Q: I’ve had a 2013 Yamaha R1 for a year or so now with no problems, obviously until now or I wouldn’t be sending this mail.
I went out for along ride, 200km +, the other day and came home with a sick bike that sounds really rough on idle and doesn’t pick up cleanly anymore. I changed the plugs, which wasn’t easy, in case that was the problem but the annoying ‘roughness’ remains.
So basically please help and tell me what to look for next?
Thanks guys…
Colin Mitchell.
A: Let me first ask if you did a ‘violent’ down shift at any time because this could point to the problem? And if I were you, DO NOT start the engine again until you do exactly as I say Colin!
Find someone with leak-down testing device and check the compression on all four cylinders and make sure they’re all within factory tolerances, very important this, because it will tell you if you’ve bent a valve or two?
My suspicions are that this is the problem here because I’ve seen it already with this particular engine. If you keep trying to start the engine, if this is the case, you’ll do even more internal damage. And if there is a ‘dropped’ valve or two, which the compression test will tell you, you’ll have to pull off the head and repair the damage, which won’t be cheap depending on how bad it is inside. Sorry mate for the bad news – go have a beer or twelve.
