This one could be a potential headache for me.

Rode the R100RT into the office today, and got caught up in some really
crappy traffic. I filtered as much as I could, but the R with panniers
is a tad wide so progress was slow.

The engine got hot. Very hot. As in, cooking your feet hot.

As I neared the office, the bike started to splutter and stall when
coming to a halt. Seemed to happen when revs dropped under 2000 rpm.

I put this down to problems with evaporating fuel, parked up and thought
nothing of it.

But on returning to the bike a few hours later, I still had the same
issues, so had to work my way out of London holding the revs at 2000 rpm
whenever I stopped.

After a run on the M4, giving it some revs, it will just about idle, and
revving the nuts off it appeared to almost clear the problem in the
hotel car park.

Tomorrow I have to ride it from M4 J4 to Southall and back, then on
Friday from M4J4 to Hayes and then home in the evening.

Everything seems fine once I'm rolling, and, as I said, it appeared to
be getting better.

Any suggestions? My thoughts are that it appears to be running rich, and
has sooted up the plugs?

What's the odds of it coming to an expensive, oily death half way home?

--
Steve H

Steve H <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> Any suggestions? My thoughts are that it appears to be running rich, and
> has sooted up the plugs?
>
> What's the odds of it coming to an expensive, oily death half way home?

Pull the plugs and take a look at the colour.
Overheating is more often associated with running weak than rich, a weak
mixture is more likely to lead to expensive failures.

--
03 GS500K2
76 Honda 400/4 project
78 Honda 400/4 in black
06 Sukida SK50QT (Slanty eyed shopping trolley)

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Steve H <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>> Any suggestions? My thoughts are that it appears to be running rich,
> > and
>> has sooted up the plugs?
>>
>> What's the odds of it coming to an expensive, oily death half way
> > home?
>
> Pull the plugs and take a look at the colour.
> Overheating is more often associated with running weak than rich, a
> weak
> mixture is more likely to lead to expensive failures.

It pops and bangs on a trailing throttle at the moment, which is why I
suspect right, not poor.

Thinking about it, it has been backfiring a tad on trailing throttle for
a while now.

--
Steve H

Steve H <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> This one could be a potential headache for me.
>
> Rode the R100RT into the office today, and got caught up in some really
> crappy traffic. I filtered as much as I could, but the R with panniers
> is a tad wide so progress was slow.
>
> The engine got hot. Very hot. As in, cooking your feet hot.
>
> As I neared the office, the bike started to splutter and stall when
> coming to a halt. Seemed to happen when revs dropped under 2000 rpm.
>
> I put this down to problems with evaporating fuel, parked up and thought
> nothing of it.
>
> But on returning to the bike a few hours later, I still had the same
> issues, so had to work my way out of London holding the revs at 2000 rpm
> whenever I stopped.
>
> After a run on the M4, giving it some revs, it will just about idle, and
> revving the nuts off it appeared to almost clear the problem in the
> hotel car park.
>
> Tomorrow I have to ride it from M4 J4 to Southall and back, then on
> Friday from M4J4 to Hayes and then home in the evening.
>
> Everything seems fine once I'm rolling, and, as I said, it appeared to
> be getting better.
>
> Any suggestions? My thoughts are that it appears to be running rich, and
> has sooted up the plugs?
>
> What's the odds of it coming to an expensive, oily death half way home?

It does sound like it's running lean. Do a plug chop, at varying speeds,
to see whether it's needle settings or main jets.

Two other possibilities: what oil grade are you running? Try a 10/50 or
a 5/50.

Secondly, It does have an oil cooler, right?

--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

On Jun 23, 2:04*pm, Steve H <italian...@gmail.com> wrote:
> <c...@NOSPAM.netunix.com> wrote:
> > Steve H <italian...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> Any suggestions? My thoughts are that it appears to be running rich,
> > > and
> >> has sooted up the plugs?
>
> >> What's the odds of it coming to an expensive, oily death half way
> > > home?
>
> > Pull the plugs and take a look at the colour.
> > Overheating is more often associated with running weak than rich, a
> > weak
> > mixture is more likely to lead to expensive failures.
>
> It pops and bangs on a trailing throttle at the moment, which is why I
> suspect right, not poor.
>
> Thinking about it, it has been backfiring a tad on trailing throttle for
> a while now.

I'd check for air leaks, too. And pull the carb bowls and check for
gunk in them.

The Older Gentleman <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> It does sound like it's running lean. Do a plug chop, at varying
> speeds,
> to see whether it's needle settings or main jets.

At this point I think I should get a man in....

> Two other possibilities: what oil grade are you running? Try a 10/50
> or
> a 5/50.

Generic car oil.... As it's what I had in the garage, so not one of the
above.

> Secondly, It does have an oil cooler, right?

Yes.



--
Steve H

On 23 Jun 2010 20:33:45 GMT, Steve H <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Any suggestions? My thoughts are that it appears to be running rich, and
>has sooted up the plugs?

Pops & bangs usually mean lean mixture or air leaks downstream of the
throttles. Running hot suggests the same. There isn't a balancer stub
screw that's fallen out is there?

If the throttle's closed then the intake depression is at a maximum so
it would draw more air through a leak at idle or on the overrun, which
might explain the poor idling. A bit of choke might help diagnose that
- if it helps the idle then it's another pointer to a lean mixture.

You can get pops due to exhast leaks at the top of the pipes but I
wouldn't have thought that it would make it run so lean that it ran
hot. Besides that, obviously you'd hear it blowing.


--
-Pip

Steve H <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> The Older Gentleman <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > It does sound like it's running lean. Do a plug chop, at varying
> > speeds,
> > to see whether it's needle settings or main jets.
>
> At this point I think I should get a man in....
>
> > Two other possibilities: what oil grade are you running? Try a 10/50
> > or
> > a 5/50.
>
> Generic car oil.... As it's what I had in the garage, so not one of the
> above.
>
SOBoxers are remarkably susceptible to oil grades, especially in hot
weather. I strongly suspect, now, a combination of wrong oil and
carb/mixture gremlins.


--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

In article
<809332112299021051.489530italiancar-(E-Mail Removed)>,
Steve H <(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>The Older Gentleman <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> It does sound like it's running lean. Do a plug chop, at varying
>> speeds,
>> to see whether it's needle settings or main jets.

AND check the carb diaphragms for splits and pinholes, etc.

I know I mentioned this recently (it still hurts!), but one of mine
went, and I had a lot of expensive valve work on that pot as a
consequence: instant lean-ness, hot cylinder, scorched exhaust valve,
seat and guides.
--
SimonM
----- TubeWiz.com -----
Video making/uploading that's easy to use & fun to share
Try it today! (now with DFace blurring)

The Older Gentleman wrote:
> Steve H <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> The Older Gentleman <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>> It does sound like it's running lean. Do a plug chop, at varying
>>> speeds,
>>> to see whether it's needle settings or main jets.
>>
>> At this point I think I should get a man in....
>>
>>> Two other possibilities: what oil grade are you running? Try a 10/50
>>> or
>>> a 5/50.
>>
>> Generic car oil.... As it's what I had in the garage, so not one of
>> the above.
>>
> SOBoxers are remarkably susceptible to oil grades, especially in hot
> weather. I strongly suspect, now, a combination of wrong oil and
> carb/mixture gremlins.

Well, they do get very very hot in those conditions. As it is so easy, if
you have a strobe check your ignition timing is spot on.

Clean the float bowls, balance the carbs and do the valve clearances.

But first of all throw the plugs away for some new NGK's.

--
Hog