So I had business in Vegas and decided to ride the GS from So Cal. The bike broke down at state line. Loud banging sound coming from engine, more than I can diagnose without opening her up. I towed her to my aunt's house in Henderson/Las Vegas. Does anyone know of any good repair shop in the Vegas / Henderson area?
I'm weighing whether I should gamble and try to have a shop fix it, or just have her towed back home to Los Angeles for $$$ and work on her myself.
Thanks!
instinct says lack of oil is the culprit :D
Yeah the long ride in the desert burned up more oil than I had anticipated and she was running dry. Lesson learned: check oil level after a couple hours riding in the desert sun. I filled her back up with 3 quarts but the banging remains and the damage may have already been done.
If you've got a thrown rod, it'd be cheaper and lot easier to swap in an engine. ANY year GS500 engine will bolt in as long as you can live with the mechanical/electronic tach difference between the newer and older models.
I live in Vegas, I do most of my own work but if you're willing to pay dealer prices Carter Powersports will take care of you. The place I go to get my carbs dyno/climate tuned and everything isn't taking any work on until the first of the month otherwise I'd recommend them.
Other than that you can find a couple mom-and-pop motorcycle shops around town. There's quite a few customs shops you can probably go talk to and see if they can help you and I'm aware of a motorcycle shop down Valley View (I think) that can probably help as well. Typical non-dealer hourly rate is around $85 an hour down here. The best places charge for time worked and don't charge you based on the rate a book tells them. As an example, I jokingly called Carter Powersports to see how much it would be to have my exhaust installed and carbs jetting by a "professional" - $900 dollars WITH parts supplied by me. It's a 2 hour job, which is roughly 450 dollars an hour.
I'll let you do the math. If you've got engine damage I'd probably have it towed home.
Thanks guys. I ended up towing her home to LA. Stu's Motorcycle Towing out of Henderson charged $70 for pick up plus $2 per mile, and dropped me off at my house. Now it's time to open her up and see the damage.
I'll guess its a big end. Whatever it is, if its clunking like you say I'd +1 tbolt's adviceon an engine swap being cheaper and quicker than a rebuild. But if you want the experience, you could end up with a nice 'new' engine, might be worth it if you intend keeping the bike for a long while.
That stretch from Barstow to the line on I-15 can be pretty rough, but if you didn't top off before you left or it's burning oil to the point that you see blue smoke ( if that's the case you were ready for a swap anyway ), then you really screwed up. I can't believe how many people on here trash their engines for a reason that is so easy and inexpensive to prevent.