Overheating GSXR - Head Gasket?

Dutcavich

New Member
2006 GSXR 600

Went down on turn one at Thunderbolt last July (lost my front end on entry). Bike flipped a good couple times.

Pieced it back together for an August track day to shake off the nerves. Noticed bike was heating up to 215 in the pits before even getting out on track. On track the temp dropped to normal operating temps, but it seemed sluggish. Terrible top end.

Going back into pits the temp is starting to climb again, and when the bike is shut off it begins puking out the reservoir tank. Did a couple refills with water and "burped" the bike while leaning on it's side... Same issue after next session.

Some people are telling me radiator cap, others are saying blown head gasket, possibly from the wreck. A part of me is happy because that means I should just buy a new(er) bike, but another part of me is thinking I should ride this one out one more season before I step into a more serious bike.

Kaups Cycle is right around $1000 for a Head Gasket. The bike doesn't have any suspension goodies or anything. Bought it for like $2800. Wondering if it's even worth fixing...

What would you guys do? This is only my second season riding on the track. I Ride in A-group everywhere except N2 (of course). If I remember correctly I was running :37's on this bike at Thunderbolt. Not awesome but not too bad.
 

tdelegram

Control Rider
Fix it, it’s still cheaper than a new bike, otherwise sell it to Emerson and he’ll part it out. Stock suspension should get most riders into the middle of the A group.
 

HondaGalToo

Control Rider
Here's a simple thing to check if you haven't already, as I didn't see it mentioned. Is the fan coming on? It comes on around 215-220.
 

Dutcavich

New Member
Fix it, it’s still cheaper than a new bike, otherwise sell it to Emerson and he’ll part it out. Stock suspension should get most riders into the middle of the A group.

My forks are bottoming out. I rented an '07 GSXR 750 for a day at VIR with a full suspension and it was almost telepathic. But yeah, point taken.
 

bmart

Control Rider
Diagnose before you throw parts/money/time at it. Do you have a manual and a knowledgeable local friend who will work for food? Head gasket seems really unlikely. Any oil missing or in the coolant/exhaust/outside of the engine? Any coolant missing or in the oil/exhaust/outside of the engine? Check coils (be sure that they are HOT despite what the manual says). There are some resistance specs on them.
 

Dutcavich

New Member
Diagnose before you throw parts/money/time at it. Do you have a manual and a knowledgeable local friend who will work for food? Head gasket seems really unlikely. Any oil missing or in the coolant/exhaust/outside of the engine? Any coolant missing or in the oil/exhaust/outside of the engine? Check coils (be sure that they are HOT despite what the manual says). There are some resistance specs on them.
I have the manual, and a buddy of mine is a mechanic. He said he has a sniffer tool that can see if my head gasket is blown...? Not sure about that one.

As soon as the weather gets above freezing I'll get out in the garage and check those.
 

Otto Man

John
Control Rider
My forks are bottoming out. I rented an '07 GSXR 750 for a day at VIR with a full suspension and it was almost telepathic. But yeah, point taken.

So you're comparing set up, maintained suspension against a bike that you have no idea when the forks and shock were serviced (have they ever been serviced?)? Not exactly equal comparisons.

Regarding engine trouble, always try the easy stuff first. New radiator cap is cheap.

As far as what would I would do, that completely depends on what my (your) future goals would be.
 

Dutcavich

New Member
So you're comparing set up, maintained suspension against a bike that you have no idea when the forks and shock were serviced (have they ever been serviced?)? Not exactly equal comparisons.

Regarding engine trouble, always try the easy stuff first. New radiator cap is cheap.

As far as what would I would do, that completely depends on what my (your) future goals would be.
You're right. I have no idea when the last time my bikes suspension was serviced. If ever. I purchased it from a N2 control rider as a track only starter bike.

My goal is to run some late season CCS races, be very comfortable and "belong" in the N2 "A" group, and keep honing my skills. Long term I'd like to compete more in CCS and endurance type events.

Just to not steer this entire thread towards "suspension", I only brought that up as a way to say I'm not heavily invested in this bike. It came with a basic track setup, but no expensive parts like suspension. Meaning, if I was going to start dumping money into a bike, would YOU dump it into a 2006 GSXR 600?? That's what I was getting at...

I appreciate all the feedback! Again, I only have 10 track days under my belt... so keep the opinions coming.
 

bacolmm

New Member
I had a similar issue with my 2011 750. Seems like the cooling systems on these bikes are pretty marginal. First I would recommend "burping" the hell out of the cooling system. First, drain it completely and then measure what you put back in, obviously if it's filling up before you're at the capacity you have an air bubble. Lean the bike over side to side with the rad cap off, engine running and blip the throttle. Make sure you loosen the bolt on the water pump and get some coolant flowing out. Second, what is the condition of your radiator? Are you running a guard? I ended up replacing my radiator, which didn't look terrible and that seemed to solve the issue. I also removed the thermostat.
 

