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James-K

Joined:

Apr 04

Posts: 762

James-K says:

2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R problem diagnosed - valve springs

Having suspended the public launch of the 2011 Ninja ZX-10R to investigate a technical issue, Kawasaki have now revealed the cause of concern - the valve springs. 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R review According to an official Kawasaki press release: "It had been discovered that when some examples of the new 2011 Ninja ZX-10R were operated at high rpm under unique riding conditions -...

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  • Posted 3 years ago (31 December 2010 12:51)

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morristhemog

Joined:

Aug 09

Posts: 38

morristhemog says:

?

hmmm..

took em a while to get this out, didnt it?

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  • Posted 3 years ago (31 December 2010 14:19)
STRESSED1

Joined:

Feb 10

Posts: 294

STRESSED1 says:

SO.......Its ZEBEDEE too blame is it?

Bloody valve springs.......TUTT !!!

Instaed of cutting corners,why don't Kawasaki,etc,use better quality components-materials?

After all, the punter who buys their bikes are paying through the nose are they not?

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  • Posted 3 years ago (31 December 2010 16:15)
SiegerMotorsports

Joined:

Sep 09

Posts: 720

SiegerMotorsports says:

All Normal

They have gone a totally new direction for the engine.

redesigning a good bulk of it apart from the essential old ZX10R architecture, they have trodden on new ground in performance and found that, as motoGP teams did, valve springs have reached their limits.

you can mod around it fairly easilly, but it can still happen.

I can bet a safe wedge that the innovated next-gen ZX will have a nod towards the first japanese integrated pnuematic system as standard (pr perhaps release a special parts edition of that).

I was suprised they had no hitches, the only thing that annoyed me is that they dropped that amazing looking near-horizontal engine.

remember that.

still, my £10 is on one of the kwak boys to rule WSBK this year (tom sykes) next year (who ever gets on vermuleuns seat)

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  • Posted 3 years ago (31 December 2010 16:35)
AdieR

Joined:

Apr 08

Posts: 2983

AdieR says:

Valve springs

At least Kawasaki are actually doing something about it before it becomes a huge PR disaster.

Some of the Triumph 675's have suffered broken valve springs at speed, dropping the valve and resulting in serious, sometimes catastrophic, engine damage.

I know what I'd rather.

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  • Posted 3 years ago (31 December 2010 17:15)
tman39a

Joined:

Mar 08

Posts: 104

tman39a says:

Revs

Fair dues to Kwak for being open about this....at the end of the day its a 1000cc road bike that revs like a 600 from a few years back. Ok race engines can withstand high revs for a few races but this road engine is still under race developement and will get better once more race riders / technicians get to play.

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  • Posted 3 years ago (31 December 2010 17:57)
boybilly1967

Joined:

Dec 08

Posts: 1230

boybilly1967 says:

Could have been a lot worse, at least they have been open about the problem. I doubt it will affect sales.

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  • Posted 3 years ago (31 December 2010 19:31)
kl595

Joined:

Nov 03

Posts: 419

kl595 says:

Spring surge - Autumn tides

SPRING SURGE? It sounds like climate change has had an effect on mechanical bike components. WTF are they talking about? Is it like valve float?

Adie R

I've not heard of 675 motors going pop as a result of springs breaking. Have you got any links? I'll be interested to read up on this. Cheers 

[This Reply has been modified by the Author]

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  • Posted 3 years ago (31 December 2010 19:44)
hazzazx10r

Joined:

Sep 10

Posts: 10

hazzazx10r says:

Glad they came clean and it has re-booted my confidence again. Not a tecky but can only guess that 'surging' means an excess of so while it puts the valve/s out of cinque it doest drop it therefore performance affected but not catastrophic ! Like i say im no techy but perhaps someone more knowledgable (and able to spell !) might be able to clear the mist on this one ?????

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  • Posted 3 years ago (31 December 2010 20:47)
nigel100

Joined:

Jan 05

Posts: 142

nigel100 says:

come clean?

I have never heard of "surging" springs! i think this is a case of them giving us (the public) mushroom treatment.

 

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  • Posted 3 years ago (01 January 2011 08:59)
Darowyn

Joined:

Mar 05

Posts: 60

Darowyn says:

I'd guess they are talking about valve bounce caused by resonance in the spring. Easy enough to fix by changing the spring rate and/ or the mass of the moving parts.

Odd that it was missed during testing though, unless the motor tends to run at higher revs in practice than it did during development.

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  • Posted 3 years ago (01 January 2011 09:33)

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