Who Else's 2014 V-Strom Cuts Out?

[oddbod]

Welcome to the V-Strom "Cut-Out Collective".

The idea for this thread is to see who else has purchased a new 2014 v-strom and is experiencing random cut outs/misfires/farts and spluttering.

There are 2 other users on this forum who are having this issue that I know of so far but it would be nice to know whether it is just us 3 or whether there are more of you out there!!

Since purchasing the new Strom and putting close to 2000 miles on her I have been experiencing random cut-outs/splutters/backfires etc. These tend to happen at low speeds I.e when filtering or when stationary for short periods in traffic.

Apart from taking the bike back to dealer on more than 1 occasion ( whom have been helpful) and undertaken the following adjustments to the bike:

Adjusted the TPS too 29
Throttle bodies balanced (although they were only slightly out).
ICS valve reset

I have also had a Professional remap from a specialist motorcycle tuner.

It seems to me there is a fuelling issue at low revs in low gears. This was made apparent when I had the remap done which showed extremely lean air/fuel levels.

Even after all of the above the fuelling issue has returned. The most difficult part is the randomness of the issue.

It would be nice to hear whether I and the other two members are isolated cases or not so that we can establish how best to rectify this issue.

Thanks for your support.

Oddbod (Jeff)

[wunwinglow]

Me too. with exactly the same symptoms, and I have have had pretty much same adjustments and remap as oddbod. My throttle bodies were cock-on balance-wise, so not adjusted. I also found a fair bit of slack in my throttle cable, so dialing most of this out with the adjuster made another massive improvement in crispness of response. Don't take it all out though, the TPS needs to be able to settle back at the zero position for the ECU to correctly read this. If the cable has no slack, the ECU will get differing zero position readings each time, and this will lead to erratic running.

My bike is massively improved over its original state, where it would just instantly drop 1200 revs, felt like it was trying to throw me over the handlebars, but it still can be hesitant at lower revs, and I still occasionally get coughs and farts especially if trickling in traffic.

I'd still want these last issues dealt with though, if possible!

Tim (off to recheck the cable slack, and clean the exhaust valve mechanism. Again....)

[temporaryescapee]

I've had similar issues on my older Vee (specifically in France - different fuel?).  A wider issue?

Dialling up the tickover slightly to top of range sorted my stalling (when v hot).

Hope you get sorted.

[Oop North John]

Some of the discussion has been lost due to the site outage, I know one post referred to using a type of fuel because that's what the dealer said, but does the owners manual make reference to fuel type / octane / RON ratings?

[Oop North John]

Had a search around and found an online Danish version of the manual, and page 3.2 has the info I think as google translates it to:

FUEL octane number
Use unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 95 or higher (test method). unleaded gasoline can extend the life of spark plugs and exhaust components.

(Canada)
Your motorcycle requires regular unleaded gasoline with a minimum pumpeoktantal 90 ((R + M) / 2 method). In Some areas can only be oxidized fuel.

NOTE .: DL1000A engine is made to use only the first class, unleaded gasoline. Use first class, unleaded petrol in all driving conditions

[Roadrocket]

900 miles done, no problems to date with my V2. However the dealer and the manual state use premium unleaded. I wonder if you have picked up some dodgy fuel?

Not looking forward to filling in Europe as there are some right cocktail fuels over there!

[Oop North John]

900 miles done, no problems to date with my V2. However the dealer and the manual state use premium unleaded. I wonder if you have picked up some dodgy fuel?

Not looking forward to filling in Europe as there are some right cocktail fuels over there!

I'm surprised the Danish Manual and yours differ on the RON required.   You're right about the ethanol mixtures they sell over there, sometimes quite surreptitiously. Though in theory, it shouldn't cause the more modern bikes any problems.

[bosnjo]

...the dealer and the manual state use premium unleaded.

What do you consider "premium" in UK?
Here in Portugal we have unleaded 95 and 98 oct. Then, 98 has a bunch of "superb" fuels that each brand calls different name. There is no unleaded bellow 95 oct.
Do you mean we should use 98 oct?

[frez]

I think the "premium" mentioned is to push US riders not to use Regular which is 91 RON but to use Premium which is 97 RON. In the UK you get Standard at 95 RON and Super at 98 RON. AFAIK, Standard is perfectly fine for the bikes.

[tallpaul]

Tesco do a premium unleaded called momentum which is rated at 99 RON.

[Roadrocket]

I am quoting the manual "Premium Unleaded" Which doesn't give any actual value.

Here in UK we use 95RON. There is also Shell Vpower which is higher octane but I don't bother. My DL650 Wee Strom hated European E10 Ethanol based fuels. It managed OK, but felt very rough and was very noticeable. Super unleaded made all the difference and is now our preference for these engines in Europe. The Suzuki Dealer also advised against E10 Ethanol fuels as a big no no on the new Vstrom1000 infact on any bike. They have had to flush bike fuel systems before now.

I am talking from experience here too. Not just in theory. A friends Suzuki Bandit had to have its tank drained in France after developing some serious miss fires. Turned out it was Ethanol fueling problems.

When we returned home from Europe, the last time we filled up was in Zeebrugge, Belgium. A few days back in the UK went to start my Wee and it wouldn't start. Intrestingly, my friends Triumph Tiger 800XC also refused to start. Took the jump pack and some patience to get the Wee going. My friends Tiger did start eventually. We both had the same fuel from Belgium from the previous fill. Certainly proof of the pudding that modern bikes hate modern fuels!

