2011 Suzuki Gsxr 600 Clicking noise = Fi / F1 code C28 Secondary Throttle Valve Actuator (aka clicking noise)

Okay, so clearly i can't be the only one with this issue!!! Well I ended up having two issues smh!

But if you google the internet, it seems i'm the only one with a bike after 2007 that is having this issue. So i have been gathering information for days trying to figure out what to do... 

How it started... 

In April 2017  I repainted my fuel tank and couple fairings, which led me to do some basic maintenance to bike which also led to getting a new battery. The new battery was replaced by a "mega boost" battery in which the terminals were bigger than the leads (see pic below).

 Thus, I screwed the leads onto the big terminals and the bike started up and Voila! it works so left it alone. When i put the fuel tank back on one of the fuel line green clips broke off.. f@#$ cheap clips! Thanks Suzuki! smh Anyway, I pushed the fuel line hose onto the fuel tube without the broken clip and figure i deal with it later. Closed up the tank and that was that.

Fast forward to August (3 months later)...

Week one - I put my key in the ignition and the regular engine and fuel pump prime noise (this is BEFORE starting the bike), after the buzzing sound i hear a couple of loud clicks. I look around thinking maybe it was a squirrel breaking some tree branches and dismissed it. From that point on, everytime i put the bike in start position BEFORE i start the engine it made that annoying clicking noise. I wasn't embarrassed by it but mostly annoyed  because i didn't know what it was. I wasn't get an Fi/F1 light (it's really Fi not F(one) because it stands for fault indicator - as soooo many people have corrected me but on suzuki gsxr it LOOKS like F#1 smh. 

Clicking noise...   See video -  https://youtu.be/NwviUfK3L00

Anyway back to the story.. so with no Fi light coming on and the bike still turned over beautifully and gave me no other issues such as power/idle etc. The exhaust spit at me a couple of times but that became the norm since i purchased the bike with an aftermarket M4 exhaust and was told it's normal (i don't care if its not at this point- not primary concern). So riding away I went until... 

Week two - the dreaded Fi light came on. I dismissed it thinking it was the exhaust and i'll deal with it later along with the clicking noise. The light came on and off when it felt like it. I didn't start freaking out until the Fi light came on and STAYED on. Now i'm like WTF - oh hell no! There's a problem! When that Fi light comes on and doesn't go away you better figure out why. So I looked up ways to find the "dealer codes" from the fi light which is equivalent to a check engine light on a car. So I wasn't about to pay dealer $80-250 for a diagnostics (yes those are real quotes!) so found out how to do it myself .Okay I cheated.. i found out by my neighbor actually did it while i stood over his shoulders and watched lol

How to Check F1 light or Fl and Get Code Fast easy and Free  with a paperclip or a real wire 
Link -  https://youtu.be/ASpevsDkN30
Link -   https://youtu.be/70SQEdwAY1w

 ... so my neighbor felt bad for me and finally agreed to look at my bike and figure out what that clicking sounds since i blew up his cell phone non stop with ideas that it's the fuel pump, the starter, bad battery, the solenoid / starter relay, the engine, the exhaust. I don't know, i was getting ideas from everyone but since my neighbor has a 750 gsxr and been riding all his life i knew he would know. So one afternoon I stopped at Cycle gear thinking it was a bad battery  connection since remember the terminals were too big  and i thought maybe the clicking it coming because the starter relay isn't getting enough juice. In my head it made sense. The guy at the store asked "does the bike turn on"... i said "of course it does, that's how i got here" ... so he looked at me funny and said 'well then it's not the battery'.. this went back and forth for five minutes until i fully processed what he said.. then like a sad puppy i walked away and got back on my bike to head home. My neighbor said to stop by he is in a town over, i said great. so i filled up my gas tank (since the empty fuel tank light comes out because suzuki hasn't figured out how to let you know WHEN you're out of gas BEFORE you're actually out of gas). 