Otto Man

John
Control Rider
You're right. I have no idea when the last time my bikes suspension was serviced. If ever. I purchased it from a N2 control rider as a track only starter bike.

My goal is to run some late season CCS races, be very comfortable and "belong" in the N2 "A" group, and keep honing my skills. Long term I'd like to compete more in CCS and endurance type events.

Just to not steer this entire thread towards "suspension", I only brought that up as a way to say I'm not heavily invested in this bike. It came with a basic track setup, but no expensive parts like suspension. Meaning, if I was going to start dumping money into a bike, would YOU dump it into a 2006 GSXR 600?? That's what I was getting at...

I appreciate all the feedback! Again, I only have 10 track days under my belt... so keep the opinions coming.


Lots of "want" vs "need" in this sport. 'Need' being a very subjective term obviously, as none of us need anything for a hobby...anyways my 2 cents.

You won't find a path that doesn't have you pissing away money. You put money into your current ride and keep it going, or buy a newer bike that will depreciate over the time you own it. Pick your poison. Both have their ups and downs. Everyone likes having the newest bike they can afford, but everyone also does not like crashing the newest bike they can afford.

Remembering when I was in your spot, decent pace with about a dozen days under my belt, you have quite a bit of progression to go before you get to where you want to be. (Read: Bike is the last thing holding back your progression)

What does your bike not do that you need it to do? At this point it's obvious, it needs to stop over heating. But that might be an easy fix, no need to buy a new car just because you got a flat. Don't jump the gun just yet. Stock GSXR suspension will easily take you into 32's/33's at Tbolt. You might have to pick up a shock, as most OEM shocks turn into pogo sticks after 15 minutes of hard riding, but it's definitely not going to be impossible, even for mortal riders like us. Our endurance team ran 33s/34's on average for the entire 4 hours during the endurance at Tbolt. Stock front end and Ohlins shock on the ZX6.

At the end of the day, your budget will/should be the biggest deciding factor. Work backwards, figure out how many TD's and race weekends you want to do in 2018. How much does that cost? How many tires are you averaging? Add that. What's your budget for the 2018 season (you do have a budget, right?) What's left? Is that money enough to add to the [realistic] market value of your current bike and roll into something newer? In particular, something that you won't have to pour the same amount of 'maintenance money' that your current bike already needs?

To add another dimension into an already complex scenario, your current bike (assuming it's track only) isn't worth a whole lot as it sits if it does need a motor. However, motors are pretty cheap (and parts are cheap in general) for those bikes. There's about a 0% chance you will roll into something newer, nicer, that needs less work for less money than the money it would take to buy a new engine/refresh the suspension on your current ride.
 

tdelegram

Control Rider
John’s on point with his statements above, let me throw one more thing in, nothing gives me a bigger smile than when I pass the latest gen r1, gsxr1k or panigale on my out dated underpowered ktm. At our levels 80% rider 20% bike.
 

Otto Man

John
Control Rider
John’s on point with his statements above, let me throw one more thing in, nothing gives me a bigger smile than when I pass the latest gen r1, gsxr1k or panigale on my out dated underpowered ktm. At our levels 80% rider 20% bike.

Definitely this. Nothing made me feel better about our team than seeing it run 33's at VIR for over an hour straight (with Tim on board) on a bone stock 17,000 mile motor and a stock front end on the ZX6.
 

HondaGalToo

Control Rider
John just described why I'm still enjoying my 2007 gsxr 600, lol. Want a new bike? Sure! Need one? No, the gixxer is still serving the purpose quite nicely!
 

bmart

Control Rider
I can back that up with my old R6 bikes. Cheap cheap cheap fun. Inexpensive parts available everywhere all of the time. Easy to work on. No driver aids. Does anything I ask of it. And...one of them runs hot (to tie it in to the original post!).
 

Dave561

Control Rider
Director
Check with Jason at Karn’s for a professional shop. Also if it’s possible to be a cap then I’d buy a $15-20 cap first.
 

Dave561

Control Rider
Director
John’s on point with his statements above, let me throw one more thing in, nothing gives me a bigger smile than when I pass the latest gen r1, gsxr1k or panigale on my out dated underpowered ktm. At our levels 80% rider 20% bike.

I haven’t seen you pass my R1
 
Top