GSX-R600 K9 losing power when cruising

[Gibbo89]

Well the bike started playing up again with the same symptom. Put it back to Holeshot and two of their mechanics test rode it but couldn't find a fault. Riding into work this morning it did it again! I tried to explain to them that you can't just go for a blat up the road and get the problem. You need to be at crusing revs consistantly for a while (say 15 mins) before it starts doing it.

It will just start to lose power so you twist on more throttle slowly and it will continue to bog down then about 30 - 50% throttle and BAM she powers on like flicking a switch... it's a very snappy power gain, not just a steady increase. Then continue to cruise along and it will do it again. I also noticed on a hot day it will generate more heat around my feet just before it does it. Although this morning was cooler, raining and windy and it still did it, just not as much heat generated. But temp was up around mid 90's which should have been more like mid 80's today.

So has anyone come across this symptom? Is it the set valve jamming then releasing, injector issue etc... no F1 light comes on but the mechanic said the first time bike was in he had the F1 fault code on the tester. This time round i think they just don't believe me that the symptom exists and did the old speech on sport bike revs and power band bullshit which i've owned enough bikes to know about so i know this is a fault occuring and not my imagination or by design. I'm all ready to remove the set valve myself but since i don't get the F1 light i'm hesitant as to whether it will really fix it or not. I just want to know if anyone else has come across this symptom.

Fuck 'em, try somewhere else.

Good luck

[jamjam]

Well i'm pleased to say the problem has been found... at this point anyway... it's a faulty o2 sensor. I found the clue on the gixxer.com forum where a girl (super fun gurl) had the exact same symptom. She and others got the run around from their dealers for months trying to find the problem. In the end it was the o2 sensor. I contacted Suzuki NZ directly to see if they had heard of this being a common problem and if there was any info they had that could help the mechanics diagnose this. They replied to me promptly and then contacted Holeshot and suggested disconnecting the o2 sensor and then let me test it for a few days.

Well it's been a couple of days now and the problem has not re-occured. It pretty much happened every day i used the bike and i knew how to bring the symptom on. Despite trying to re-produce the problem now it no longer occurs. I am much happier now that i am able to actually maintain a steady speed in any gear and rev range without the bike losing power then jumping forward when i'm trying to get the speed to stabilise again. Especially lane splitting or boxed in traffic on the motorway!

Here's a bit of info from Suzuki NZ they emailed me regarding the problem:

"The reason is that the O2 sensor/heater is there is to lean off the fuel injection during cruising to reduce emissions, when the computer receives an opening throttle signal it reverts back to other mapping for full power again.
Testing the sensor/heater is difficult because its only when it gets up to temperature the fault would show and its a "burn your fingers" test. If the sensor is faulty, by simply disconnecting it, it should solve the problem immediately.
Your description of opening the throttle and off it goes again fits right into the way this system works so if it is faulty it could be switching on-off causing exactly what you were describing."

I will be leaving the sensor disconnected for a week or so to make sure it's really resolved then will look at having it replace... or better yet just leave it disconnected.

On a side note my thoughts go out to those people in Christchurch, the scenes on the news really do show a terrible time for them. I was there a couple of months after the september quake and will be passing through next month so will be pretty sad to see those iconic old buildings in rubble.

[Kendog]

This is common, but there are a lot of people that don't believe it happens, often blaming the rider.
The Gixxer forum has hundreds if not thousands of posts on the topic, they call it 'Herky jerky'
My K7 750 was mostly fixed by carefully adjusting the TPS. This is not overly difficult to do your self, there is a good guide with photos in the Gixxer forum. I will see if I still have the link when I get home.

I complained to Suzuki here and they were going to contact Suzuki NZ about it. Nothing came of it.

[Kendog]

Just read your last post, sounds like you can ignore my post above.

[jamjam]

I've been riding for the last few weeks with the o2 sensor disconnected and no problem at all now. The bike went in to the shop the other day and had a new o2 sensor installed. So far no problem so definately the o2 sensor was faulty.

[jonbuoy]

Take your foot of the brake.

Fanny.

Thats a bit harsh! - Or are you the REAL Aunt Fanny??

[RuoskaNZ]

got this problem as well, was told I need an entire remap etc. etc. at only 1.5k, by the Suzuki dealer. Tried tellign them about the gixxer forum and this one. They pretty much said let the big kids handle it. I just said id deal with it.
Who did you contact? just curious. Because it was a suzuki fault did they offer compensation?

