New engine vibrations bad gas? Or something else? On the road, need suggestions.

[Harry Dresden PI]

I always check the simple things before I assume the worse.

Anything loose? On a trip things can come loose. Wheel weights can fall off. Spokes can come loose or break.

One test I tend to do is to put the bike on the center stand and "carefully" start the bike and put it into gear and rev it to the rpm you have problems with. I would suggest not to use the lower gears ... also be sure the bike is not loaded to have the rear tire touch down.

 

[Checkswrecks]

. . . Have to ask shop to look at it.

Be sure to let us know how this turns out.

 

[Shovelhead]

I did a TB sync before I left with the harmonizer. But now idle seems little rough, skipping, surging. Power is still there but when riding at 70mph in 6th and rolling on any amount of throttle, feels like the engine is going to shake out of the bike.

Bike has been flashed with AC.

Thanks
Cory

After reading through this, I don't believe gasoline is your problem, my money is on one of the two above mentioned areas, or electrical.

A weak coil or plug wires will do some crazy stuff when they heat up.
Do not assume plug wires are good by only a visual inspection, even brand new wires. I've been down that road before.

air leak, ECU, plug wires, coils..............

These bikes are way more advanced than what i'm used to riding / working on, but they still need proper air/fuel, fire, timing.

Hope you get it figured out.

 

[Squibb]

Sorry, it just seems too much of a coincidence to write off Gas/E10 as the culprit.

Whilst apologising for the extended info, I am attaching an article prepared by the 'Oracle' R.L.Lemke from the BMW K16 forum. These beasts have an extensive fuel system & no knock sensor, so are pretty sensitive to fuelling problems, although I accept that if they stumble on one cylinder, there are still five left to drive the bike, unlike the S10. So I hope this helps: -

http://www.k1600forum.com/forum/bmw-k1600-maintenance-do-yourself/4670-gasoline-additive-web-info-search-best-way-cure-crud.html

Whilst Seafoam, hasn't worked it's magic, I gather there was some improvement, but RL suggests better alternatives that may do the trick.

...................... KEN

 

[Fltrooper]

Sounds to me like its a vacuume leak. If the TB's were recently synced I'm sure it must have something to do with that.


::003::

 

[jbrown]

The fact that it smooths out at a higher speed should help limit the possibilities.
If you're running at 85 and let it slow down through the vibrating range, does it still shake? Or are the vibes there only when you're on the gas?
Does pulling in the clutch remove the vibes?
Does it vibrate at the same RPM in other gears?
Does it vibrate in accordance with throttle input (more gas, more shake at ant RPM)? Maybe an injector is partially clogged?

 

[WJBertrand]

Vacuum leaks are usually most noticeable at low speeds and idling. The proportion of unmetered air due to the leak becomes much less significant as the throttle is opened further. Is the problem noticeably worse when riding slow in-town or at idle?

 

[cory1848]

Getting22-25 mpg heading west on 70 through Kansas. Strong head wind and gradual uphill but that seems very low for mpg.

 

[Nimbus]

Getting22-25 mpg heading west on 70 through Kansas. Strong head wind and gradual uphill but that seems very low for mpg.

I crossed Kansas in both directions last year on 70 and had a strong headwind in both directions (lucky!). It was 102 on the way back. While the bike evaporated about 1/2qt of oil at 80mph, the temp ran close to normal (172). I thought my fuel mileage was crappy, but predictable given the wind. I watched instant mpg bottom out at about 36mpg and the lowest tank seems like it was not worse than 38mpg measured. I typically get high 40s measured during normal riding and the bike reliably evaporates oil when on long interstate stretches but never when not on the interstate. Something sounds really out of whack in your description. My clutch basket is horrible, but it does smooth out with a little lever pressure and gets worse uphill under load.

 

[Vanderwho]

I'm the last person who has any right to post to this thread, but WTF ...loose/lost engine mounting hardware? Grasping at straws, I'm sure...

 

[cory1848]

Would loose engine mounting or bad clutch basket affect gas mileage this bad? Somehow this is all related. Going to swing by dealer in morning. Hopefully don't waste a vacation day.

 

[Don in Lodi]

What are you doing to get those gas mileage numbers, are you looking at the dash? There are two readings, an instant mpg, and a long term average. Sounds like you're watching the instant readings. Yes, going up hill into the wind will destroy your readings, going down the other side will see outstanding readings. Leave the dash set to the mpg average, never reset it. Over the months it will get pretty close to the actual gas pump/odometer math. Never have figured out why they put that instant mpg on there. I suppose it might help if you're about down to fumes and need to squeeze every last yard out of the tank. Hauling ass into a headwind, not so much.

Sounds to me like your sync went south on you. A problem shows up out of the blue, always go back over what you did or was done to your machine. Your problem started at a shut down and restart, the fact it was a gas stop is most likely a coincidence.

