Problem.
Back in ~August, I was riding to work and the bike (2011 696 ABS) started to make a really weird noise before finally cutting out as I slowed down. I didn't notice anything immediately, so I had it towed back home. Later, I noticed that the spark plug had worked its way out of the left side and was just dangling on the wire. I can only assume that the weird sound I heard was the engine struggling to maintain power as the plug bounced off of the head repeatedly. No big deal, I just popped it back in and all was well.
The weather here in north Florida has been iffy the last few months, so I haven't ridden much, maybe just 2-3 commutes. I took it out on Friday for a quick ride, and the same thing (noise, reduced power) happened again a couple miles from home. I kept going in an effort to just get it back home after stopping to plug it back in; it popped out again, but I was able to get home. After doing some reading, it seems like there might have been made at the dealership when I went in for my 7,500 mile service back in....May.
Options? Time-sert (I only just read about this for the first time)? New head cost? Of course, I plan on calling the dealership as soon as they're around again, but I'm just gathering my thoughts and forming strategy until then.
Time-sert is your best option unless you can get the dealer to own up to the damage, then go for the new head. You might also move this to Tech.
Update:
I trailered the bike 5 hours down to the dealership. They checked it out, worked on it half the day, and ended up only needing a thread chaser & new spark plug. They only charged me for the oil change and a couple of mangled screws under the seat I asked them to replace! To top it all off, they let me jump on and fire up the super-secret-not-even-wearing-stickers-yet Monster 1200S they were hiding in the back for unveiling day!!
Win.
Quote from: wrl on January 18, 2014, 02:49:27 PM
Update:
I trailered the bike 5 hours down to the dealership. They checked it out, worked on it half the day, and ended up only needing a thread chaser & new spark plug. ..
Win.
Best of luck with the thread chaser repair. If your plug has worked itself out of the head on two separate occasions there is aluminum missing from the threads and a thread chaser doesn't replace missing aluminum. Hope it works and it turns out I'm being unnecessarily negative.
Quote from: Langanobob on January 19, 2014, 12:06:41 PM
Best of luck with the thread chaser repair. If your plug has worked itself out of the head on two separate occasions there is aluminum missing from the threads and a thread chaser doesn't replace missing aluminum. Hope it works and it turns out I'm being unnecessarily negative.
Good point. Get someone with knowledgeable eyes to inspect the thread. Also, make sure the dealer puts the incident in writing.