shinobi Japan]

Bloody hell! But better now than just after the warranty expires.

I agree that Hondas are the most reliable bikes. My old CB400 never had the slightest problem.

I hope my 636 will be OK.

[stefano]

Thanks for your responses. It's good to know that I'm the exception and that IN THEORY this should be a one-off problem... I hope I wasn't the unfortunate sucker to be stuck with the lemon of the lot... I remember back in the day my dad bought a Beemer 525... now Beemers are known for their reliability but this car was at the shop half the time!!! Electrical problems up the be-hind! I hope this is the last problem I have with my baby...

[chase]

While the bike is down and at the shop have them change the oil.

BTW I had a similar problem in my cobra where the throttlebody butterfly valve would not close once you reached a certain rpm then it would redline. I turn the car off and its fine until you hit that same rpm, had to replace the throttle cable.

[ervins]

That stinks that this happening. As you said, hopefully it is not the lemon of the lot...Break in gremlins...See. Again hopefully you are good to go.

[stefano]

Originally Posted by chase

While the bike is down and at the shop have them change the oil.

BTW I had a similar problem in my cobra where the throttlebody butterfly valve would not close once you reached a certain rpm then it would redline. I turn the car off and its fine until you hit that same rpm, had to replace the throttle cable.

Welcome to the forum, chase.

They already did change the oil during the first service... funny thing is I had taken it in prematurely (I had 880 kms on the clock instead of 1.000) to AVOID having problems later (since it was going to be a 300+ km trip) and the bike broke down right after the service!!!

Thanks ervin, I hope so too!

[southjersey636]

I got over 34k on my bike and never had any engine issues with stuff failing like that but overaul I feel Kawi's are very reliable bikes you just get here and there a few bad apples but most of the time nothing serious like internal engine problems etc...

[stefano]

Right...

another testimonial to the *usual* reliability of Kawis... thanks jersey, makes me even more confident that I shouldn't have any more issues in the future...

I tell you what though, it's when you get stupid electrical problems like these that one starts craving the old school carb / drive-by-cable systems... all this fancy technology does make the bikes faster and easier to use, but when you have problems you don't know how to fix them unless you're a full-out mechanic!

[Army_of_Ninja]

i dropped my bike at 70+ miles per hour and all i had to do was plastic surgery. Engine/tranny/frame all survived no problem very tough bike imo.

[stefano]

Originally Posted by Army_of_Ninja

i dropped my bike at 70+ miles per hour and all i had to do was plastic surgery. Engine/tranny/frame all survived no problem very tough bike imo.

Well, that's a different kind of "reliability" that I've fortunately not had to test first-hand yet



What happened?

[Army_of_Ninja]

Was on the highway HOV lane going about 70ish when a 18 wheeler decides he would like my lane instead of his, he swings over right in front of me i try to hit the brakes to avoid and swerve but i got a lil wobbly and was pushed into the shoulder which of course had to have a 3 inch uneven drop handlebars started a tank slapper so i grab as much brake as i can slow the bike down considerably then hit the dirt bike slides out from under me. NOt much damage is done to the bike or myself i was wearing full gear. KBC RR full face helmet, Icon Skull leather jacket thick denim pants, N2 kevlar gloves and my combat boots. Helmet suffered some damage its nice and scratched.. which would have been my face... the shield was torn off and my gloves have alot of scratches on the knuckles and my right one has a nice hole worn through the glove. My ankle was a lil messed up and my knee was twisted pretty good but other than that i was able to walk away un-hurt. ALways wear your gear!! Anyway, the bike is in the shop getting a new upper cowling and clip on handlebar since it was bent down. The bike slid in some soft dirt because it was a construction area that was being prepped for you guessed it shoulder work. lol A couple of people pulled over and helped me out i guess i was out of it because i was told that i was trying to pick my bike up and kept falling over. A guy in a truck said he saw the whole thing and when the trooper came he wrote his number down in case the insurance company wants a witness. Anyway just wanted to share my experience my bike should be back on the road Tuesday. They had to order some other parts it seems the ram air duct was damaged also in the slide. Also i am going to need to get a paint job but thats later on.

Back about 4 months ago. Still have some damage to repair to my mid fairing and i lost the black plastic piece that goes under the handle bar on the left side.

[kunoichii]

yeah my 03 zx-6rr has 6700 miles on it and the timing chain has to be tightened and the valves need adjusting. I dont think most bikes should have that problem at these miles should they? The guy that owned it before me didnt take very good care of it.

[stefano]

Damn... sorry to hear about that Kevin, sounds like you had quite a spill. The important thing is that you didn't hurt yourself too badly but I can only imagine how badly it must suck to wipe-out... and I try not to think that it's only a matter of time

Kunoichii - timing chain and valves? At 6700 miles? Sheesh, that doesn't sound right at all!

[southjersey636]

Originally Posted by Army_of_Ninja

i dropped my bike at 70+ miles per hour and all i had to do was plastic surgery. Engine/tranny/frame all survived no problem very tough bike imo.

One of the reasons why the stunt guys choose the 636 over most other bikes.