Street triple running rough/misfiring

[Squircle]

Hi all,

More problems with the Striple. I took it out of storage a few weeks ago, and it ran fine for a while. This last week it's been in my garage because of the constant rain, so it's been stood with not much petrol in it for about 7 days.

I took it out today and went to Tescos to get some petrol. The petrol light was on. I filled up, then set off on a bit of a ride. After about 10 minutes the bike started sounding a lot louder, and then started to misfire. When I stopped there was a very small amount of smoke rising from the exhaust pipe above the bellypan. I left it for a couple of minutes then started it up again, and it seemed fine for about a mile before it started getting loud and misfiring again.

On the way back, in traffic when the bike got hot it would run a lot rougher, but once on the dual carriageway it would get a bit smoother. Power was down at higher temps and as I got home it was close to stalling. Video link below, you can hear the rough engine noise right at the beginning then the misfires at idle speeds. I was going slow because it was being so erratic, hence the overtaking cars.

https://youtu.be/9VYSJ9z0XlE

Any ideas? I'm currently thinking either a coil, or spark plugs, but could it be condensation in the tank? Or a bad batch of petrol? I have very little mechanical skill so it will have to go to the dealership but I like to have a few informed opinions

EDIT: Bike is a 2012, with 2800 miles on the clock. Was serviced about six months ago.
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Current: Triumph Street Triple ABS (2016)
Honda NX700x (2013)

[MarJay]

Did you accidentally put diesel in the tank?
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F; Cheap project: CBR900RR FireBlade
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Squircle]

I did actually consider that, I wasn't paying a huge amount of attention when I filled it up and I didn't get a receipt or anything. I don't think I did because the tank was near empty and I filled it to the brim, and it kept going for the next 40 minutes and started up fine this morning. Plus I gave it a sniff this morning and (although I don't know what diesel smells like having never had anything but petrol vehicles) it smelt like petrol to me.

The timing of it suggests bad petrol, I called Triumph and the first thing they asked was where the petrol was from. I said Tesco, he said it's likely that, they've had a few recently with water in.

I'm tempted to run it through a bit and put some high octane stuff in when there's room.
____________________
Current: Triumph Street Triple ABS (2016)
Honda NX700x (2013)

[Matt B]

[Squircle]

Yeah that's fair enough, it's just that it was running absolutely fine up until about 4 miles after the refill that made me think that. The bike isn't under warranty so if there's a way I can avoid taking it in I'd rather exhaust all other options first.

If you listen to the vid when the bike is stopped, especially in the second clip, you can hear how variable the idle is.

If I do run the petrol through am I risking any damage to the engine if it turns out to be bad plugs?
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Current: Triumph Street Triple ABS (2016)
Honda NX700x (2013)

[temeluchus]

Pull the plugs, see what they look like, if one cylinder is acting up the difference will be obvious.
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Some shite cruiser. Now with guns and FREEDOM!

[Nexus Icon]

Perhaps it's only running on 3?



More seriously, Tesco have been known to have water in their fuel tanks before, especially when they're low. If there were zero issues before you filled up then it has to be a suspect.
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Greetings from Shitsville!

[Rogerborg]

[Nexus Icon]

[Squircle]

I have not, no. It has to be said, I'm really not terribly handy
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Current: Triumph Street Triple ABS (2016)
Honda NX700x (2013)

[Pigeon]

It definitely sounds like it's running on two cylinders, not just a missfire. But it's a bit tricky to judge from video.

I don't see how a bad batch of fuel would make 1 cylinder not work.

18mths ago, a mate was telling me that he lost a cylinder on his ER6 and it was down to a large crack appearing in one of the coils.
Apparently not an unknown problem.

He preceded to tell me that the Street Triple has the same coils. I'm not sure if he meant they were literally the same, or if he was referring to the modern practice of incorporating the coils into the spark plug cap.
Because they are so much closer to the engine, they go through much more extreme cycles of hot/cold and can perish so much faster.

I would think it's very much worth popping the tank up and inspecting coils / HT leads / plug caps.

EDIT:
Ahh ok, later on in the video it does just sound like a missfire.

