Afternoon all

This may be a stupid question but I was riding to work this morning (it was about -2) and the bike cut out a couple of times, once at a roundabout and then again at the lights about 1/2 a mile later.

I did the normal thing, let it run until it was warm and didn't need the choke anymore before I set off and took it easy cos it was a bit chilly and the roads are slippery. The roundabout is about 2 miles from the house so I appreciate the running temperature will still be a bit low but it's never done it before.

I didn't ride it yesterday but did muc off it down on Monday when the bike had cooled down on Monday night. Is it something as simple as the temperature or not??

It didn't do it again and I let it idle for a bit when I got to work and took my earplugs out and all seemed OK. I'm not a technical person so probably wouldn't know anyway!! The oil is new and full and there's half a tank of petrol. Before Monday, I hadn't ridden for two weeks but had started it twice and let it idle for 20 minutes and then rode it up and down the drive a couple of times just to keep it going!

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Thanks

Mark

This could be carburette icing. It could also be water in the fuel freezing in the carb. If it only happens when the air temperature is below freezing or close to freezing then it must be carb related.

Hello

Thanks very much. I leave the bike in the garage over night but there is no heating in there.

I'll see what it's like on the way home in a couple of hours. I've started wearing ear plugs now and have a scarf which goes from my ears down to my chest so I can hardly hear anything so didn't notice till I tried to pull away!!

Thanks

Mark

If your throttle actions starts to go flat then you know it's started to ice up.

Thanks again - that did happen. Just got home and it was OK.

I'm halfway between services but the MOT is in January so I'll ask them to give it a once over as it has also developed what is best described as a "knocking" at idle - this was before the cold snap.

It did it briefly just after I bought it and the garage put it down to the carb's being slightly out of sync which he said is not a problem.

It's looking like it will be just as cold tonight as my car has frost on it already so although it may sound daft, I'll try draping a blanket over the seat to hang down both sides. Do you reckon that'll make any difference?

Mark

I used to cover the engine of one of my cars with a horse blanket. That worked. If you can keep the frost off, all good. I would still be worried about this particular problem though. The carbs will ice up as you drive but there should not be any moisture in the airbox anyway. Sometimes they will do it in fog.

carb icing will happen even if your bike is in the garage and kept warm. the only thing you can do to stop it is put an additive in the fuel.

Thanks both.

I think I'll ring the garage in the morning!! Is there a particular type of additive or is there just the one?

Thanks

Mark

You probably have water in your fuel system so any anti icing agent would work but be careful that it doesn't rot rubber seals! Better off draining the tank and carbs, cleaning them and refilling with fresh fuel.

I cannot advise you to put anything in your fuel tank other than the correct grade of fuel.

Evening

Thanks for the advice. Reading in the owners manual, it says to fill up before you store the bike so perhaps the two weeks with no use other than letting it idle resulted in condensation inside the fuel tank???

Unfortunately, as this is my first bike and I am new to it, I will take to a garage and ask them to do what you recommend. I know that is lazy but I really do want to let the bike last and would prefer an expert to do it.

Thank you though for taking the time to advise me, it is much appreciated.

I'll be back on when I get to work in the morning - may take the car and not use the bike until I can take it to the garage - don't want to make it worse.

Speak to you tomorrow!

Thanks

Mark

My 2000 R6 had the same problem and I linked it to how i was cleaning the bike. As I used a steam cleaner water was being pushed into the coils causing the engine to misfire and cut out at low revs such as slowing down for traffic lights.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Hi Robbie

Thanks for your advice. It's interesting you say that, they had gritted the roads on Monday so after the bike had cooled down completely I hosed it down, sprayed muc off everywhere and then hosed it back down after a couple of minutes. I did hose it down longer than normal to make sure the grit was out. I also had never used muc off before although I know that isn't the problem!!

I then let it run for 15 minutes or so to allow things to dry out and chamoied the body work down.

Did the problem go away when you stopped steam cleaning it or did you have to do anything?

They haven't gritted any of the roads by us so I drove the car today. Going by yours, Yoda'sand Gav's advice, I will ring the garage and give them all scenario's and see what they say.

Thanks

Mark

literally the day i stopped steam cleaning the bike and only used a bucket and sponge the problem went away.

hope you get it sorted mate regards.

Mark, get Jen to smack your botty. You wrote nothing about soaking the bike with water before it started to conk out.

Waterproof the electrics with WD40 or similar next time, before you hose it.

Thanks Robbie. Bloody amateurs - I only hosed it down to try to get rid of the grit!! I'll stick to the sponge from now on!!

Thanks for your help.

Mark

Hi Yoda

I'll print off your note and give it to Jen!!! I had the hose on fine spray and tried to just get the underneath - I know the water will go every where though which is why I started the engine for a bit. However, from this day forward I will spray with WD40 before and after washing. In the summer, I always take it for a spin before parking it up to allow the water to blow off but it sorts of defeats the object of cleaning it and then taking it back out on the mucky roads. Thankfully, there are people like you lot to point me in the right direction so I'll learn!!

I have also bought some brake cleaner and chain lube. Someone has advised me to clean the chain with whitespirit before lubing it so assuming this is correct advice, I will be spending a few hours tomorrow doing that.

Thanks very much

Mark

personally I use mucoff on the chain white spirit isn't really good for ur o-rings

Hi Gav

Thanks for the tip. Do you spray it on and rinse off or do you use a brush or anything?

My plan was to clean it properly and then lube it all up. When I bought the bike it had a scotoiler installed so would I need to do anything else?

Thanks

Mark