Seriously Louding banging noises!"!

[Ross]

Hey all,

I was on the way home the other night from work (100mile drive) and i get within probably 10 minutes of my house and im overtaking a car (on the motorway) doing around 80mph, bike has 64k miles on it, all of a sudden i get a loss of power, and about 100 yards down the road a banging noise starts, now i drop down to 60mph, goes quieter, then gets loud again, so i drop to 50mph it does the same, eventually i stop an think ive just over heated the bike a little as did 80-90mph most of the 100 miles home.

So i leave it and think if i go at 60mph ill get back and try to keep whatever is going wrong to a minumum. get about a mile down the road and the noise, is massive, i could hear if over a loud mp3 player i had in my ears inside a helmet:!!!!

now, wen i got it home after a pick up in the rain etc. when it just ticks over on idle, it doesnt bang or anything, but as soon as i accelerate, it bangs around, now its a gs500e 98 plate i believe.

i dont think its the cylinder heads but could be wrong, any insight?anyone?

[joshr08]

do you have oil in the motor?

[the mole]

IMHO, big end bearing.
Whatever it is, its going to need major work and $$$, or get a second hand motor. 

[Electrojake]

90MPH for a solid hour on a 12 year old GS with 64 thousand miles on the ODO and then loud banging from the engine room?
Split the case!
Post lots of Picts!
We're here for ya'

[burning1]

It's more likely a maintenance problem than it is a use or wear problem.

[gregvhen]

spun a bearing for sure.  fixable on a bike. on a car (which will actually sound pretty much the same) if you spin a bearing, your buying a new car. cause the cost of labor to take it all apart and replace it aint worth it.  for a bike if you can get a cheap used motor do that instead.  or if you work on your own stuff then you could save some bones and do it your self. but you will need to split the cases, and clean EVERY part of the engine to get all the metal bits out of the engine.  only do this if you shut the bike down pretty quickly. if you rode like that for a while then the crank is shot too, which is about 220 used on ebay. so sorry dude, but you got an expense and/or time consuming fix ahead of you.

EDIT: crank and rod are shot. as well as (most likely) many other parts.

[BeerGarage]

I think you are describing an intermittent, very loud noise, preceded by a temporary loss of power, correct?  Possibly an exhaust backfire?

Lose spark to one cyl (loss of power you mentioned), raw gas goes into the exhaust, hot exhaust ignites gas = BANG.

Wouldn't a bad bearing be Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang with every revolution of the engine all the way home?  

Just ideas.  I have never had an exhaust backfire or a bad bearing.

Let us know what you find.

edit: now that I re-read your post, It sounds like you are describing a bad bearing, bang bang bang all the way home. Sorry.

[Electrojake]

It's more likely a maintenance problem than it is a use or wear problem.

A maintenance issue?
Maintenance?

[sledge]

Unfortunately whatever is wrong with your engine is serious, my guess is mains or big-ends and it will involve major surgery to rectify. ie. out of the frame and split. However you have to ask yourself at that sort of mileage is a repair/rebuild worth the cost and effort? All the major components including the all important oil-pump will be approaching service limits and its likely that before long something else is going to fail and put you back. In your situation its far easier and more cost effective to source a replacement mill via a breaker and simply swap them over.

You said motorway and I am going to assume like me that you are in the UK, so to give you a rough idea of costs you will pay about £300 tops plus any delivery charges for a good secondhand mill with some guarantee from a breaker.

Google for a breaker local to you and get in touch with them but dont forget to haggle!

Some breakers I have dealt with and can recommend include......

http://www.bertiesbikebreakers.com/

http://www.blacksbike-shop.co.uk/

http://www.westcoast-salvage.com/

http://www.cheshiremotorcyclesalvage.com/

A few tips........Avoid ebay and private sellers, they are just out to make a few quid and will happily pass their shaZam!e onto someone else for a few quid. Determine exactly what is included with the engine, otherwise you may find it turning up with missing covers etc. Also a lot of GS5s end up at the breakers owing to the fact the splines have worn off the O/P shaft so ensure the shaft is servicable before parting with any cash. You will need fresh oil, a filter and plugs and a couple of exhaust seling rings. For piece of mind do a valve check when its in and running.

EDIT......This would be worth considering....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Suzuki-GS500E-Engine-17145-Miles-/300388720855?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts

[gregvhen]

It's more likely a maintenance problem than it is a use or wear problem.

A maintenance issue?
Maintenance?

yea, it could be a maintenance issue if your oil is bad and thats why the bearing locked up. gotta feed the bike what it wants.

[Electrojake]

It's more likely a maintenance problem than it is a use or wear problem.

A maintenance issue?
Maintenance?

yea, it could be a maintenance issue if your oil is bad and thats why the bearing locked up. gotta feed the bike what it wants.

Oh, now I understand.
A lack of maintenance issue.
Got It!

-Ej-

[jeremy_nash]

-Ej-

I hope that bearing didnt come from your motor!

[Electrojake]

Well yeah but on the positive side. . .
I can go 9000 miles on a single oil change!

P.S. Hey Ross, how bout' a follow-up.
What ever happened to your bike bro?
-Ej-

[Ross]

Sorry its been a while guys, ive been on holiday for a week.... it is fatal...
a garage stripped it, crank shaft has gone which they tell me requires a)an engine rebuild
or b) get a new bike 

[sledge]

So its terminal eh....well 64k is not a bad innings for a GS5 

Part the bike out on ebay and make yourself a few quid. I will make you an offer on the carbs and fuel tap, PM me if you want to sell them.

[Electrojake]

Sorry to hear about your loss.
And yes! Exactly what Sledge said. . .
Post the bike for parts on the forum.

A quick check on Ebay puts a used engine at $800.00 US, so getting another GS might actually be the wiser choice.

One final thing you should do. . .
Start a new thread announcing that you obliterated your 64,000 mile GS while doing a 90 MPH marathon run and you were looking for members opinions on what your next bike should be.
Set a reasonable price range or you'll be getting suggestions about 2011 Goldwings and BMW Hp2's etc...
It should make for some interesting opinions though.

Keep us informed,
And thanks for posting the follow-up.
-Ej-   

[The Buddha]

If you're paying a shop - buy a motor from someone you know isn't likely to sell you a dead one, cos it will be $$$$ to rebuild yours.
Cool.
Buddha.

[The Buddha]

BTW you check for goats ?
Cool.
Buddha.

[Ross]

Thanks for the tips guys, think i might break it as a project, strip it down, thing is, i bought brand new ingition switches, clocks and mirrors recently and this happens lol, thats life! lol

PS. ill let you know when i strip it for parts

[gregvhen]

if it makes you feel any better i spun a bearing AND broke a magnet on the generator roto bout 3 weeks ago.  and broke the starter clutch while getting the rotor off the crank shaft.  and this all happened 1 week before i left for school so i still havent even got to work on putting it back together.  it couldnt happen at the beginning of summer, or sometime in the middle.  no it had to run perfectly and show no signs of wear all summer long and then decide to go kapoot right before school.  oh well.  just thought that might make you feel less bad about your bike