Yamaha R1 Running Rough As ****

[sned]

Lads (and lassies),

Over the past few days I have been trying to get my 2001 R1 to run properly. I have checked coils resistance, spark plugs are good (strong spark to earth). This morning I removed the carbs and stripped them down and cleaned them as best as possible using whats available in the shops. All jets removed and blown out. There was some small rubber debris inside the vacuum chambers and I cant for the life of me find where it has come from. After it was all cleaned and re-assembled I returned to the bike to install the carbs. I noticed some red oily residue around the inlet ports. Now reading some other posts Gasohol is bad, Im thinking this is where its coming from. I have now removed the tank, pump and all lines and drained. The fuel which came out is a red colour. I spoke to a lad I know who works at red baron and he tells me dont use Benzine 91 as itll make it run rough. Best to use Benzine 95, but I cant get this anywhere. He did say Gasohol 95 would be better to use rather than Benzine 91 but its not good for the engine. So far Ive got a six litre of Benzine 91, a six litre of Gasohol 95 and a bottle of the removed stuff which I have no idea what type of fuel it is. All are of the same red colour!! I thought Benzine was yellowish colour. Are the petrol stations at it??? Has anyone else had these running problems with older carb'd sportsbikes (or any evidence of this red oily residue in the inlet side). It runs like a bag of nails and stalls if no throttle/choke applied, it also takes a wee while for the revs to return to idle. Also can anyone recommend a proper bike mechanic in the Pattaya area who can tune properly ie sync carbs etc. Id rather do the work myself knowing the standard of engineering in Thailand but some tasks are limited due to the lack of tools/equipment. I also have a K8 GSXR 1000 which has had all sorts of fuel in it without any issues. This Gasohol malarky in Thailand is a right pain in the butt, bring back the auld leaded four star.

On a different note, are their any sportsbike clubs in the Pattaya area who attend regular ride outs around the Kingdom and/or track days at Bira??

Thanks in advance for any replies

[hansgti]

air leak on rubber inlet manifolds? all clips on tight?

spray wd40 or equivilent around inlet manifolds to check for leaks.

try Caltex gas station for 95 avoid gasahol

[sned]

Can a mod move this to the motorcycle forum please...thanks

[Lickey]

Hi Sned,

Good description of your problems,

The oil residue in the inlet tracts could be quite normal if not excessive, most big Yams have a breather pipe from the rocker cover into the engine side of the airbox, [ie unfiltered ] if it is eccesive could be valve guide wear or piston rings/bores.

The rubber bits in the carbs could be from the inside of this breather pipe breaking down and getting sucked in,

I think some R1s of that era also had an inline fuel filter under the tank, but you would have spotted that by now.

The fact that a bit of throttle or choke evens things up does suggest fuel starvation, check all vacumm pipes for cracks and blockages, even the 4 little caps where the carb balance tubes fit,

Have you used the bike latley? i think a mixtures of fuel and oil residue would make the carb slides stick, or the diaphragms are perforated, this will cause slow return to tickover,

Hope this helps, Cheers Lickey.

[LivinLOS]

The reddish gunk and bits of rubber sounds VERY much like gasohol wreckage.. IMO.

[sned]

Thanks for the informative feedback Lickey.

I managed to find a station that sells Benzine 95. After cleaning and blowing out the carbs I re-fitted everything and fired her up. At first it was still rough but after a minute or so it began to waken up. Had to stop as fuel was venting. Removed carbs again and found two of the float chamber needle valves sticking. Put it all together again after freeing. The engine is ticking over at 1000 RPM nicely. Added a mixture of redex into the tank and let it run for an hour. Just been for a ride on it and its well acceptable. The carbs need syncing and I havent got a sync tool. Throttle response is slightly sluggish returning to idle, pick up is ok. As you say the diaphragms could be perforated, I checked them best I could. Will try and source x4 new ones and see if it makes a difference. All in all its probably running better than it ever has. The red residue has gone. Im putting this all down to fuel (Gasohol). I wont be putting anything other than B95 in it. The performance from it, well, Ive been spoiled on a K8 gixxer, its 8 years old but still pulls strong, there's a few wee tweeks I still want to do to it and ill be happy.

Thanks again for all the feedback.

Hi Sned,

Good description of your problems,

The oil residue in the inlet tracts could be quite normal if not excessive, most big Yams have a breather pipe from the rocker cover into the engine side of the airbox, [ie unfiltered ] if it is eccesive could be valve guide wear or piston rings/bores.

The rubber bits in the carbs could be from the inside of this breather pipe breaking down and getting sucked in,

I think some R1s of that era also had an inline fuel filter under the tank, but you would have spotted that by now.

The fact that a bit of throttle or choke evens things up does suggest fuel starvation, check all vacumm pipes for cracks and blockages, even the 4 little caps where the carb balance tubes fit,

Have you used the bike latley? i think a mixtures of fuel and oil residue would make the carb slides stick, or the diaphragms are perforated, this will cause slow return to tickover,

Hope this helps, Cheers Lickey.

[VocalNeal]

Best to use Benzine 95, but I cant get this anywhere.

Most Shell stations have V-Power. Caltex has the same Techron stuff. Just look for the price begining with a "3"

[vincent2000]

I know that this topic is old , but the answer may interest someone else.

You must use only 95 benzine or 95 gasohol , BUT in that case , you must use an injector cleaner (additive) every 2500 km .

Tesco Lotus has an injector cleaner for about 250 baht , you can also use the MOTUL brand which is identical but will cost you around 600 baht .

Cheers

[vincent2000]

I forgot to explain WHY you can't use 91 benzine ...

There is 3 types of octane rating around the world :

- Research Octane Number

- Motor Octane Number

- Pump Octane Number [which is the average between RON and MON : (MON+RON)/2 ]

In Thailand they use the RON rating so a 95 octane RON = 91 PON

and a 91 octane RON= 87 octane PON which is completely forbidden for an engine with such a high compression ratio .

[Garry]

I know you have her running okay now, but since she is getting on a bit in years => 2001, I would suggest you start changing out your fuel system hoses for new items or quality aftermarket ones. Deterioration is expected oveer time.

[submaniac]

I forgot to explain WHY you can't use 91 benzine ...

There is 3 types of octane rating around the world :

- Research Octane Number

- Motor Octane Number

- Pump Octane Number [which is the average between RON and MON : (MON+RON)/2 ]

In Thailand they use the RON rating so a 95 octane RON = 91 PON

and a 91 octane RON= 87 octane PON which is completely forbidden for an engine with such a high compression ratio .

thanks for the very useful bit of information.

[BigBikeBKK]

I know you have her running okay now, but since she is getting on a bit in years => 2001, I would suggest you start changing out your fuel system hoses for new items or quality aftermarket ones. Deterioration is expected oveer time.

Sned sold his R1 over a year ago. Here he is tearing it up on his new Gixxer-

Don't think the R1 buyer reads ThaiVisa... Good advice all the same. Ride On!