Alright...as other people have opened, I'm sure that someone has already asked this, but I can't find it anywhere. So here goes...

I have a 99 r6. Ran fine last summer, right up to the end. Then started to do this weird stuff. One day I went out to ride it, started it up, let it get warm, then I got on it, ripped down the driveway, and when I shifted into second and accelerated, the engine died off, like it wasn't getting gas, so i quickly let off the gas, and the bike came back, but wouldn't do anything after shifting into second and giving it gas.

OK...since that incident, I have cleaned the carbs twice (absolutely clean), replaced the magneto and rectifier (read some posts on another website about those issues, so I figured what the heck), replaced the battery, replaced the throttle position sensor, think I did the pickup sensor as well, and the bitch still isn't right. God I hate this bike. I am a mechanic and the gremlins on these things are NIGHTMARES.

Yeah, just read the post about 2nd gear from fabio...dammit. that also started happening last year...more stuff to replace...

So here I am...like all the other guys trying to figure out what the hell this thing is doing...why did they have so many issues with these things???

So it will run at idle, it will spool up if you rev it up while standing still. Jump on it, put it in gear, wind out first, and it will fight a little on the top end of 1st, but then shift into second and it dies out when you give it some 50% or better throttle. Will do the same on the third shift too. Go back down to 1st and it will come back a little, but still fights on the high end of the throttle. What the hell. I'm a grand in parts, and this thing is still kicking my butt. Hate this bike...

First off if your bike is a '99 then it won't be part of the same issue as the '02s. That was a bad batch of gearsets that made it to market place. If you have a '99 with trans issues that is unique to your bike.

When the bike "dies" does is pop at all out of the tail pipe or feel like it is really underpowered, like you're dragging a boat anchor or running on one cylinder or anything? I'm going to take a shot in the dark that you have one or more coils that went bad. These just go bad after a period of time. They can be forced bad by putting the bike under a lot of load or running high rpms. Basically there is so much spark energy that it all can't be released across the sparkplug so it finds elsewhere to go, this usually results in grounding out through the plastic. Once the plastic is compromised it becomes the path of least resistance and your coil is shot.

I'm curious as to why you shotgunned a grand worth of parts at the bike without doing any diagnostics. Did you have other issues that pointed you in the direction of a charging issue? You said you cleaned the carbs twice, did you separate them when you did this? And if you did, did you synch them afterwards?

--First off if your bike is a '99 then it won't be part of the same issue as the '02s. That was a bad batch of gearsets that made it to market place. If you have a '99 with trans issues that is unique to your bike.--

If I'm not mistaken, the 99s are part of the 02's (in essence, same bike). I'd imagine they use the same tranny parts, and I've also seen other postings of similiar issues with 99s, 00s, 01s, etc. on the internet.


--When the bike "dies" does is pop at all out of the tail pipe or feel like it is really underpowered, like you're dragging a boat anchor or running on one cylinder or anything? I'm going to take a shot in the dark that you have one or more coils that went bad. These just go bad after a period of time. They can be forced bad by putting the bike under a lot of load or running high rpms. Basically there is so much spark energy that it all can't be released across the sparkplug so it finds elsewhere to go, this usually results in grounding out through the plastic. Once the plastic is compromised it becomes the path of least resistance and your coil is shot.--

It doesn't pop, it just loses all power, as if the main jet were clogged. Nothing other than complete loss of power. I've also read a lot about the issues with the coils. I pulled two plugs last night and found them black (little or no spark, or very intermittent). First thing I thought was coils. They tested fine, but obviously as mechanics, we all know that resistance testing and actual load/driving can be two completely separated ballparks. So thanks on that one, that is what I'm going to change.

--I'm curious as to why you shotgunned a grand worth of parts at the bike without doing any diagnostics. Did you have other issues that pointed you in the direction of a charging issue? You said you cleaned the carbs twice, did you separate them when you did this? And if you did, did you synch them afterwards?--

The charging system was goofy. Wasn't charging. Cleaned the contacts, still didn't charge high enough, so i changed the rectifier. Figured if I was going to do the recifier, might as well ensure that all charging parts were new, so the stator went in. Tested fine afterwards.

The guy who had the bike before me had a different rear sprocket on the bike than what the front sprocket was, making the chain jump under power (bottom four gears). Replaced sprockets chain (520 conversion). Made the drive train fine, and then shortly after 2nd starting slipping under high load. That's when I turned to internet postings, found the tranny issues.

The throttle position sensor (a potentiometer) showed a flat spot on the roll through, replaced and issue was cleared.

I bought a used cdi from ebay (I always do this when I get a vehicle that is controlled by a computer...makes diagnostics a much simpler job) thinking that some of the issues had to do with the computer. Didn't.

I did not completely separate the carbs...tore them down, blew all air channels clean, cleaned everything I could get to. Didn't see anything the last time I did it (yesterday) that would even indicate any clogging. This is what had me pulling plugs. The carbs have not been rebalanced. I did not move their idle air adjustments or their sync screws. They actually perform well and produce very similiar plugs (when it was running fine).

The parts were purchased over time, not just a grand shot at it. Every small issue was fixed in as it presented itself. I didn't say that I spent a g on the ignition. This was overall. These bikes have a slew of problems, and I was late to find this out. If I had known, I would have let it go early, or not even purchased it. Poor engineering is poor engineering. It is just sad because as others have said, these things are fire and awesome to ride. When the thing runs, it's pretty cool to ride. Just getting to that whole riding and not wrenching thing....

A little different but I had a 2008 ducati 848 that would die after warm up and going about 200ft. would idle fine, shift fine, etc. Sometimes it would just die while riding (bad if in traffic or in a turn. High pucker factor). Anyway, checked fuse, fuel lines, plugs, battery,etc. Ended up being the kickstand switch shorting out. Sold it and went back to Yamaha. Point is, your problem could be as simple as this. I am not sure if your bike has it, but does it have a butterfly valve (EXUP)between the headers and exhaust. Or an air induction system. Or even a bad O2 sensor? Just some thought.