[ktomi]

I was on a ride in the santa monica mountains this morning and my bike broke.

It now sounds like a ducati. Exhaust is very choppy.
I also have significant loss in power.
Is it the ignition, spark plugs or exhaust?
Does anyone have any suggestions or had the same problem?

I would really like to fix it before taking it to a stealership.

P.S. if it helps I've got a 97 YZF600R.

Thanks

 

[BurnMyHeartDown]

Okay, what's the mileage on the bike?
Secondly, if it sounds like a ducati, that would be an improvement, but we won't get into that.

I think we can eliminate the exhaust as the problem, just because that wouldn't create a loss of power unless you had a baseball shoved in it.

Did it happen all at once or slowly? If it went all at once I wouldn't say it was your spark plugs. I don't know much about the interior of the engines, but it almost sounds like you lost a cylinder or something....that would be the only thing I could think of that would change the tone of it that much.

 

[2001FZ1]

Sounds like a a plug wire came off or maybe one of the connections on the coil is loose. Check the spark plugs and see if they are all getting spark.

 

[dragracer1951]

Not even remotely enough information to make an inteligent guess. What do the plugs look like?
Have you done a compression check?
Have you looked at the carb boots? (the rubber ones that connect the carbs to the engine)
Jim

 

[dragracer1951]

Another question would be
were you reving the snot out of the bike when it broke?
Jim

 

[WISPER]

With a severe loss of power the vote goes "loss of cylinder"..but there really isn't enough info.
??did you check the header for heat in each cylinder (when it started sounding like a ducati)?? That usually narrows it down to the bad cylinder if its not firing..They cool off pretty quick.

 

[ktomi]

I do like the ducati sound. The thing I don't like is the loss of power.
I will check the plugs for spark/ cylinders for heat.
Gotta look for that boot.
When it occured I was going down a steep curvy hill, using my engine for a little braking power. The revs didn't go over 9K. Not extremely high, I think.
It did happen pretty much all at once.

Thanks alot for the help.

 

[WISPER]

If it made a funky metalic noise before you lost power you probably sucked a valve.....but then you usually get a pretty impressive cloud of "I blew my motor" smoke and you didn't mention any smoke. how long had you been riding the bike?? you could be suffering heat breakdown of the coil itself..?..??but that will go away when the bike is cold....Keep us updated.

 

[Reckless01]

Sounds like you lost a cylinder or 2, i would check the easy stuff 1st. Like Spark, then i would check compression. And so on.

 

[ktomi]

Found the problem. See picture attached.

Started it up and found the one cold pipe. Removed the plug and saw it covered with stuff.

What should I do?
- Just replace the plug.
- Replace all 4 plugs.
- Take it to a shop$$$

I have 35K miles on the bike. It had a major service at 31K.

Also, I rode it for a while to get home, 60 miles. Could this build-up be from that riding and I have another problem.

Thanks.

 

[WISPER]

That almost looks Melted?? is that cylinder running REEAALLY lean?? What did they do at 31,000 miles? I'd check all four plugs, just in case.

 

[2001FZ1]

WTF happened to that plug? Looks like it melted down for some reason.

Hopefully the internals of the motor are not jacked up but if they are, the damage is already done. I would do a compression check, replace that plug and see what happens. If the bike runs good, replace the other 3 plugs so they are all the same.

 

[ktomi]

The buildup may have been from the 60 mile ride home. I don't think it is really a melted plug.
At 31K I got the carbs adjusted, all fluids changed and fully checked out.

 

[2001FZ1]

Let us know what happens.

 

[dragracer1951]

looks just fouled to me
change the plugs and think about doing a compression check
you can look at the valve guide seals also which are the prime suspect for where oil gets into an engine from...

 

[thebird_19]

No doubt do the compression check. Its easy. On another note, my cousins old cbr f4 did that once and he rode it home 20 miles with it coughing and no power. Turned out his plug had backed out of the hole. Maybe thats what caused that one to foul out. I'd check the compression and if it turns out ok, put a new plug in and see what happens.

 

[ktomi]

Put a new plug in it today and fired it up.
Getting some white smoke out of the exhaust.
I have it loaded in my truck right now. I'm taking it to the shop tomorrow to get a compression test, because I don't have a tester nor know how to do it.

I will let you guys know what happened.

Thanks for the help.

 

[ktomi]

Took it to the shop and had a compression test done on it. The mechanic said I actually have unusually good compression.
Bad news is that I told him I have been burning 3/4 of a quart of oil every 3 gas fillups. Showed him the white smoke out of my exhaust and he tells me its my oil rings, I think thats what he called them. Then he proceeds to tell me it's going to be a FEW GRAND. My bike isn't even worth much more than 3K.
What do I do?
I really like my bike.
I would like to buy a new bike, but I wasn't planning on doing it this soon. And plus it's peak buying time.
Please Help.
Thanks.

 

[enos]

You mean piston rings? Can you really have good compression with rings that bad? I don't really know, but it just seems strange to me. Valve guide seals shouldn't be that much, if it's those. (I had an 8 valve head rebuilt for $350 once, though I took it off myself)

Worst comes to worst, you can get another engine. They usually pop up on ebay once in a while, and they don't cost a few thousand.

 

[2001FZ1]

Took it to the shop and had a compression test done on it. The mechanic said I actually have unusually good compression.
Bad news is that I told him I have been burning 3/4 of a quart of oil every 3 gas fillups. Showed him the white smoke out of my exhaust and he tells me its my oil rings, I think thats what he called them. Then he proceeds to tell me it's going to be a FEW GRAND. My bike isn't even worth much more than 3K.
What do I do?
I really like my bike.
I would like to buy a new bike, but I wasn't planning on doing it this soon. And plus it's peak buying time.
Please Help.
Thanks.

Put that stuff called Engine Restore in the oil and then go trade it in......to a different place that did the compression check. I put that stuff in my lawn mower and it made a huge difference in the amount of oil it burned.

Or you could do the work yourself. Buy the service manual, read a book or two on how to do it and have some friends come over. It will take a while but will save you a lot of money.