Guys, I have a 2006 zx14 with 93000km, the bike was running great then recently it started jerking a little on cold take off. This wasn't a flat spot, its a sharp electrical miss. As it was only momentary when cold I didn't worry too much about it, then I washed my bike and it got much worse. Now if anything it still has the cold hickup but when it gets hot a new miss kicks in, it feels the same as the other miss but much worse. It misses intermittantly at idle but more importantly it jerks constantly at low rpm, when holding speed or trying to accelerate from a start or out of a corner. Did I get water in somewhere? Is a coil cracked or shorting? Why worse since I washed it?

We are down to one car now so I still use the bike every day to commute. I don't know exactly how old the plugs are so I thought I should get in there and change them anyway. So what else do you guys think I should look for while I'm in there? Are there any common problems with early 14s ?

My local bike mechanic quoted me 3 hours labour to change the plugs so I it's worth having a look myself first.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

* Last updated by: OZrevhead on 1/26/2016 @ 10:33 PM *

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Carbon arching at the sparkstick.
Carbon fouling at plug.
Plug gap too far apart.
After wash it became worse = Spark plug area.
Green pins at clip and sparkstick connections.

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You could have a coil going out. I was just leaving for a trip and when I got to the bottom of the hill I suddenly had a 3 cylinder bike. Coils can fail without warning. I'd check the plugs first then try to determine which cylinder is misfiring by seeing which pipe is cold. You can move the coils around. If the dead cylinder moves with the coil you have your answer.

Mad

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then I washed my bike and it got much worse. ......Did I get water in somewhere?

I'd say almost definitely waters exacerbating the problem. I had a very similar problem years back after washing my bike. It was fine for 10 minutes and then it started jerking while running and the speedo went up to about 90 mph when I was only doing 35. This continued for less than a minute. I didn't stop so I don't know how the idle was effected. When the jerking stopped, I noticed the speedo was at 0 mph and it stayed that way until I shut down about 15 minutes later. After sitting a few hours, it was fine. I believe it was the speed sensor that was shorting and how that relates to power cutting out intermittently, I don't know.

If it's an electrical short, it may not be bad enough to happen unless there is moisture present. If you let it dry out thoroughly, the problem may stop on its own but I'd check for things that are not moisture related because that won't go away on it's own. Even if it clears up, it may be waiting to happen again when you least expect it.

If the dead cylinder moves with the coil you have your answer.

Good test. Pay close attention though, My busa idled fine on 3 cylinders and I didn't really notice any dif except I had an error code that told me an injector was out.

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/27/2016 @ 9:12 AM *

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WATT Mad said, but with a twist of not changing plugs just yet. Yeah, I thought of that move, but just didn't write it down.

A. I start bike for literally less than 2 seconds.
B. I check who's header [near the collar] is cold.
C. I swap any stick.
1. Same cold header = Spark plug.
2. Swapped header is cold = Stick.
3. Same cold header = Compression.

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I'm not a mechanic but would it be easier to just unplug one coil at a time while it's running and if it DOESN'T run differently then that would be the problem spot? Or test the voltage to the coils?

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That sounds like a lot easier way to determine if it's a single spark plug not firing but I'd wait to get the green light from someone more knowledgeable before trying it.. This method would seem to create a detonation hazard. i guess you'd be safe as long as you are using premium gasoline. You might get a backfire when you reconnect so be ready for that. If you do this, get familiar with how the connectors come apart because they are a little hard to reach. To be safe, just pull them apart enough to disconnect instead of completely separating them. There is a tiny red foam seal between the connectors and it sometimes falls out when you pull the connectors completely apart. usually it sticks to the male or the female connector but sometimes it just falls out.

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/29/2016 @ 3:28 PM *

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Thanks guys, after a week of riding to work the problem has gone away, this adds weight to the "water in somewhere" theory.

Busa, hub and mad - swap testing is good if the cylinder was not firing at all but its near impossible to use this for an intermittent miss and mostly while riding/ accelerating.

I am a car mechanic, working on a car engine seems so much easier even though engine principals are the same. If I could pop the hood and see it running I would be more inclined to get in and have a look. I got quoted 3 hrs to have the plugs changed and 7 hrs to check the valve clearances ($100/hr at one shop, $125/hr at another), both shops said its "quite a job". Of course I have done these jobs an unknown number of times on cars but the fact that the engine is covered .....

Anyway, I have to rebuild my carport after a recent storm destroyed it, then I will have some shelter to see what I can do with the bike. When I do the plugs etc is there anything common that I should replace while I'm in there? Anything I can seal to prevent water getting into places again next wash? I will be very wary of washing it again ...

Thanks guys.

:)

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Pulling the plug connector off the sparkstick, yes. And yes, once you change plugs, or find the plug was it, you could write down the numbers for reference. But it's one or the other if I look at it like this.
Either: A Mechanic starts/stops bike, reaches up and feels a pipe.
Or: A Novice... takes off so much fairing, breaks or snaps off fairing or a connector, cracks a sparkstick, etc.

Mech: Saves you the headache of going any further.
Novice: OK, [you're gonna] learn the hard way is the scratch and break approach.

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What is the service interval for plugs, valve clearances and sync throttle bodies?

Rook have you got how-to's on these?

Cheers

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Anything I can seal to prevent water getting into places again next wash? I will be very wary of washing it again ...

The only place I can see the water being forced sprayed is at the connector of the spark stick. So spraying into the ferrari grill might send a drop there. Using the dielectric grease at the connector might do the trick. Ah yeah, pains taken to hand clean the bike with a paint type quick spray or I use some liquid to make the tire black or what looks like, smells like; armorall.