[wunwinglow]

I've tried several different brands and octane ratings, doesn't make any difference to my bike. My remaining beef is this cut in the fuel supply that happens at low revs. The throttle cable slack seems to be important here, even a quarter turn on my adjuster will improve/worsen the situation, but it never goes away. Something seems to be deliberately cutting the fuel supply at low revs/low engine load situations.  Mine is way better than originally, but this effect still there. And still a royal pain in the rump when it happens.

I'm away for a bit, but I'll be back....

Tim

[Mannakin]

The mapping in 1st and 2nd gears cuts the fuel deliberately at low throttle openings to keep emissions low. It's that way on the Vee too - that's why I fitted a TRE. The combination of fuel cut-off and a large amount of engine braking on the Vee made it a pain to trickle around in heavy traffic for me.

As you roll off the throttle there comes a point where the bike just "dies", if you then roll on again (even a little) there is like a little delay, then you inevitably roll on a bit more and then it starts going again with a bit of a jerk.

I hated this and the TRE pretty much cures it. I know there are probably other factors like the throttle cable involved but the basic behaviour in 1st and 2nd is down to the fuel mapping when rolling off at low revs.

[Timmo]

So why not have the Bike re-mapped instead of fitting tre. It's a genuine question not a sarky remark.

[Fat Rat]

There's a risk having a newish bike remapped. If you take it into a stealer for service, you might find they overwrite the ECU if there is a 'update' pushed to them by Suzuki.

It happened to me on my 1050 Tiger, picked it up from a service to be told they had upgraded the ECU for me, fortunately I had not had it remapped

[oddbod]

UPDATE!

Mine has been spluttering & cutting out again. Last weekend I had a complete cut out whilst making a left turn into the close where I live.

I noticed that one of my cables is very loose again on the butterfly exhaust valve, which led me to investigate further. From what I have read, it appears that these valves should open/close depending on the revs of the bike. I have attached a youtube link to show you one in operation.



The interesting thing is. When I turn the ignition on on my bike the valve mechanism does its test cycle I.e moves clockwise then anticlockwise back to its original position but does not move again after that, even when I rev the engine.

I took the end can off yesterday to take a look at the valve position in operation.
When the bike ignition is off:
Valve is fully open

Bike ignition on:
Valve runs its test cycle.

Test cycle should I) close valve completely ii) then open valve fully iii) then close valve to approx 2/3 closed

However, mine only does I) & ii) and leaves the valve fully open.

When the bike is started the butterfly valve should continuously adjust itself (open and close) depending upon throttle position, engine speed.

Mine stays fully open even though I revved it up to 8000rpm.

I spoke to Geoff at Hilltop and he advises there is a Servo error (the servo operates the butterfly valve via a pulley system). It is standard practice apparently that when there is a servo error the valve will be left in the fully open position.

Simply put, the ECU sends data to the servo which responds by opening and closing the butterfly valve. When this data is either not sent to the servo or the servo has a fault, the valve remains fully open. This creates the effect of a "Straight Through Pipe" resulting in no back pressure at low revs or when coming off the throttle. This can and will produce jerky throttle response in the low revs and will even most likely be the cause of my bike farting/cutting out.

I have spoken to my dealer and the bike is booked in for Thurs 9 Oct

Lets hope this is the end to my continuing saga

[Web_Bodger]

My DL02 hasn't got a butterfly valve on the exhaust but during the last 11 years it has always cut out at low revs at random times. It usually gives a slight cough back through the injectors and stops. I have noticed that it does it more often if I put Morrisons fuel in. It's better on Tesco basic petrol, some say they come out of the same tanker but I'm not so sure.
My DL57 also cuts out, but not as much and I don't think it did it at all when I had a power commander on.

I sold my DL650 earlier this year but I can't remember that having the cut out problem.

[Juvecu]

I've always had the feeling that this exhaust valve will cause a lot of issues on this model. It'd be interesting to find out if this is the cause of this particular issue. Nice spot there, I hope that it does end up solving the issue.

I have to add that I'm grateful for the early adopters on new bikes I might end up buying in the future, you lot get all the niggles to investigate and sort out. By the time I do perhaps end up buying a Veek I'll know how to sort out these things out and there'll be a fair few 2nd hand at the right price

[oddbod]

No luck with the exhaust valve!
I only tested it in neutral, 1st and 2nd.
Apparently it only works above 3500rpm in 3rd and its only function is noise reduction to pass noise control tests.  Suzuki's words not mine.

The dealer had also taken it on a 90 mile test run and in their opinion found no fault.
So I picked the bike up Saturday,  less than 1 mile down the road, sitting at traffic lights, when lights went green andca quick flick of the throttle to get the revs up, you guessed it, the bike cut out.

Totally at a loss what to do now. Half of me thinks tell Suzuki to shove the bike right up their arse and get my money back, the other half says persevere because apart from the cut out issue, I'm totally happy with the bike and do in fact love it.

After the cut out, I avoided giving the throttle a quick flick to get the revs up prior to pulling off and didn't have another episode all day.

I did read somewhere if a bike is running borderline lean at idle, then if you rev the engine too briskly too quick, you will momentarily intake more air than fuel, which makes the leanness worse and causes a cut out. Apparently the solution is to gently bring the revs up at first in order to stabilise the air/fuel mixture.

The saga continues unfortunately

[Oop North John]

I thought the valve was to tune the exhaust, this article explains it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-strok ... lve_system