2006 2007 r6 engine reliability question

i tried to do a search on the forum, but didn't find anything.

I've been reading on some of the r6 forums about 06 07 r6 engines failing/blowing. Supposedly there is a problem with the crank (or something) snapping and punching a hole through the engine case. I know lots of people on this forum race this bike, so I was wondering if anyone has seen this or experienced this issue??? I'm wondering if this is something I should be worried about (my bike has stock internals, powercommander, Graves full system) or if it's more of a negative hype. If I have to put major $$$ into a bike i'd rather do it for something I did to the bike versus an engine blowing. I've yet to see this at any trackday or race i've been to.

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

I've seen one blow. I don't know the whole story, whether or not it had been dissasembled, etc. But it blew nonetheless.
I also know a whole lotta are racing them with no problems. Maybe a few isolated cases but seems like more since so many people are racing them.

 

I think its mainly rod bearing failures. I know of two of them that right around the 2k mile mark had issues. I believe yamaha is looking into it now.

 

Chaz Davies says they run great!

 

ROFL Well our 138rwhp Superbike ate a set of rod bearings (with carrillo rods), we had a supersport (128rwhp) eat a rod bearing. We had THREE OTHER competitors (that we know of) had bearing/rod failures. I have seen TWO 06 R6 cylinder heads with badly marred cam journals, one was junked...both were damaged on far end of ex cam.

IMO its an oil pressure issue as well as just an internal issue. Pretty frustrating for us, cause both times we were leading races on yami days ($2000 down the shxter!)

The oem cranks have been on and off backorder ALOTTT this season...and we keep a new one IN STOCK for our bikes....that should tell you something.

I know that ive told guys to watch thier oil...use GOOD stuff, NOT too light (none of the 5wt stuff) and to keep it FULL...seems to really show up on tracks with LONG straights....mabye the R6 needs an accusump setup...lol

I for one am done running yamahas for our team bikes...too much maintance in the lowerend imo...our GSXR600 built bikes dont make the hp the R6's we build do...but then again they last twice as long! It sucks, cause as a rider im sure it is goddamn frustrating...i feel REALLY bad for my one guy Pete...we have tried EVERYTHING for him....still oiling issues....we are starting with a whole new motor for next round...

 

I had a street 2006 R6 spin a rod bearing, waited around for 3 months for the parts. My race bike has 5k hard miles and still running strong.

 

Not to stick my nose in where it does not belong, but many big end bearing problems stem from high speed detonation (the undetectable kind) which pounds out the upper bearing, which destroys the hydrodynamic wedge of oil that the rod surfs on.
I wonder if the near redline fuel/ign curve might be tweaked downward (HP wise) by retarding the timing or fattening the fuel a tad to see if the bearings live longer.

 

Ive smoked two crank bearings this year......no fun. They tell me its a oil pressure issue too

 

I spun a rod bearing on my 06 R6 race bike last month. It had stock internals with Power Commander/Iginition Module/Quick Shifter and a Leo Vince pipe. That was it.

 

yes, detonation is a concern on the new R6's. however both of our motors that have failed have had PC IgModules and we actually with the fuel we run pull timing out. not too mention running $75ea surface discharge plugs (which are 1 heat range cooler, but due to no electrode actually also pull about 1-2degs of timing back due to thier surface design)

As for detonation near redline...thats not where your concerned about. Detonation usually can rear its head as your approaching peak tq where the cylinder pressure is the highest, such as @11,000rpm on a 2006 R6.

 

There's been quite a few blown motors at BIR in minnesota.
A couple of them have snapped the crank in two, 4 bikes? One swaped a whole new stock motor, 2nd had it rebuilt and is still running, 3 rebuilt it twice now (he snapped the crank in 2), 4th I belive is on his 2nd motor 4-5 rebuild overall. These are all experts if that makes any difference.

But BIR has almost a mile long front straight w/ corners 1 and 2 taken flat out in 6th then 5th gear. So, the track is hard on any motor to begin with.

 

My point was that high speed detonation is what lets the smoke out of the best engines, cycle, F1/Indy/Winston/Nextel/engines....
Those guys test with individual cyl pressure transducers to make cams and ignitions they custom cut (differently) for each cyl based on peak pressures and yet they STILL let the smoke out from time to time.
The best designed and built stuff goes boom if the upper shells get pounded.
I wonder if different designs of dynos experience different levels of big end failure on late R6's? (Inertial as opposed to steady state)

 

For general information,an Endurance Race Team in the CMRA just found valve parts in their intake (I'm not sure if it is an 06 or 07 model). Add that one to the list only that doesn't correspond to the crankshaft issues but may be an oil problem up top.

I hope the 2005s are reliable because I'm planning on getting one soon....hopefully.

 

Here is a thread from the Gaijin Riders' Forum over here in Japan. I just got my license to Fuji Speedway and it has a very long straight (1500m). I wonder if these problems are occurring in bikes with stock motors.

http://www.gaijinriders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6518&start=15

 

Yeah, I know several guys that have had motor problems on the R6's. Its about half and half for valve problems and bottom end problems.

Were you guys running an APE manual CCT? They called us and said that if you just toss it in without blocking something inside that you will lose oil pressure...

 

I am no expert, but I was just talking to Scott at L7 motorsports about some work for my R1 and he hit on this very topic about the R6. He seemed to think that was an oiling problem in the new R6 (06-07) and that he had been swapping out the relief valves to up oil pressure in the motors he has been building. He also said they had been doing something with the bearings as well but you would have to call him to ask about that.

 

ok, make that 3 engines now. Ive got a spun rod bearing as well.(cylinder 1)

im crying right now. Ed who.......your the man, I wish you were closer

 

i am not doubting that the new r6 has oiling issues, that much is apparently ture. however, as far as cranks snapping...well, its a classic case of building a motor (most of the time) and not starting from the bottom. if you want a reliable built motor, its well known that you start from the bottom. a stock crank, particularly on these new 600s and probably more so on the r6, are made to harness just about the power that the stock motor makes. that means it is as light as possible and as a result is fragile. adding 20-30 hp will for sure twist or snap a stock crank. now...put a stronger crank in, and you probably wouldnt see these issues. but as far as oiling issues, i believe yamaha has already superceeded the crankcases. id have to get to work to verify the numbers, but im pretty sure they have.

 

Not saying I am superfly anything, But not a single engine I have built of the 06-07 variety has blown up. And we have had minimal maintence. Just rebuild at the end of the season. These motors were AMA supersport spec builds.

The only 2006 motor we had a problem with was a brand new one with 75 street miles. Took it apart for the build and the #1 rod bearing was smoked... New crank and parts from Yamaha under warranty.

All of these motors I use Valvoline 10w40 motorcycle oil. I don't know if oil has anything to do with it. Maybe.

 

i confirmed at work, if anyone is interested, that the crankcases have been superceeded, new part number is 2co-15100-01-00. the old number was 2co-15100-00-00. i have also not seen any problems with these motors, even ones that we service here at work. some you can tell are severely abused, and they sound and pull just fine.