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To take to dealer, or not to take to dealer... that is the question...

842 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  05zx6rchic 
#1 ·
Just picked up my first ZX-6R last Friday. It's a 2006 Special Edition with 17.5K miles. Unfortunately, I don't know much about the service history but the bike appears to be in excellent condition. It rides great, but has an issue that I believe is going to require attention. The bike starts great, idles normal, then after about 2 minutes the idle fluctuates a bit and then the FI light comes on. Typically the idle goes up a bit after this. I first noticed the problem when test riding. When I slowed down at a red light, the RPMs were around 3K. This is the most noticeable problem. The idle RPMs randomly ramp up too high and stay there. You can switch the key off and it "resets" something, and frequently the problem will be resolved for a period of time (although the FI light always comes on after a few minutes). But the problem happens frequently enough that I can't comfortably ignore it. Today it even got the idle "stuck" closer to 4K or more. So, I can ride the bike just fine... it's smooth and powerful... No apparent problem until you slow down and the RPMs don't go down.

I've downloaded the service manual, and I realize that I could probably get a service code if I wanted to go to the effort. But what I'm really wondering is whether I would be better off, at least this time, to take the bike to the local dealer and have a proper diagnostic. I'm also not sure if the 15K mile service was performed (specifically concerned about the valve clearance inspect).

Given that I don't really know the service history, anyone agree that I should just bend over, grab the ankles, and let the dealer have their way with me this one time to make sure that the bike is in tip-top shape? If so, would you recommend traditional or synthetic lube?

Or does this problem description ring a bell with anyone that might lead to a specific component switch that I could do myself?

PS This has the stock exhaust, so I don't think this is going to be a servo-buddy fix. But I'm open to suggestions... Thanks all!
 
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#3 ·
try to pull the code off of it, its really not that hard, esp if you have the service manual. The dealers are going to rape you for everything that they can, even if its not really time to do it yet.

atleast pull the code and look it up. THEN if it seems to be something out of your control you can take it to the dealer and specifically tell them what to fix on it.
 
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