Do you think some engines on certain bikes are more prone to blow up????

It's funny when people start saying a certain brand and size of bike is the most suspect to blowing up. Take the NC region. How many guys have R6s? Take that into account in today's age. You can't say "well, it hasn't been that way" when in fact, the R6s weren't as popular even back in 06. Back in 06, I don't remember this many guys complaining about R6s blowing up. They weren't as dominate, either in terms of numbers...

Point is that in today's age of bike building, what do you want? Do you want speed and agility? If so, you need to give some things up. Like dependability and strength. Nobody seems to complain that these bikes are pretty much nothing but pop cans once they crash. Remember the F2/F3 era? You could hit a wall head on and all you'd have to do is bend the subframe back cloe into original position.

These are race bikes that are spinning up to absurd RPMs and are pushed pretty hard. Guys who use the rev limiter as a shift point are common anymore. I can't believe the number of guys who dance on the limiter...

Hondas look the most reliable because they are the fewest out there. GSXRs and ZX6Rs are in that second place and trust me, there are enough guys like the OP has stated that claim GSXRs and ZX6Rs are prone to blowing up. R6s? LOTS of R6s out there. They are the dominate bike and have good contingency so, of course the grids are full of such bikes. It's bound to happen more... Taylor blowing up his ZX6Rs could be something where they try things and they don't work out. Or, he could be on a bike that when pushed to a level it needs to be in order to be a top contender, is prone to engine issues. To be fast, one risks these things. Gone are the days where a guy can buy a bike, slap on race tires and be competitive. At each event - even regionally - you need a stack of new tires, race fuel, and have your engine built in order to be level with everyone else. It's just the way it is. Welcome to racing...

These guys blowing 4-6 motors? They have issues in what they are doing as opposed to it being a bike problem.

 

This is all true, except that back in 06, most everyone was racing GSXR's and nobody was talking about those blowing up at that point (earlier ones were a different story).

 

That sucks.

 

huh...all of a sudden i have a new found respect for ducatis.

 

I can speak for the R6 as well as Rob Jensen and Taylor Knapp. I built Rob's R6 engine last year as well as this year. I dont know of any engine problems he has had as of speaking with him yesterday over these past two seasons. He may have had to replace a head gasket this season, but I am not positive about that.

Taylor rode my R6 at the AMA rounds at Mid-Ohio, VIR, and Road Atlanta. The FX engine was totally reliable with no problems over those rounds. I did build him a new SS engine for Road Atlanta that did have problems on the first day. I still have not totally gotten to the bottom of that problem, but will. These engines spin very high and like to be kept at those high rpms. This puts a real load on the valvetrain, bearings, and rods. The more specific power output you get, the more maintainance you should put into it.


Rocky Stargel
Team Stargel

 

I agree with Brian. The reason the R6 seems to be a popular one for going boom is because they are the most popular out there. The last 2-3 races I've been too - almost every bike is an R6. Take the last 3-region BeaveRun event. Of the 30 bikes or so in the 600 race, I think maybe 3 weren't R6's. And yeah the Honda's are reliable. No one runs them.

One bike Drew was talking about this year was a Superbike motor, so that takes that one out of question for "reliability issues". Mine was a motor that should have been freshened up beforehand, but due to time, we didn't do it. Our bad there. Like any strong motor build, it needs to be kept well-tuned and fresh throughout it's life cycle.

 

And Rocky has hit on a key point. Racebikes consume fuel, oil, tires and PARTS. Figuring out the racing service life of parts and replacing them prior to the end of that life, helps quite a bit.

 

I feel bad for him too.

 

the 06 and early 07 R6's had bearing problems correct?

 

Its more like the R6 bearings had people problems.

The bearings on this R6 are just dandy. Unfortunately, the (aftermarket) piston that came apart... not so much.



Never did find that valve head.

 

i think it's inside those chunks of alum.

 

having been into race engines etc for a very long time, the engines death is typically a result from the operators.

like lizard was saying, so many guys bounce them off the rev limiters. that's not a good thing to be doing.

I'm still riding my stock R6 around tracks and it has 34k miles on it.
it doesnt burn oil, it doesn't make any strange noises etc. the valves were just checked at 32k miles and they were all in specs.

I rarely need to take it to the redline. I typically shift around 14.5 etc. and I dont have any problems keeping up with anyone else.
the power drops after 14.5 anyway.

yeah big deal you got your race license and race wera...that doesn't mean you know jack shit about the bike and how to not blow it up. a real rider knows the limits of his equipment.

I bet most of these guys are downshifting while the engine is already at 15k rpm and letting it hit 17rpm when they let the clutch out.
I've seen a lot of racers videos doing just that. that will drop a valve in a second. it's called decel over rev.

 

Yeah, and dont you just love those racers that come back in after a race and rev the crap out of their engines. Then they wonder what happened.