06 Suzuki GSX-R1000 idle issues

[*GSXR~SNAIL*]

Who else here has an '06 GSX-R1000? Do you have any initial idle issues with your ride? My bike runs great, once it's warmed. I have no issues once I get rolling. However, even on a hot day when I start it, it will idle rough and even die on me. It takes me running the idle up to about 1500-2000 RPM's for about 30 seconds to a minute for me to be able to leave it without it killing the engine. Seems to me that a new bike should turn on and idle, especially on a warm, hot day without killing the engine. I called the fine folks at Fay Myers service and they told me that's just how the new GSX-R1000's run. He told me to just do what I've been doing and that's how to get by the issue. What are your thoughts on this? It doesn't sound right to me, but was hoping to hear from those of you that have more experience with this type of thing.

K...once we get all of the Suzuki slams out of the way by the Yammy, Kawasaki, and Honda fans..........I want to thank you all for your input.

[#1Townie]

my buddys does the same thing i make fun of him all the time...

[Kendo]

I have the 05 GSXR1000 and mine does the same thing and the service guys at EXCEL that I talked to told me the same thing.

and once it warms up.....it runs great....

[Lee]

I own a K5. My wife owns a K6. They're identical and just like your bike, they don't run well when cold. In fact, they often take 3 starts to keep running. They fire instantly when we hit the starter button but are a little difficult to keep running for more than a 2-3 seconds. After that, no problem.

My K5 required that the fast idle for cold starts be adjusted by the dealership. Their adjustments didn't really make much difference. Both bikes start and initially run like the high performance machines they are.

I recommend that you do what we do: start your bike and run it at 2000-2500 rpms for about 2 minutes, or to a coolant temperature of 120 degrees F. It's good for the engine; it makes sure the oil has reached all engine surfaces needing lubrication, and it at least gets some heat into the oil. (Dino oil doesn't reach full lubricity until it reaches 146 degrees F; I don't know about synthetics. Since the oil typically lags the coolant temperature by 40 degrees F, a careful warmup is important for the health and longevity of your engine. It takes 10-12 minutes of easy riding for my K5's oil temperature to reach the "safe" zone.)

I've had 9 motorcycles and I've never had one that behaved like this one on cold starts. But, considering the way it runs, it's high performance characteristics, it's 12.5/1 compression ratio, the cams it's got, I consider it's cold start anomalies to be a price worth paying.

If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it at all. Just give your K6 about 2 minutes or 120 degrees F (coolant) to warm up. You're motorcycle will love you for it.

Lee

P.S. Congratulations on owning such a fine motorcycle.

[Kendo]

Thanks Lee.... great info.....

What I usually do is start it up and get it al least idling and then I check the pressure in the tires and finish putting on my gear. and by that time the temp on the bike is around 110 degrees.

I have always let the bike hit that range in temp before I take off, my bike has been running smooth for the last year and a half...... =)

[TT5.0]

Yeah, same story here with my K6. I bumped the fast idle a little bit and it goes to a higher idle and stays there longer. So now it takes two starts to stay running instead of three....lol

[Kendo]

I installed a throttle lock for a long distance trip that I took, and I just use that to hold the idle till it warms up.... =)

[*GSXR~SNAIL*]

Thanks everyone! It just doesn't seem to me that with a new bike, one should have to stay there and hold the idle to keep it running for a minute or so, especially when it's as warm out as it is.

And Lee...good advice and info. I appreciate it.

Thanks again.

[Lee]

Two more comments about warming up a bike:

My mechanic advised me NOT to let my bikes idle on their side stands, especially to warm up. Apparently, with cold oil, the bearings on the right side of the engine will be starved a little for oil and this will cause premature wear.

Additionally, Castrol warns about letting bikes idle to warm them up, especially to reach normal operating temperature. This is a guaranteed way to wear your engine out early. Castrol specifically recommends riding your bike moderately to warm the engine and the oil.

Lee

[thug-smacker]

uh gee, as bad ass as the new Gsxr's are, you want to whine about that?

yes, ALL bikes run great once they are warmed up, do you think F1 cars idle smoothly when their engines are cold?


