loosing power

[Steven1969s]

Hello everyone. I have a 1997 600 kat with 10k miles. Today I was riding and was stuck in traffic for about 2 hours it was stop and go for about 10 miles with about 90 degrees in teperature, anyway, I'm writting because as I was in traffic I felt my bike loosing power and a few times it shut off. My rpm's in neutral was close to 2000, I seriously thought it was overheating, lucky for me traffic cleared up and I got moving.
Is it normal for the rpms to reach 2000 in neutral? And is it normal for the bike to loose power to the point that I almost had to push myself to get moving? Any help will be appreciated.

[Kreylyn]

Hello everyone. I have a 1997 600 kat with 10k miles. Today I was riding and was stuck in traffic for about 2 hours it was stop and go for about 10 miles with about 90 degrees in teperature, anyway, I'm writting because as I was in traffic I felt my bike loosing power and a few times it shut off. My rpm's in neutral was close to 2000, I seriously thought it was overheating, lucky for me traffic cleared up and I got moving.
Is it normal for the rpms to reach 2000 in neutral? And is it normal for the bike to loose power to the point that I almost had to push myself to get moving? Any help will be appreciated.

If the bike over heats, you will experiance running issues. Fortunately, just allowing the bike to cool, or getting out of the stop and go traffic is enought to cool it and resolve. Unless you just let the bike idle for long periods when sitting and burn the oil, it should be fine now.

I would suggest if your sitting for too long, to turn the bike off while waiting if possible and safe to do so.

Krey

[Idrivetoys]

yeah heat def plays a big factor in these engines, and a fresh oil/filter change with correct oil can help or possibly a oil cooler flush/replace if your not in that hot of conditions but still having that issue

[loudnlow7484]

If sitting in traffic is going to be a regular thing for you, you might want to consider wiring up an electric fan for the oil cooler.

[dagda]

Does anyone think running thicker oil would help? It seems like the higher viscosity would lubricate better in high heat. Better lubrication would help reduce heat. Synthetic 10w 50 is what I run in the summer based on that logic.

[squiggy]

as I was in traffic I felt my bike loosing power and a few times it shut off. My rpm's in neutral was close to 2000, I seriously thought it was overheating

I've had that happen as well. It does sound like you got very close to the over heat point of your Kat. For that reason I installed oil cooler fan(s) to my bike. The link is below in my sig if you want to read about it.

Does anyone think running thicker oil would help? It seems like the higher viscosity would lubricate better in high heat. Better lubrication would help reduce heat. Synthetic 10w 50 is what I run in the summer based on that logic.

Mobil 1 V-twin synthetic oil has the highest, I forgot what it's called flash point, boiling point, melting point, of any of the oils available. It's designed for Harley type engines. The same kind of air/oil cooled engines as we have.

[Steven1969s]

All you guys are very helpful. Thanks.