Cough when blipping throttle

[sorousha94]

Hello fellas, this will be my first proper post about my brilliant bike and regrettably it will be about a problem I'm having.

I bought a 2018 V-Strom 650 about 3 months ago; it was a demonstration bike with about 70 miles on the odometer. I currently have 2500 miles.

For the last 1500 or so miles, occasionally the engine will 'cough', or backfire, when I blip the throttle when downshifting. The revs don't rise, and it can be pretty scary when it happens. It seems to happen more often if I blip the throttle from idle. I've recorded every time it's happened for the last 1000 miles and it seems to be on average every 40 miles or so.

The bike still has more than 2 years of the warranty remaining, which should cover a problem like this right? The problem is that I've taken the bike back to the dealership (where I bought it) a few times and explained the problem, and each time they've dismissed the problem, saying it's just a characteristic of v-twins so it's not an issue, and that they would contact Suzuki about it- but they never seem to. They also told me to fill up on high octane fuel, which made no difference. I also had one bloke tell me that I should try not rev-matching, and he said that if I told Suzuki about the problem they would just tell me to stop rev-matching.

So I was wondering, does anyone else have this problem? Should it really be expected or is it unusual for an almost new bike? And finally, of course, what could the cause be?

[kwackboy]

Hello ,
Pretty hard to diagnose your issue but if I was to take a punt I would say blipping your throttle at idle and downshifting is causing it to slightly over fuel .
When changing down there is no need to rev match but each to their own.
 

[UK_Vstrom650]

Take it back or to a different dealership. Suzuki will tell you the same.

[Barbel Mick]

It shouldn't do that sir, IMHO. I've got a 2013 and always blip the throttle going down the box & never had a 'cough' or 'backfire'. However I only do that when using engine braking and never at idle.

[Rusty Nuts]

No coughing on my L2. And I'm a blipper. The fuel advice is off. These engines are made for regular unleaded.

[wurzel]

  Rusty is right, these bikes are better on regular fuel.

[bosnjo]

Had that problem back in 2014 when I had my '14 model DL1000. It was on "original" ECU. At that time there was no ECU recall. So, I went with X-TRE and it cured the problem.
A friend of mine has 2018 DL650 and he has installed X-TRE for his model few months ago. I remember he was complaining about lack of X-TRE manuals for his bike but he installed it anyway. He's more then happy now.

[porter]

That is exactly how my 2014 1000 ran when I first got it. I helped it with a tre then the new ecu came out and all is well since.  Never heard of a 650 doing it before though but the new shaped bikes might run leaner than the older ones because of euro4.  The 1000 runs too lean, might be your issue.  As its new take it back if all work fails fit a booster plug or a power commander. Good luck

[Brockett]

Name the dealer so we know who to avoid. I refer you to my avatar.

[Gassoon]

I confess to being an occasional rev-matcher , too. No issues with my 650 which is a 2017, so presumably mapped the same as yours. One thing you can sya to them: IT IS NOT JUST A CHARACTERISTIC of v twins! Yours was fine for 1,500 miles anyway, remind them.
Better yet, find another dealer to take it to (ask on here for opinions on decent ones local to you?) and if they sort it , complain about that first dealer to Suzuki !

[porter]

Funny thing is myself and a friend bought vstrom 1000's in early 2015, his ran fine, no coughs and stalling ( and I rode his and he mine) but mine ran like a pig.  I got a x-tre and a new ecu my friend nothing. When he would ride my bike he said if his ran like that he would sell it or burn it!