So... *Ahem*
After 22,007 miles, my bike's engine seems to have... umm, eaten itself.
This morning, riding home from a friend's house... a very, very, very, very terrible grinding, stuttering, metal on metal, clanking, demonic-chainsaw type sound began issuing from my crankcase. God only knows whats wrong with it, but the engine was good enough to get me home on a very cold night, which I'd not like to be stuck out in.
All I know is that I was riding at about 85mph... and thought I heard a noise... a different note in the engine. By the time I got home, said chomping sound had escalated to ear splitting level. Oh yeah, the oil-pressure light was flickering for the last 2 minutes or so to my driveway.
I think it might be the transmission. I really dont know. I have no idea why the bike would suddenly start doing this. It could be a bent valve, but it sounds as if the noise is emenating from the crankshaft area. Either way, I dont think its something thats going to be economical to fix. Note that I replaced the clutch cover gasket a while back... everyone said to be careful about the alignment of the holes for the crank bearing journal oil passages. I did that, and that particular job was done motnhs ago.. I assume that if that was the problem, the engine would have manifested a problem a long time ago.
The bike has been occasionally popping out of gear from second into neutral, and has never been the smoothest of shifters. It also would occasionally make a sharp CRACK sound from the crankcase when starting... maybe once in every 10 cold starts.
The only other thing I can think of is that I left the choke on for a bit longer than normal riding home. It was super cold, and the engine didnt want to idle much. Also, I thought that the choke created a rich mixture... which, while causing fuel milage to suffer and throttle response to generally suck, shouldnt cause any damage to the engine, no? (I left it on for a few miles on the freeway... by the time I got to the onramp the bike still wasnt totally warmed up, and I kind of spaced out on it once I got on the 101 because there was a very clean Bandit 400 next to me that I was paying attention to).
As a corollary, my bike got mud-balled this evening... someone decided to take large snowball sized globs of mud and stick them on my instrument cluster, seat, and tank. Not throw them... just pile mud on my bike for no apparent reason. As far as I can tell, the two events are unrelated... but *shrug* who knows. Any way to vandalize a bike that would cause it to blow its engine about 25 miles down the line?
All in all, not a good day.
I really, really, really want a *new* bike. I love my GS, but its been very poorly taken care of over its life. I've tried to bring it back to life and give it all the TLC it deserves, but now its so screwed up I couldnt even sell it for half what I paid for it. I generally dont mind used things, but I like to take care of what I own, and not being able to tell what previous owners have done (or not done) kind of bugs me.
Anyway, I'm off to bed. I think I'm going to call into work tomorrow... there's a parts-bin special on Craigslist I might go check out. Complete 97 GS, its just in a few pieces. From the pics, I'm sure I can put her back together, then maybe part out the old bike. I'll still be out money though *sigh*.
Alternateively, I could just part out this bike and stop riding until I can afford a new machine. It should only be about 4 or 5 months at the rate I'm saving. Of course, then I have no way to get to work. :-\
I just cant seem to win.
Sorry to hear that Eisenfaust. I suspect they put mud down the oil dipstick. Hope something good turns up for you.
Well, if they did, It was only a little mud... or they didnt leave any evidence of it around the oil dipstick, since its not dirty. The oil level is a little low (About halfway between F and L), but having dealt with oil leaks putting the level far below that before, I somehow doubt thats why the engine burned up.
Could it have been from leaving the choke on too long? Or was it just this motor's particular time to go? Gah.
It figures, I start work at my new job on Tuesday, and I dont have a motorcycle anymore. :x :x :x
Maybe you got lucky and just sheared an oil pump drive-pin. And as far as rich mixture hurting a motor, it can but it generally takes a while. Rich can cause oil wash-down of the cylinder walls and crankcase oil dilution. In fact one of the best and easiest oil analysis methods is the seybolt viscosity test. You just find how long it takes a given amount of fresh oil to pass through an orifice through gravity feed and compare that with a standard diluted solution of fresh oil and fuel. As long as the oil in your engine passes in a time between those two points you probably don't have dilution. It doesn't really give any indication of internal engine condition but it does allow you to make assumptions about oil-change intervals as long as you have an engine in "good" mechanical condition. Sorry if this was a HI-jack...went riding an' it was too cold for me. But I love the little thing and this forum too.
C.......
I'm going to drain my oil soon.. sometime this afternoon. I'm trying to decide if I want to go to work today or not. I really, really, really dont want to ride the bus, but mostly because I'm just pissed off, and would have a crap day at work.
Actually, about that viscosity test... wouldnt comparing my oil to fresh oil give some indication of possible dilution? And wouldnt oil with gasoline mixed in smell kind of like gasoline?
If you know nothing will be hurt by staying home........where's the tools?? Tear into it and allay your fears. Love that little GS and this forum.
C.......
The tools are right by the door. I just dont know how to take the engine apart, heh.
Step by step...got a book? IC engines are fabulously simple. And being that the Baby G is air-cooled (the way the Motorcycle Gods intended) makes it even more fabulously simple. Unless you don't know a box-end from an open end you can do it and have lots of fun in the process. Love that howling little 500 and the GStwin forum.
C.......
I definitely know my way around an engine, I just dont have the book for tearing this one down. I can have the motor out of the bike in an hour or so, I think, and after that, it shouldnt be a problem.
I started it up again.. I dont think its the transmission. All the noise is coming from the lower end of the cylinder block. It sounds like the rods are knocking around inside the cylinders. Who knows.
You think you might have Goats ... did the motor feel very unbalanced ... noises are from flying crap ... or the extreme goats whihc is called Starwalts ...
Cool.
Srinath.
Unbalanced? Not really.. it still runs and still revs.
It definitely sounds like flying crap in the engine.
I dont really know what goats entails, or how I would have suddenly developed it for no reason. I guess I should take my stator cover off and have a look-see, though.
Quote from: Eisenfaust...........
It figures, I start work at my new job on Tuesday, and I dont have a motorcycle anymore. :x :x :x
Is your new job at a Suzi shop? If it is, discount.... discount..... discount..... :thumb:
I can't imagine living in SF without a bike. The No. 1 motorcycle town in the U. S. :cheers:
Hope you get her fixed soon.
Just start takin bolts out. :dunno:
well if you can't borrow a clymer localy (the libary may have one) I can loan you my spare.
Sounds like the classic Rod to crank bearing syndrome. If its the worst sound youve ever heard, then its probably that... :x i will never forget it.
The good news was i found a motor on ebay for 200 shipped... bad news was it had a bent rod in it as well, so i had to tear both of them apart.
The good news was taht i learned a ton about the motors in the process...bad news? None. Its fixed.
you can do it, and with the help of this forum... you will be eternally grateful.
I owe my bike to srinath, kerry, pantablo, Bob B... and other gs gear heads on here... cant think of everyone....
But this forum rocks, and you cant go wrong.. just grab a wrench, some nice mechanix gloves.. and some band aids for when you forget to put them on and your cranking on a bolt.. :thumb:
Quote
Is your new job at a Suzi shop?
Yes, yes it is, as a matter of fact. :thumb:
I do think I"m going to attempt a rebuild, and if it fails, part the bike out. I'm at least going to do a teardown. If there arent giant chunks of metal floating, I might rebuild. If there are... well, my bodywork is immaculate, as is my seat, tank, etc. Parts galore.
i just had something similar happen to my gs, but i know the cause (poor maintainance and it burned up most of its oil so the pistons got super hot and nearly melted, frying all sorts of bearings in the process). the teardown to the cases is pretty straight forward, i think i'm pretty much done with this engine now though. it had a ton of miles on it so i'm really looking forward to throwin a lower mileage engine in there, good luck with your wrenchin!