So i filled up and pushed over 100mph to get to my neighbor friend house. I was so excited, time to get this over with. He comes out to the street where i'm parked and seems startled. He asked.. 'is your bike leaking'... i said of course ' i don't know.. why'.. he said 'because it IS leaking'. So now i'm freaking out with him, thinking a hose broke like the radiator. He gets down and says 'that's gas!'. Of course being naive i'm like 'yeah that's normal, it came from that little hose on the side'... he gave me the stank eye and i know in his head he was probably calling me a dummy lol but would never say it outloud. Long story short... remember that fuel line i put back onto the fuel tube (air filter case) when i put my bike back together in April.. remember how i said that cheap plastic retainer clip broke off? Yeah well three months later, the fuel hose/line decided to completely come off the tube and was pouring all over insides of my gsxr waiting for it to ignite at any moment. Gas was pouring out on the bike and the ground. Now i was officially freaking out and so was he. He knew this before he even lifted the tank to check the fuel line hose (under gsxr tank https://youtu.be/782Rd9cBAZ0 ) He closed the tube and held it together with a zip tie since i still had to ride bike home (against his advice). So now that's another issue.. combing the globe to find that fuel line retainer clip (item #15815-35F00).... still looking. Below pic of green retainer clip that broke and then pic of zip ties holding fuel line in tube. 

  

Anyway, back to the clicking noise... as soon as i put the key in 'on' position. He said 'this happened to my gsxr 750 .. it's the STVA / Secondary throttle valve actuator '. My heart completely sunk because reality hit that it wasn't a guessing game no more.. it just got real! So real that now i was panicking thinking 'oh no do i have to take this to the dealer' .. and i'm sitting there in my head calculating which credit card to use.  I asked my neighbor... could i fix it myself or take to the dealer. He said you're good... you can buy the part (actuator) online and do it yourself. He said as long as the throttle valve stayed open NOT closed, then i was good and could ride but short term.. i still have to get it fixed. Oh my goodness i wanted to hug him and never let go. Best news a biker can hear is 'you can fix it yourself no need to take to the dealer'. Whew so with this new found information i was ready to google the hell out of STVA.. .and i did!  He did the wire thing to get the Fi code and it was C028. Bingo! Time to get started... 

My neighbor said remove the air filter cover and make sure the butterflies/ throttle is opening and closing. In order to ride I need to turn bike on and make sure the throttle stays open... it will effect my power at low speeds but i can still ride it until i fix it.

View video on how it is suppose to look. Mines opened and closed, so that's a good thing even though i still have to change the STVA    -  https://youtu.be/7VA0Sol5-JY

So now I've been all over the internet as my next step is to fix this STVA.. of course i'll make a youtube video of it. All the videos i saw were older bikes which is a little disappointing but i'll keep looking or simply make my own video... below are my notes for reference.

WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

As of March 2, 2018 here's an update. It's not the STVA.... but if you want to fix STVA i have info below.. but don't waste your money unless you're sure it's the STVA. For me it was the Servo on my after market exhaust!!!!!

UPDATE>> Okay my neighbor works on bikes and has a gsxr but thank goodness I took my bike to a real professional (motorcycle shop where they do this everyday and not just on the weekend) and found out that since I have an aftermarket exhaust on my bike (purchased bike like that already).. the problem was that my SERVO was blocking and thus giving me an fi light as well as the clicking noise. Once he fixed the servo- BAM!!! No more clicking noise or fi light. I had the bike  servo fixed November 2017 and today is March, 2, 2018 and no problems since. I’ve ridden over 300 miles and still no issues. Yep it was the servo. Just wanted to update so nobody goes and purchase a STVA and don’t need it. Save it for something else that will eventually need fixing.

EXPLANATION... 

The exhaust servo motor controls the butterfly valve for the stock exhaust. When you turn on your bike you should hear it spin, thus opening the valve. You can remove the cables, with the valve in the open position, but this will throw an error code to your ECU and your FI light will come on. 

All after market exhausts do not use this butterfly valve/servo motor set-up, so when you change out to an after market exhaust, your FI light will come on. Any (if not most) exhausts you buy should come with a servo block plate, a piece of metal that you mount onto the servo motor that makes the ECU think that the servo is doing its job. This plate puts resistance on the servo, just like the cables did when they opened the butterfly valve. I know that Two Brothers provides a servo eliminator/block plate. 

