Riding in the Rain?

Last Sunday I was out for a ride on my 961. It started off as a sunny day but the sky quickly became black. I pulled into a restaurant just as the heavens opened. When the rain was over I got back on the bike and rode home.

However I had the following problems: These problems were intermittent. The bike would run normally for a while and then it would lose power and splutter. Then it would run fine for a short period. Then it would make that "burbling" sound bikes make when you are downshifting on a bike with a free-flow exhaust system . . . almost backfiring . . . but not quite. Then it would be fine . . . and then it would lose power again. Then it would be fine.

I got home safely and parked the bike indoors. The next day I went for a ride and the bike performed beautifully . . . as if it had dried out.

That's the first time I have ridden the Norton in the rain. It seems likely that water got into the system somewhere causing these problems.

I recently torqued the head bolts and perhaps I created a water-entry problem at the time?

Has anyone had a similar experience? Can anyone recommend potential water entry points to be checked?

Thanks!

I had this once after washing. I dielectric greased every connection and the problem went away. Not sure which one it was but all good now.

Possibly water getting into the air temp sensor pocket in the top of the air box ? If it rains hard enough water can get to the coils too. I would suggest buy a tube of silicone grease and doing what Richard-7 suggests. Pack those connections with grease. You will need to remove the tank to get to the coils and drop the air box down to get to the air temp sensor. Pack all the sensor connections .

I had a similar problem coming from the head temp sensor. That's the one behind the cylinders. Carefully try to wiggle this sensor, when it moves a bit it is possible you broke it while working on your cylinder heads...
Be cautious because this sensor can easily be broken. There is a thread about this from Richard-7 as well. Diselectric grease is a good idea anyway!
Raphi, Switzerland

Likewise I had the same problem and it was water getting into the coils.

Hi Roofus

I have had the same problem several times and had it into the dealer 3 times with same problem each time they said they had it sorted, the problem is don't want to go riding in the rain to see if the last fix worked . The last fix was new ecu but haven't tested in rain yet but inclined to think the coil fix will do it so am likely to order the new ones shortly .

Thanks for all the advice. A little waterproofing seems in order.