Engine knocking??!!

Geoffo

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Feb 28, 2020
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Hello from New Zealand, I have owned from new a XT1200 ZD, from new this bike was very very tight. It would not rev out, even at slow to median revs.
At the first service I mention this to the mechanics, and the comment was, its a big twin pot engine and will take time to bed in.
It took 2000km until the engine would rev freely. Now at 10,000km its going great, however despite the best of service and care, and running on the correct fuel, the engine knocks, pre ignition badly sometimes. Have anyone else experienced this and or any suggestion?
 

EricV

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Rather sounds like your engine timing is off. Factory workers sometimes make mistakes too. All Super Teneres do run better after 10k kms or so, but most rev freely from the start and don't knock. Knock, as you said, is pre-ignition. If you're using premium fuel and the air intake/filter is not blocked in some way, my next thought would be some issue with timing. Air, Fuel, Spark. You are using high octane fuel, so check the air intake/filter just to be sure, then discuss with the dealer checking the timing setting to see if the cams are not a tooth off, which would advance or retard timing. If things were correctly lined up, too much advance would cause knock, but not generally cause restriction in rpm like you described. But if the cam is off, that would account for both.
 

Geoffo

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Thanks Eric, your comments and views reinforce my theory. I will talk to my mechanic, Good to have a sounding board.
 

EricV

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The only other comment I can think of at the moment would relate to rider experience. Not knowing yours, please don't take this as a negative comment, it's simply from my lack of knowledge about your experience.

If you were to apply large amounts of throttle at low rpms, this would tend to induce knock more. The big twin of the Super Ten doesn't really come fully alive until 4k or so, but usually handles throttle input well down a bit lower than that, say 2500-3k. But if you are consistently applying large amounts of throttle below 4k rpm, I would expect you to experience knock.

We have seen this behavior reported from riders that had previously only had inline 4 cylinder bikes of smaller displacement that rev very quickly and have a much higher max rpm. In their case, it was a learning curve, rather than a bike issue.

In your case, with the previously mentioned issues, I rather suspect this is not your issue, but it's worth mentioning for future reference to others.
 
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