If you want an alternative route, search for "cheaper servo eliminator" or "servo buddie" and you will find eJeremy selling an electrical servo eliminator that he has perfected to trick the ECU into thinking that the servo motor is doing its job, when in fact you take the motor out entirely and just use a small, light electrical device. This is what I use with my Two Brothers exhaust and it works perfectly.

As for right now, you have to get the servo motor back into its original position and reattach the servo cables to the motor and the valve. You can pull the code from the ECU to double check that it is the servo motor causing the FI light to appear, but after what you have just described it sounds like it is. You would just want to get that light to shut off in case anything else went wrong, the indicator would make you aware of it. Best of luck to you.

See link: http://www.zxforums.com/forums/zx-6r-forum/43577-exhaust-valve-servo.html

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How to fix stva

http://www.motorcycleforums.net/forum/gixxer-mixer/25721-secondary-throttle-valve-actuator-defect.html

What is STVA/  Code C28 on gsxr

Gsxr Secondary Throttle Valve Actuator (STVA) – temporary quick fix

Biker #1

Okay i have a 04 gsxr 600, When i bought it the FI and the red light where ON already on the dash...Also the exhaust was doin a popping noise which one member (jetmechanic) guide me how to plug my pair valve, which i did... So my exhaust doesn't do no more poppin noise but my FI keeps on flashin and the little red light still on So i got to learn how to pull the dealer code to my bike and it gave me a -C28= Secondary Throttle Valve Actuator. I dont have no Idea what this means so What should i do??? Take to a bike Shop or is it something simple i can do myself??? Please help Im new to this bike stuff

Biker #2 Response - That generally means you need a new STVA unit. That is the actuator that controls the upper (visible from the top) throttle butterflies. If you can find a working used one parted from an 04 or 05 (some other years may work but I don't know for sure) you can install it yourself. If you don't know what you're doing by all means take it to the dealer.

Biker #3 Response - i had an 04 gsxr 600 as well with the same exact problem. u can buy just the actuator itself. i picked mine up used for 100 bucks and changed it myself. if u take it to a dealer theyll tell u that u have to buy a whole new throttle body wich will cost u about 1100 plus labor. its a small black box at the end of your throttle body. Theres also a way to fix some of them if you take the stva apart. do this by drilling the rivets out of it. then it should split in half. make sure all connections are soddered together tighly. if not resoder them together. try that b4 buying a new one. it didnt work for me, but did on a buddy of mines bike. this code is pretty comon in gixxers.

-lift tank.
-remove airbox.
-if i remember rite the stva is on the right hand side of bike.
theres 2 screws on the outside edge. take them out.
-unplug the 2 wires connected to it
- it should then pull off
-replace new one.
-plug wires back in
- screw back to throttle body
-put airbox back on then tank.

Biker #4 Response: If your SVTA is broken and you can remove the TB blades off and your bike will run just a good. You can do this until you find a replacement item.  Currently there is no way to defeat the error code as…… (Biker #1 asked.. what are the Blades so Biker #4 responded) Remove your airbox then you will see in the little circular blades or something resembling a valve. Whip out the screwdriver and remove the two screws that hold them on. Do all four then you can bolt everything back up ride.

Biker # 5 Response - I bought a wrecked 750 2003 with the same issue (Of course I didn't recognize it until later on). You can do just as he says there are 2 small screws located on each of the blades and take them out. Or you can find a way to mount the top portion to keep the valves open. Your bike may not idle the same, so be sure to adjust the screw to keep it slightly above where it should normally be. But to be honest I noticed a larger difference in acceleration and top speed with it propped opened. I am no expert, but I would say the aerodynamics of those top and bottom blades adds to some sort of vortex affect.
My bike ran perfect this year, and this is what I had done.

http://www.gsxr.com/13-tech-performance-chat/71779-c28%3D-secondary-throttle-valve-actuator.html

2011 Suzuki Gsxr 600 Clicking noise = Fi / F1 code C28 Secondary Throttle Valve Actuator (aka clicking noise)