[andys675]

the caps are all the same part, identify which cylinder is misfiring and then change the caps over to see if the problem moves
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Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.

[Squircle]

Quick update; just took it for a spin around the block a few times. It ran absolutely fine until it reached about 6 bars on the temperature gauge, then started very quickly to sound rough, power dropped and misfiring.

Pulled back into the drive and took a look at it; the midsection of the exhaust, just after the three pipes merge into one at the underside of the bike, was absolutely glowing red hot.
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Current: Triumph Street Triple ABS (2016)
Honda NX700x (2013)

[Matt B]

Have you pulled the plugs out and checked them?

Pull the plugs out and check them...

Do it now...
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stinkwheel: He had an animated .gif of a cat performing fellatio. It's not socially acceptable. It can have real life adverse effects on other people.

[Squircle]

I don't know how to do that. If it were my Honda I'd just go at it but I'm worried with the triumph that my lack of expertise I'll just make things worse or damage something.

I could just do with knowing roughly if this sounds like a major engine problem and if it's safe/advisable to ride it the four miles to the dealership.

The bike is 2 1/2 years old and has done 2800 miles, but it spends so much time being fixed. It had the sticking oil pressure valve last year that meant I couldn't ride it all summer because they couldn't figure it out. Now it's out of warranty and I'm worried I'm going to have a big bill on my hands.
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Current: Triumph Street Triple ABS (2016)
Honda NX700x (2013)

[Carvel]

[Squircle]

[Carvel]

You need to get the plugs out. It will be a tank off job but a bit of common sense and a haynes manual will make it simple enough. Gonna be hard to say what it is until you check the plugs
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2002 Aprilia RSV1000R, Cbr600Fs, Mk1 B12, Vfr400 NC30...

Matt B: I can deal with crushed nuts to beat Ollie.

[Squircle]

I'll have to take it in. The dealership have said they can't look at it until the end of the month so it's even more time without the bike.

I know you guys find stuff like that simple but if anyone can mess up an easy job it would be me.
____________________
Current: Triumph Street Triple ABS (2016)
Honda NX700x (2013)

[temeluchus]

https://www.triumphrat.net/street-triple-forum/176659-diy-street-triple-spark-plug-and-air-filter-change.html

looks pretty straightforward.
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Some shite cruiser. Now with guns and FREEDOM!

[Tracer1234]

Google is your friend. Its a simple enough job to take a look under the tank, i'm sure you can figure it out.

Order a manual if needs be, it is better than waiting till the end of the month.
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Riding: Yamaha MT-09 Tracer Occasionally Riding: 08 Suzuki SV650, Potato: 2011 Yamaha YBR Custom.
Used to ride: 2015 Yamaha MT-09 Tracer (smidsy) 09 Triumph Street Triple (P/X'd) 08 Yamaha YBR (Sold)
CBT 04/14. A: Mod 1 & 2 13/04/15

[Squircle]

[Tracer1234]

Perfect time to start learning, we all started somewhere. just follow instructions and do plenty of research as you go.
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Riding: Yamaha MT-09 Tracer Occasionally Riding: 08 Suzuki SV650, Potato: 2011 Yamaha YBR Custom.
Used to ride: 2015 Yamaha MT-09 Tracer (smidsy) 09 Triumph Street Triple (P/X'd) 08 Yamaha YBR (Sold)
CBT 04/14. A: Mod 1 & 2 13/04/15

[Matt B]

[Squircle]

I decided to take a look at the plugs but couldn't see anything wrong with them, then decided I was out of my depth looking for any further causes and had it recovered to Triumph.

They said a coil was dropping out so they took a look, turns out the wire was loose.

I'm going to pay the hour's labour and get back on the road, but I'm wondering how the wiring was loose when the only people who have had that bike apart has been triumph when it had the sticking oil pressure valve last year. When I got it back the indicators weren't wired up right, so you can imagine I kinda suspect something similar here, but I don't have the knowledge to say for sure.

To be honest, I'm just glad the bike is fixed and it hasn't cost a fortune!
____________________
Current: Triumph Street Triple ABS (2016)
Honda NX700x (2013)