2010 S1RR loss of power and sounds like a Harley...

[R41nD0g]

Went for a spin at lunchtime whilst at work and after about 9/10 miles started sound rough and bassy exhaust note - went to accelerate gently - was in a 30 zone, and almost no power and sounds like a Harley with slash pipes! Sounds like it's about to sieze - but doesnt - no smoke from exhaust No warning lights on dash or noises from Engine. Had similar issue on my K6 1000 years ago and was back brake seized on - checked this - pads looked tight against disc but disc was not hot to touch and was able to free-wheel the bike easily enough.
Stops and starts no problem - tried turning ABS and DTC off but no change. Anyone had this or any ideas what it could be?
Currently waiting for AA to tow back from Sussex to London

 

[TheFlymo]

Sounds like it could be running on less than four cylinders. If it's not sounding rattly or terminal, fire it up and feel the downpipes- the cold ones are the cylinders not firing.

 

[thompsp]

This sounds exactly what happened to me. It turned out that it was just my front wheel sensor wasn't screwed right in (I'd not fitted back on right ...doh!)
A 3 second fix thankfully

 

[bananaman]

Had an oxygen sensor break out of the headers, gives the same symptoms

 

[R41nD0g]

Thanks for the input guys. All the sensors look good and all 4 downpipes are equally hot.

Noticed that the link pipe just before the cat is glowing orange when the bike has sat for a few minutes with the engine running - is this normal?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/c8g8tag17u8xocr/2015-02-28 15.59.43.jpg?dl=0

 

[paulie33uk]

Wow, definately not, that looks like the cat is knackered to me buddy, the glowing part is exactly where the cat is. This will be causing a lot of back pressure so I'd advise not to run at all until exhaust is replaced.

 

[Flatstick]

HI, is the rear exhaust valve operating properly? Old R1s used to sheer the lug of so servo worked, but flap in exhaust did not move. I decated my last bike and have never seen a pipe glow like that from normal use so would 2nd getting your cat check in case it has broken down.

Dean

 

[R41nD0g]

Thanks Paulie/Flatstick, didn't think it looked too clever, wasn't sure whether it was a symptom or cause. Was planning a decat, guess that just got bumped up the list, and an ecu tune. Expensive month ahead!

 

[R41nD0g]

OK, so only just had time to look at this further - am presuming that the cat glowing is a symptom and not the cause - checked the downpipes again by squirting water onto them whilst running and pipe 4, the one nearest the throttle, lets water settle on it unlike the other three.
Removed the tank and airbox to get access to the coils and plugs - and noticed that the coil stick was loose in Cylinder 4, so popped it back in tight and put all back together and started it - no joy - definite improvement as in it didn't sound as bad as before but water test still showed cylinder not firing.
Stripped again and pulled the coil out - and its covered in oil at the tip - and the spark plug looks like this; https://www.dropbox.com/s/z96kj7ryr5d5cps/S1RR_sparkplug_oiled.gif?dl=0

So, possible culprits for oil in the spark plug well?

 

[Pipehose]

must be an oil leak about the top off engine allowing oil to get on to that plug. the oil wont come up through
the plug hole

 

[bananaman]

must be an oil leak about the top off engine allowing oil to get on to that plug. the oil wont come up through
the plug hole

And the plug wont let oil down either yet the firing end is oiled up. Even if the plug isn't firing it should be dry.... Was the plug tight when you removed it ?

 

[R41nD0g]

.... Was the plug tight when you removed it ?

That was the culprit - can only think it wasn't tightened properly after it's last service and has eventually worked loose. Cleaned up the plug and the coil and re-installed and is back to normal now.