You do know how much horsepower the gsxr engine puts out?? I would say, yeah, thats a high performance engine, considering the HP per displacement ratio......

Yes the bike idles rough, when NEW, as you roll up some mileage, the engine breaks in, it idles just fine, thank you!

obviously you have less than 2k-3k miles on your bike.

once you have some mileage on your bike, it starts and idles just fine.

[*GSXR~SNAIL*]

Thanks Thug...yes, just about 800 miles on this baby in three weeks. BTW, no ones whining. I love this thing, I just wasn't sure whether or not I should be having these issues with a new bike.

Peace.

[Clarkie]

the reason the bike will start, stammer and then die is the altitude we are at, my race bike did the same thing until i adjusted the fast idle as mentioned above. Every new GSXR i setup and PDI at the shop gets the fast idle adjusted, that it what it is there for.

Lee - please dont listen to everything your mechanic tells you

[Lee]

I don't know, Clarkie, he's a senior mechanic at RMCP and maintains his own race bikes. So far, he's batting 1000 with the advice he's given me.

Lee

[UglyDogRacing]

I agree with Clarkie. My '05 did the same thing until I adjusted the fast idle.

[Clarkie]

I don't know, Clarkie, he's a senior mechanic at RMCP and maintains his own race bikes. So far, he's batting 1000 with the advice he's given me.

Lee

well sorry, i guess if he is the 'Senior Mechanic' he must be right

[Feathered upstart!]

Is he 33rd degree mechanic?

[*GSXR~SNAIL*]

Fast idle adjustment? Does the tank need to come off to get to it?

[Clarkie]

Fast idle adjustment? Does the tank need to come off to get to it?

you will have to take the seat off and just lift the front of the tank, on the left side of airbox (towards the back about level with the frame) you will see where the throttle cables go into the linkage.

There are two adjuster screws, the top (smaller one) is the fast idle and the lower is the main idle screw, i would try going in around1/3 to 1/2 turn.

It's actually kinda cool to watch if you want to see how it works, when you start the bike the computer/ECU controlled cam rotates and opens the throttle slightly, as the bike warms up you will see the cam rotate back slowly, obviously the warmer your bike/engine the shorter time it takes to close.

hope this helps.....of course I'm not a 'Senior Mechanic' but I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express last night

[*GSXR~SNAIL*]

Cool, thanks for the info Clarkie. And with you staying at a Holiday Inn Express lastnight, there's no doubt in my mind that you know what you're talking about.

[Slo]

The fast idle adjustment seems to be the fix..... as far as I have read on several forums, just have been too busy and lazy to do so.

In the meantime, I just hold the throttle open to run just under 2k rpm for about ten seconds....usually that does the trick, if I hear it start stuttering, I will hold it again for 3-5 seconds longer.....after that, all is well.

Damn, I know about the fast idle adjustment, just need to do it.

By the way, have you already adjusted the slack in the throttle? If you want to and don't know how, let me know, it takes 10 seconds to fix.

[No-coast-punk]

It's all this nice dense air that Colorado has been blessed with.

The idle control system was calibrated in Japan. Some of you may have seen a map. Japan is near the ocean. Things near the ocean tend to be at sea level. The problem is that Suzuki didn't use the MAP sensor for their idle control strategy, so the bike still thinks it's at sea level (as far as the idle goes) when you first start it up. It thinks there is enough oxygen to keep the engine running, but there isn't. After a bit of running the computer switches to a different set of instructions that takes air density into account.

I have always wanted to try pulling the idle control assembly off one of those bikes and drilling out all the passages with larger holes. That would probably fix the problem.

[rybo]

hope this helps.....of course I'm not a 'Senior Mechanic' but I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express last night

Clarkie,

Did you also save a bunch of money by switching to Geico?

S

[Clarkie]

Clarkie,

Did you also save a bunch of money by switching to Geico?

S

actually no, in New Hampshire you need car insurance so by moving out here I had to pay up, but yeah i did go with the Gecko