Seizing SRX's

[Steve H]

I found out why the SRX seized and I wasnt even looking for the problem !. I was moving stuff around the garage last night and picked up an SRX air box, peered inside and was surprised to see the K+N filter which was supposed to be in the bike. A couple of weeks before going to Holland I changed the air box as it was leaking and causing an erratic tickover (I'd modified it). Unfortunately I failed to swap the air filter over, on inspection the seal on the one in the bike has broken up and is letting air in around it. Hence it was running weak.
Moral - when a temparature gauge says its running hot, then it probabaly is !.

[peterj]

I had the same with the K&N element on mine after about a year. I replaced the seal with a bit of rubber draughtstrip which has lasted 8 years now.

If a leaking seal around the filter element caused it to sieze though, I'd be thinking of jetting it up a notch to give a little margin for comfort.

I certainly agree that if you see a sudden change in where your temperature needle sits, its time to look close.

Hope that you have better luck this rebuild, but just wondering - did you check the oil pump for wear while it was apart?

[Steve H]

New pump, gearbox, piston, rings, only done 1000 miles. It would probabaly have survived had it not been for the 300+ miles on the motorway which pushed the temperature too high.
Least I know why now.

[andy230]

I feel your pain steve!!  Sorry about that mate, most annoying.

But I'd agree with peter that it must have been fairly lean anyway, to seize just because the seal wasn't sealing.  The filter was there, how much could it have been drawing in by the side??

But aye, maybe sustained milage could have been the downfall...

Standard carbs?  Dynojetted??

a

[Steve H]

I havent looked at it closely but the seal is completely missing on one side, leaving a gap of around 5mm wide by 75mm, which must have been letting a fair amount of air in.

[peterj]

Just a last thought - I holed a piston in a GT500 Suzi years ago after fitting S&B pods. For some reason one of the filters got absolutely saturated with 2 stroke oil from the CCI feed to the carbs, and unable to suck normally, she found a weak point in the manifold joint and ran lean.

Just a thought that an old filter may have been more or less blocked and a similar thing happened to yours.

I guess that a few plug chops will be happening now anyway, and at least you know for sure where your temperature gauge shouldn't be pointing.

Hope it works out well this time.