04' Loud engine rattle/knocking

[sangair21]

My 04' GS500f makes a loud knocking/rattle noise when it is sitting at idle. The warmer the bike gets, the louder the noise becomes. It does this when in neutral and with the bike in gear and the clutch pulled in. It can be heard over the running engines of other bikes and cars at stop lights.

Two different dealerships say there is nothing wrong with it. Suzuki customer support says that the noise will go away as I put more miles on it. However, it is getting louder as I put more miles on it.

This is my first GS500. Do these bikes really make this much noise?

[scratch]

Compared to what? I ask this because, unless you're nearby, we can't hear how loud your bike is, unless we're in person. These are air-cooled bikes, and air-cooled bikes tend to be noisier. My first thought was oil level; not enough oil and things get noisy.

One more thing might be if the bike is brand new (i.e.: less than 600 miles/before 1st service), and enough metal shavings are floating in the oil to clog an oil galley, that would be bad. And, I don't know if that's covered under warranty. Not that I want to heap a bunch of worry on ya. You may just have a loud bike.

[Kerry]

I can't tell for sure from the description, but you may be hearing "camshaft endplay".  See the New GS-500F Owners - Engine noise message thread.

For more info, use the Search link at the top of this page.  Specify the keywords camshaft endplay and mark the "Search for all terms" radio button before clicking Submit.

[sangair21]

Kerry,

Thanks for the pointer to the other thread, the clunk clunk noise everyone has described there sounds like the issue I'm having.

[MarkusN]

OK, so if it's irregular don't bother too much; camshaft endplay doesn't do any damage.

However, if you say LOUD, and it's clearly RPM related I am thinking rod bearing / crankshaft / balancer shaft (one of the plain bearings in the lower end). That can quickly develop if you run only ONCE with insufficient lubrication (for whatever reason).

If that's the case you are in for a lower end rebuild. With a new bike a clear assessment what has caused this (so who pays) would be in order.

Don't want to scare you, but if it's LOUD and RPM related it's bad.

[J-Double]

I took it back to the dealership and the mechanice told me it was "the engine parts moving."  He told me it was normal and nothing to worry about.  

Mine is very faint knocking sound. Nothing loud.