[5150]

May be he could use a wide one off a tractor?

Harley drive belt might fix the problem

[Kendog]

got this problem as well, was told I need an entire remap etc. etc. at only 1.5k, by the Suzuki dealer. Tried tellign them about the gixxer forum and this one. They pretty much said let the big kids handle it. I just said id deal with it.
Who did you contact? just curious. Because it was a suzuki fault did they offer compensation?

During my time with the k7 Suzuki dicked around the issue and didn't really help. I kept manually adjusting the TPS to try and make it better till I sold the bike.

[imdying]

Interesting... Rather than pouring money into local money, how about Suzuki train some competent mechanics. As a new bike Suzuki customer, I know which one interests me a hell of a lot more.

It is never going to cost $1500 to remap anything. Of that you can be sure. What you have been given is what we in the motor trade use when we're too stupid or lazy to fix the problem... a really fucking high price in the hope that you and your problems will fuck off. Assuming you've not been a cunt (in which case you reap what you sew) then that's pretty fucking pathetic support for a three year old motorcycle.

[Jantar]

got this problem as well, was told I need an entire remap etc. etc. at only 1.5k, by the Suzuki dealer. Tried tellign them about the gixxer forum and this one. They pretty much said let the big kids handle it. I just said id deal with it.
Who did you contact? just curious. Because it was a suzuki fault did they offer compensation?

I suspect that a K9 bike is now well outside the factory warranty period, and you are going to have to pay for it yourself. Therefore I would suggest that you simply ask the Suzuki dealer to test the O2 sensor and replace it if faulty. Alternatively you can test it yourself by disconnecting it and see if the symptons disappear.

[SMOKEU]

Therefore I would suggest that you simply ask the Suzuki dealer to test the O2 sensor and replace it if faulty. Alternatively you can test it yourself by disconnecting it and see if the symptons disappear.

What would actually happen if the engine is run without the O2 sensor plugged in?

[Jantar]

What would actually happen if the engine is run without the O2 sensor plugged in?

If you read the whole thread you would already know the answer. In short, nothing will happen except that the fault will disappear. It may be slightly richer at low throttle cruising and hence may use slightly more fuel.

[RuoskaNZ]

Interesting... Rather than pouring money into local money, how about Suzuki train some competent mechanics. As a new bike Suzuki customer, I know which one interests me a hell of a lot more.

It is never going to cost $1500 to remap anything. Of that you can be sure. What you have been given is what we in the motor trade use when we're too stupid or lazy to fix the problem... a really fucking high price in the hope that you and your problems will fuck off. Assuming you've not been a cunt (in which case you reap what you sew) then that's pretty fucking pathetic support for a three year old motorcycle.

Im not a cunt to anyone on purpose.. unless they are cunts. I think these guys just took me for a complete noob (which I almost am) and wanted to make some money.

I suspect that a K9 bike is now well outside the factory warranty period, and you are going to have to pay for it yourself. Therefore I would suggest that you simply ask the Suzuki dealer to test the O2 sensor and replace it if faulty. Alternatively you can test it yourself by disconnecting it and see if the symptons disappear.

The problem with this one is, is that it only occurs when everything is well warmed up, at least a 40 min ride. Then you need a long enough straight to make it happen.
Im not keen to pay a mechanic $XXX an hour to go for a joyride and tell me what I already know. I also cant afford to go to a dealer with this. So am pretty much fucked.
This weekend im going to disconnect it, probably going to make the warning light pop up but will ignore, and go for a ride to test this out.
Just remembered that I bought this 2nd hand from a dealer, will there be a warranty that covers this?

If you read the whole thread you would already know the answer. In short, nothing will happen except that the fault will disappear. It may be slightly richer at low throttle cruising and hence may use slightly more fuel.

I like having fuel efficiency.. this could get expensive-er.

[SVboy]

I suggest you do some research on GIXXER.com. Herky jerky throttle or TPS error threads are not uncommon. The fixes are relatively straight foward although these are US spec bikes. Educate yourself then go to a franchise dealer for a TPS adjustment[using the FI fault codes you can diagnose this yourself first] or disconnect your o2 sensor. Gas milage wont shoot up dramatically. You may get a fault code however.