hard to believe the carbs clogged after only 600 miles where did you get gas last? if I'm not mistaken cyls 1 & 4 use the same ignition coil, so I'd tell them to make sure it's not that before paying them to clean the carbs.

They said that they checked electrical and that the carbs were definitely clogged. They said it has happened on new bikes on their floor also. I am going to go ahead and pick it up, but I am going to take this to Suzuki.

You might want to consider taking it to the dealer you bought it from. In my 30 years of driving, I've never encountered bad fuel. I'm sure it happens, but it is a very rare occurrence, so rare that I would expect a decent dealer to do the repairs under warranty.

Also, wouldn't bad gas affect all the carbs and make cylinders 2 and 3 shut down too? This stinks.

Contact Suzuki customer service if you can't get them to cover it and if you have to pay, pay with a credit card. That way you can dispute the charges through the credit card company.

Where did you take the bike to? Your location says SoCal but where in SoCal?

the same exact thing happened to me when i first got my bike.... then i realized (duh!) that i was riding with part of the choke still engaged.

now, i always double check to ensure that the choke is COMPLETELY closed, and i've had no problems since.

I have just taken my '04 Kat 750 to the dealer for the EXACT same issue.

They are rebuilding the carbs. I suspect the issue was because the bike sat for quite awhile without being ridden... (I have been dealing with cancer since December and have neglected the bike).

Was your Kat sitting for any period of time?

yeah, where are you located in socal, perhaps we can point in the right direction, what dealership and what shop did you take your kat to?

I have a several month old '06, 600 Kat that ran like crap for the first 600 miles. The choke wouldn't even work. It sputtered (even at higher RPMs) and RPMs were all over the place. It was almost embarassing to ride.

I suspected it was adjusted wrong. After the first service, it ran so much better. It could have been the valve adjustment, I don't know. Anyway, after about 1000 miles, and some highway driving, it runs great.

Good luck on your repair shop problem, but a) give it some time, and b) get it on the highway! Also, mine runs best on Plus gas (89 oct?). I tried Super (92) and regular, but it seems to be happiest on Plus. Some people run crap gas in their ride, but I've always found that using what it runs best on can avoid repairs down the road. I also don't start it with the choke for very long, if I have to at all. I think it really fowls it up.

I just picked it up and it runs better than the day that I first got it, a whole 3 months ago. They said that they have had to do this for a number of the Kat's as they are sold as part of the prep. I am pleased with the way it runs, but not pleased with the $280. I am still going to contact Suzuki, although I doubt that anything will come from it. The guys at this shop seemed pretty sincere and sympathetic, but you never know. Maybe it's just a lesson learned?

Jax - I'm in Santa Clarita Valley. Saugus Suzuki.
Nice Guy - It was sitting for only 2 1/2 weeks.

did they do a valve adjustment on the first service? if they did, then $280 is a fair price (i paid about $350).

if they didn't do a valve adjustment, they were supposed to per the required suzuki maint. schedule.

after i got my first service (which included the valve adjustment) the bike ran like a champ! 100% improvement.

The first service was $170 charge. The $280 was for the labor for the carb cleaning.

i paid about that price ($170) for my first service. then i learned from a competitor suzuki dealer that they charged about $400. when i asked why the cost was so high, they said doing a valve adjustment was labor intensive (taking fairings off, etc...).

then i went back to the original dealer where i got my first service at and asked them if they did a valve adjustment. the guy at the counter said no. i asked him why not, then he said it wasnt' required. then i asked him to double check with the head mechanic and he did. he came back to me and apologized. he said i was right, a valve adjustment was required at the 600 mile mark; he gave me a discount for my trouble and got the adjustment done.

so... is it possible that part of the $280 labor you paid may have included a valve adjustment? if it did, then the fee you paid was fair. if it did not include a valve adjustment, then i would ask them why didn't they do one.

I am sure it boils down to "book time" for doing the carb cleaning. All shops have the book that tells them how long a particular job should take and that is how they charge. Same for cars, by the way. How a mechanic makes more money is to get the job done quicker than what the book says. Example... IF the book says it takes 3 hours to clean the carbs and the mechanic gets it done in 1.5, he can start on another job. Basicly "overlapping" jobs as for pay. Unfortunately, you the consumer, will still pay for the 3 hours of labor called for in the book. Since labor rates vary from state to state or even store to store, that is where the differences in price come from.

Whenever a dealership mechanic opens up carbs, it is surely standard practice to replace ALL gaskets, etc and you get charged for each part they replace on top of the labor. A valve adjustment on a 98+ will cost less than on a pre-98 because there are fewer parts to replace. The rocker arms are adjustable, however you still have to remove all the fairings, tank, lines, hoses, and valve cover.

After all that... bottom line is this.... If you paid less than another shop, and the bike is running better than ever..... You got a fair/good deal.

NOW GO RIDE!!!!!

Time for the cheap fix:

(A) Remove the lower fairing (belly pan).
(B) Remove the upper fairing, at least the left side (left from the vantage point of where you sit on the bike as the rider).
(C) Locate the hose that runs to the petcock furthest back on the bike (i.e. - the hose closest to the brake light). With the bike off, disconnect it.
(D) Take a spare 5 foot length of fuel line (any auto parts store) and plug it into that connection at the petcock.
(E) Grab an empty gas can and put the other end of the hose in it.
(F) Switch the petcock to PRIME and open the cap with the key. Now wait until all the fuel drains out into the gas can (note: your Kat holds about 5 gallons of fuel when full -- make sure the gas can is capable of holding as much fuel as you have in the tank).
(G) Look up the instructions for how to remove the gas tank. Remove it carefully, pulling backwards 6" before lifting up. Set it on a towel.
(H) Locate the spark plugs. Remove all four and replace them with new spark plugs, torqued to 8 lb-ft (no more!).
(I) Reinstall the gas tank (same process in reverse) and the stock hoses.
(J) Pour 1/3rd of a bottle of Techron fuel system cleaner into the tank, then fill it up 1/3rd of the way with fresh high-detergent gas from a fresh gas can. (Yes, I know this results in triple-strength techron fuel).
(K) Start the bike, make sure you've turned the choke off, and then ride it until you have to switch to reserve because it ran out of gas. Then hit a gas station, pour in another 1/3rd of a bottle of techron and fill the gas tank all the way to the rim with a high-detergent fuel. Ride another 50 miles or so -- by now, your problem should be gone.

What's the deal?
Well, one of two issues (or both):
(A) Your fuel has expired (normal) or drawn in too much water (in the case of ethanol fuels). Fuel has a shelf-life of about 4 weeks, and if you're not burning through a tank in that time-frame, you need to be adding a fuel stabilizer such as STABIL to the gas when you tank up (and making sure the tank is chock-full before you park it to avoid condensation being drawn in during your extended parking periods).
(B) The plugs are fouled from running bad fuel, clogged passages or leaving the choke on too long. Replacing the plugs will have resolved that portion of the equation, and the techron will have removed the dried fuel residues (think gumminess) that occured when the gas evaporated.

There is a very small chance that some of the PCV valves used in the California pollution control crap have gone bad, but the shop should have spotted those during their diagnostics. Unless the carb bowls have physical water in them from the tank, there will be nothing wrong on a brand new bike that the techron won't clean out (not the case in older bikes where rust, debris, and deteriorated rubber can be factors). And the carb bowls can be drained in about 15 minutes if you already have the tank & fairings out of the way....

Then, once all that is done, you can schedule your 600 mile service -- and be adament that you need the valve adjustment done (or find a shop that will do the valve adjustment at that time).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet