So what's the deal with lower end bearings on these engines guys.. Look at the picture of my left hand connecting rod.. It looks like bad G...
http://erlenbachracing.net/MyGS500Page.htm (http://erlenbachracing.net/MyGS500Page.htm)
and the other Rod's bearings were black and about to say goodbye too this one just beat it to the punch... mains and balancer bearings "looked" ok. But I'm reading Rod bearing failures, main bearing failures, balancer bearings going out, some say low oil, I read something about an oil filter restricter? I read alot of people swapping there engines out to "fix" them. Who knows the skinny on what takes these bearings out and or how can I help avoid or minimize this kind of damage in the future.. Ed
Hi Ed,
I just ruined my first GS500 engine yesterday; dislocating my shoulder in the process. Other than reading a comment about the balancer shaft bearings being weak, I can't comment specifically on what went wrong; but I will try to update this thread when I found out what happend.
I can say that it's pretty easy to run these things low on oil, and they do seem to suffer for it. I think the conservative solution would be to keep a spare engine handy...
Wow sorry to hear that. Hope you mend up and are back out on the track asap! I love roadracing.. I'm digging around too and I'll let you know what I find out as well. What I see so far after splitting the cases is that Yes the balancer bearings were worn more than the main bearings and more so on the primary side. But it's my rod bearings that bit the bullet, and looking at the oil flow path they are the last bearings (in the bottom end) to get oil because the oil has to pass through the mains, through the crank then to the rods. So I'm "guessing" so far worn bearings plus low oil level or pressure took out my rod bearings, he obviousely kept going, the left rod snapped at the spit hole, wedged in the crank busting the piston and left lower cylinder liner. Let me know what you find out as well. And anyone elses input in this would be great it benefits all of us. Just like in racing you build the most bulletproof bottom end you can, changing top-ends is easy, splitting the bottom end not near as much fun.. Ed
lets go for open thoughts....
mass produced engine to low entry level riders designed in...74-76
air cooled crappy tolerances
people not checking their oil level.....exact level not so important....some oil present is gud
crappy maintenance due to owners being cheap a$$es and instead buying led blinkers neon lights and what not.
well it's a start.....
Let's forget that it's an "entry level bike" for a minute. A lot of people have had a lot of fun racing these bikes so they can't be that bad. If I had a dollar for every time I saw a racer take an engine that "wasn't supposed to" and go racing anyway and make it work I'd be a rich man.
My thought is that it would be really good information for racers and road riders alike to know how they can build the best possible bottom end they can. So your right:
1) lubrication is a problem.. what has anybody tried that has helped? Is there room (my engine is on my bench) to add a plate between the oil pan and the case to give it a little more oil capacity? ect.. Ed
oh, sorry,
I raced one or two for 8 yrs....until the "impressive" crash
who'd a thunk you could highside a GS..... :o
You know... I never really paid attention close enough attention to your username to realize you raced a GS in WERA. How was your experience? Was the GS competitive there?
In the AFM, the GS really doesn't seem to compete well in 500 twins. But, I'm looking to throw a 450 cylinder block on there so that I can race in 250 superbike.
Ed- what about a bolt on aftermarket oil cooler like they use on cars? The folks on GSResources seem to have some knowledge on that subject. Even though the bikes are older (and bigger), the mounts and idea should be similar if not identical. I've looked into the oil system a little more for my Honda CB400f, and people have used coolers, larger oil pumps, and drilled out oil passagesa little to keep the motor cool.
And Burning- if you want it, I have a 1980-ish GS450 cylinder you can have for shipping. It would definitely need some work before using though.......
I looked for a vintage lockhart-phillips oil cooler setup for a gs1000 years ago they have what looks like the same oil filter cover
I never did find one(this was before fleabay) then i just raced it as is with the best suspension i could afford.
when I raced the FZR400-560's were king, then the EX620's(using ZX11 pistons and 96HP, fat man on a fast bike) were king
the rain was the great equalizer the ol tractor GS would only drop 1-2 seconds(i was too stupid to slow down) in the rain while the others would drop 10-15 sec. with their peaky engines
I raced a 500 buck crapper for the sake of racing not winning. I raced with friends and slow guys on fast bikes
if you want to win...race what wins(that ain't a GS, sorry)
even the guy in atlanta who had the GS628 or whatever it was(10-15k engine development) was fast but broke often
I spent my time on the track....not fixing my bike or breaking my bike
work out the numbers.... I was getting track time on a crapper for much cheaper than others and i was having fun.
if i want a trophy...MUCH CHEAPER TO BUY A TROPHY.
if you want to build a fast engine....70+ is possible but not cheap 50 is doable and reliable...same as stock EX
if you want a bike that actually handles great and is forgiving......GS with susp mods is an awesome bike
YOU CAN NOT COMPETE WITH CUBIC DOLLARS....somebody else will spend more than you just to "win" a trophy
I am(was) a CLUBMAN racer....the builder class.... and the winners were on rotaxs or bmw singles....10-12k limited production racebikes vs my 500 buck crapper........but I had fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! when it is no longer fun.....STOP
anybody can buy a fast bike(team VISA)
anybody can ride a fast bike
not everybody can ride a fast bike fast.
the best bang for your buck experience is endurance racing
WFO for an hour stint is as close to heaven you can get on earth.
I had a team in 02 (i think?) we did 6 of the 10 national endurance races
the whiney Buddha Loves Youing between team mates was the downside
we had the el cheepo tow vehicle/trailer and bike I bought 8- 1 yo soft compound rears at the end of season for dirt and we bought new fronts every race. after food, fees, tires, fuel, travel expenses, everything.... it came out to about 600-700 per race weekend divided by 3-4 guys....not bad way to piss money away.
Oil cooler is a great idea. With an air cooled engine as it heats up the power drops off, anything you can do to cool that engine down is a big plus. In this case the cooler should help extend the oil life too. I just looked at the part numbers for the 500 with and with out oil cooler hoping they'd used a higher volume pump with the cooler but they didn't.. that would have been nice.. Ed
When I got mine, left side rod bearing was toast. Everything else looked great. I chocked it up to lack of care from previous owner. I bought the bike as a basket case. Used a gs450 crank and rods and put it back together. Been wailing on it daily with no issues so far