 

[cory1848]

What are you doing to get those gas mileage numbers, are you looking at the dash? There are two readings, an instant mpg, and a long term average. Sounds like you're watching the instant readings. Yes, going up hill into the wind will destroy your readings, going down the other side will see outstanding readings. Leave the dash set to the mpg average, never reset it. Over the months it will get pretty close to the actual gas pump/odometer math. Never have figured out why they put that instant mpg on there. I suppose it might help if you're about down to fumes and need to squeeze every last yard out of the tank. Hauling ass into a headwind, not so much.

Sounds to me like your sync went south on you. A problem shows up out of the blue, always go back over what you did or was done to your machine. Your problem started at a shut down and restart, the fact it was a gas stop is most likely a coincidence.

Yes it was the instant I was looking at. Numbers haven't been back up in the 40s unless I am going 50 mph in 6th. Not sure how a sync can go bad. It's take a reading and turn a screw. Positioning of those set screws haven't moved. But It really feels like very out of sync or something not firing. Idk. Only work I did before I left was oil and tires. The sync and flash I did a month ago. Hoping the dealer I stop at this morning isn't clueless.

 

[MXTZS10]

Just a thought is possible you have a coil going out of has gone out? or a connector to the coil that may be loose from any recent service? Hope you get this sorted out and enjoy the rest or your trip.

 

[scott123007]

Just a thought is possible you have a coil going out of has gone out? or a connector to the coil that may be loose from any recent service? Hope you get this sorted out and enjoy the rest or your trip.

It has two spark plugs per cylinder and four individual coils. If one plug quit working, it would be un-noticeable.

 

[Don in Lodi]

It has two spark plugs per cylinder and four individual coils. If one plug quit working, it would be un-noticeable.

I've been unsure about that. One may be the compression power coil, the other may be a waste spark on the exhaust stroke. A clean thing. In my scenario if the waste spark coil went you wouldn't know, just higher emissions. Has anybody run just one coil? I think it was Snakebitten that had one go out on a trip, ran like crap, did a campground repair.
And as I mentioned, don't watch the instant mpg, it will drive you insane. Go to avg.

 

[MXTZS10]

I read thread not long ago about a tenure where the coil went out and the bike did not run well. can seem to find it at the moment. if one fires on the exhaust stroke you could swap coils possibly as a test.

 

[WJBertrand]

With a 270 degree firing order, there would never be 2 cylinders at or approaching TDC at the same time. A waste spark on the exhaust stroke does nothing for performance or emissions, it's just an economical way to use one coil to fire two cylinders that stroke up and down together. Such would be the case for a 360 degree crank, both pistons rise and fall together but fire oppositely. A traditional I4 flat-plane crank can get by with only two coils this way. Not sure how Yamaha handles their cross-plane 4-cylinder R1, but I suspect there has to be 4 coils.


-Jeff

 

[cory1848]

Ok so of course on the way to the dealer it ran fine. They pulled some stored codes. I don't remember exactly which ones but involved intake pressure 13,14,15 maybe? And coolant temp one. 7 codes total. He cleared them to see if they return. They have not yet. Ran great through Denver. Once I got to 70 it went to shit again. This time add in running hot. Under any load it's running 205-219. Fan kicks on at 217 and cools it but something isn't right. Somehow this is all related. Dealer thought that with the loads I am carrying it might play into it. But not sure I buy that. A 1200 twin should handle pulling a truck. Up the mountain roads it's really lugging like trying to accelerate from 2k in 6th. But it's at 4k through 5k.

Idk. Really frustrated at it. Running hot worries me a bit. Not sure I can fix anything roadside.

 

[scott123007]

Ok so of course on the way to the dealer it ran fine. They pulled some stored codes. I don't remember exactly which ones but involved intake pressure 13,14,15 maybe? And coolant temp one. 7 codes total. He cleared them to see if they return. They have not yet. Ran great through Denver. Once I got to 70 it went to shit again. This time add in running hot. Under any load it's running 205-219. Fan kicks on at 217 and cools it but something isn't right. Somehow this is all related. Dealer thought that with the loads I am carrying it might play into it. But not sure I buy that. A 1200 twin should handle pulling a truck. Up the mountain roads it's really lugging like trying to accelerate from 2k in 6th. But it's at 4k through 5k.

Idk. Really frustrated at it. Running hot worries me a bit. Not sure I can fix anything roadside.

One of the shortcomings of this bike is its marginal cooling system. In hot weather, if you are in stop and go traffic, or even slow traffic, the radiator fan will come on. (Very frustrating when you are riding with a guy on a '14 V-Strom whose fan never comes on.) If I'm reading what you are saying correctly, your fan is coming on at speed, but that should do nothing to cool it off, so I don't know why it is for yours. A couple of years ago, I went to 4-corners Utah in 104 degree weather. At 80 mph, the water temp got as high as 210, but that was without a load. I also don't remember what the altitude was, which would make a difference also. Regardless, that engine, at traveling pace, should not trigger the radiator fan unless something is wrong.