Brake clean: any hard grease spot.
Water: only used alone or mixed with brake clean in a paper towel and address those by hand, not a hose.
Tire dressing: seems to clean the brake dust and gives a nice finish at the rims. Clean the switch housings, forks, experiment. Never hosed off any of my bikes just for said reason, the rust I can't see; but now it was there due to the water introduction.

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I think there is about 0 chance any water got past a stick coil since they fit so tightly..I suppose condensation in there is always a possibility but I never had that AFAIK. Possible some water got sprayed onto a connector to the stick coil but they do have those red foam seals between the connectors as mentioned above so probably not...unless you maybe have one of the foam seals missing? The stick coil wire also has a connector to the main wiring harness on the LH side so that was a possible culprit. You could dielectric grease them all like Hub said and if it's cleared up, I guess I'd just ride and be aware of it for a while and avoid spraying. I just use a wet rag to rinse after my lil sitiation I had.

Spark plugs are to be changed every 7.5k miles on the Gen1. This is not too much work to do at home if you have a day to spare and the right tools.

STICK COILS REMOVAL <<I see the pics need to have the urls updated which I will do tonight.

HOW TO CLEAN STICK COIL WELLS

SPARK PLUGS REPLACEMENT BY SPYGLASS

Engine vacuum sync is every 7.5k miles for the Gen1. I do not have the tutorial posted for this yet because I am waiting to do one reenactment pic. Otherwise it is ready to go. Let me know if you want me to post it....I can always ad the reenactment pic later. The vacuum sync is a terrible job to do on a 14 so if you are certain a shop will really do it and do it properly, pay them but I'd really want to see the vacuum gauges reading even post sync before I handed over the money. For my bike, the sync made no real improvement and it was considerably out of whack before the sync. There are a number of approaches to syncing and a higher rpm sync might make a more notable improvement...I guess I will know when I try it next time. I'm glad to have the sync I did at idle speed behind me for now.

Valve clearance is every 15k miles on the Gen1. If you can be certain they actually do it, I suggest letting the shop do this job. I normally tell people to pay extra to have a demo of the feeler gauges before and after or else you may be paying for them to do nothing at all. It REALLY is a lot of work so I'm sure shops try to skimp over this job all the time.

VALVE LASH CLEARANCE ADJUSTMENT

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HOLY F-ing CRAP! Looks like all my pics are OUT on ALL tutorials!!

Must be the new ISP adress for my new computer....???? I have some work to do....or maybe it is just because photo bucket is doing maintenance right at this very moment. I'll get those up starting with the tutorials I made links to above ASAP.

* Last updated by: Rook on 1/29/2016 @ 6:40 PM *

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Valve clearance is every 15k miles on the Gen1. If you can be certain they actually do it, I suggest letting the shop do this job. I normally tell people to pay extra to have a demo of the feeler gauges before and after or else you may be paying for them to do nothing at all. It REALLY is a lot of work so I'm sure shops try to skimp over this job all the time.

You can say that again. I just got the throttle bodies back in tonight and having fun with the air ducts. The engineering on this bike is amazing, the frame, how everything works together. But yes, all that enginuity makes it very tough to work on. No room to work around the throttle bodies. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if many shops rip people off for this type of thing. You know it's funny, everyone that get's a valve clearence inspection always has the same story. "One need adjusted". Ironic it's always one. I had 5, and that's at 15k miles.

Anyway, all the exhaust are between .240-.250 and intakes are between .160-.170.

Definitely a tough job, but if you enjoy wrenching you can get it done. Hoping to get it running tomorrow. Do the tb sync, install the new air filter and I'm ready to rock for the first few months of the season!

Yes i recall a story from the old forum where a guy taped a human hair across the valve cover to see if the valves were even checked. When he got his bike back from the shop along with the bill, the hair was still there. haha--I suppose the mech taped it back thinking that was how the guy wanted his valve cover! So, (as if I need to tell a professional mechanic), don't be afraid to ask to see with your own eyes what they're supposedly doing...and feel with your own hands. It's worth extra $$ if you ask me and if they say NO, what does that ell you?

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Got it all wrapped up. I finally got to ride yesterday. She's running great. A couple of weird things that I wasn't expecting. First, tb sync was still right on. I figured they'd be all out of sync since the 7500 mile sync and then also taking it apart and putting it back together. But it was all straight.

Also on the stand, my bike's decel popping changed a little. If for example, I might run it up to 4k and let off, it would pop and some blue flames would shoot out. This blue flame turned into a bellowy, yellow flame. I'm glad to say, after riding it's not longer doing this this. So may have just had a little carbon built up or something, not sure.

Got in 100 miles, decent weather. I like the Rosso IIs so far. They were stable right out the drive way, maybe the most stable so far and that's having not ridden for 5 months! But need better weather to really try them out. Held back a little because of unknown road conditions and new tires.

First, tb sync was still right on. I figured they'd be all out of sync since the 7500 mile sync and then also taking it apart and putting it back together.

Thanks for the info on that Vic. I'm glad to hear a sync lasts a while.

Also on the stand, my bike's decel popping changed a little. If for example, I might run it up to 4k and let off, it would pop and some blue flames would shoot out. This blue flame turned into a bellowy, yellow flame. I'm glad to say, after riding it's not longer doing this this. So may have just had a little carbon built up or something, not sure.

Maybe this has to do with the flow of the exhaust on decel. If you decel with the rear wheel lifted on a stand, the engine must keep spinning under its own inertia a lot more than if you decelled with the tire on the road. If the engine spins faster on decel, the exhaust blows through the pipe stronger. That's my idea on your flaming phenomena. Actually, I love flames. I'm sure you still have them at higher rpm.

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