Hi,
The nosie and vibration has been getting a little louder over the past few months, nosie is coming from my gearbox, i can feel lots of vibration through my left foot peg, any one got ideas as to what is the cause!
Moving up into 4th and 5th gears there is like a clunk and it sticks a little, so you have to push it into gear a little harder with your foot than the other gears, its fine going down through the gears, bit hard to find first sometimes and nutral
Also a matalic nosie comes from the engine when in top 6th gear, when you put on the revs and stops when you come of the revs!
Bike has done 33,000 miles!
Its getting to the point where i'm not enjoying ridding the bike, cos of all the noise and vibration
Any one help me out thanks.
Dave suzuki ridder in the uk, england.

Sounds like the chain is loose, and rubbing on the shifter shaft. When you're on power, the lower run is loose, and hits the shaft. When you roll off, the lower run is tight, and the chain clears the shaft. Take the shifter and clutch acuating mechanism/cover off the left rear of the engine and have a look at the shifter shaft. I suspect you'll be able to see where the chain's been rubbing on it.

Clean everything up and put a thin rubber roller over the shaft that can spin a bit on the shaft when the chain hits it. Make sure you keep the chain adjusted well, and that the shift shaft isn't binding up inside the cover. Keep a bit of grease in there.

33k is a fair milage and I would expect a degree of wear and tear. Firstly I would do as Patrick suggests and check the overall condition of the chain and sprockets. Its all in the FAQ section. Check also the condition of the splines both on the output shaft and in the drive sprocket, any wear will be obvious. After that it becomes harder, diagnosing faulty parts just by listening to someones description of the noise it makes is very difficult. Noisy and stiff gearboxes are caused by worn bearings/housings/journals, worn and damaged gear teeth/ engagement dogs and a worn selecter mechanism and forks. It could be down to any of these. My suggestion is to take it round to your local Bike mechanic and get his views. If it does turn out to be the gearbox it will involve a major stripdown and a lot of expense. I wouldnt carry on riding it either, if its making a metal on metal sound its causing more damage and may fail completely. Let us know how you get on.....my guess is a worn output shaft bearing but I am not going to bet my mortgage on it.

If you get a "special" noise for one gear (6th) in your case you can be pretty sure that the corresponding gear pair is shot (probably pitted). It also makes sense that you hear it only when loaded, not when the motor is breaking since the other pair of gear flanks are in contact then.

I'm afraid you'll need a new pair of gears.

I'd say look for a complete gerabox (mins the box) on eBay, they go cheap in Germany. Dunno about the UK. You still have the hassel of installing it, of course.

Quote from: MarkusN on April 22, 2006, 10:29:02 AM
If you get a "special" noise for one gear (6th) in your case you can be pretty sure that the corresponding gear pair is shot (probably pitted). It also makes sense that you hear it only when loaded, not when the motor is breaking since the other pair of gear flanks are in contact then.

I'm afraid you'll need a new pair of gears.

I'd say look for a complete gerabox (mins the box) on eBay, they go cheap in Germany. Dunno about the UK. You still have the hassel of installing it, of course.

Woah woah woah. How about he pops the sprocket cover off and checks the chain before he buys a transmission and splits the cases, eh? Care to give us an idea how a bad gearset will make the left footpeg rattle?

Easy stuff first.

Markus,
Its impossible in this case to say with any degree of accuracy exactly what the problem is, true, it could be just the 6th gear pair but it could also be any number of, or combination of things at fault. It may even have an underlying problem thats caused the damage to the gears. The bike needs to be examined by a professional mechanic. We are just passing on our best guesses and its wrong to jump to any conclusions.

Quote from: sledge on April 22, 2006, 12:23:03 PM
The bike needs to be examined by a professional mechanic.

That's a cop-out. The guy is asking for help. Based on the fact that he's riding a GS500, it's likely that he doesn't have a bunch of money kicking around to pay for a mechanic. If he did, he probably wouldn't be riding a GS500. So what do you do, call a plumber every time the faucet leaks, go to the doctor every time you skin your knee, or call a landscaper every time the shrubs need trimming? No, you learn to do some things yourself. So maybe this guy isn't a mechanical whiz. But he can at least go through some simple troubleshooting procedures to eliminate easily solved problems, learning something in the process, before he throws up his hands and takes the bike to a shop. Maybe the chain's loose. Maybe the shift shaft is bound up in the sprocket cover. Maybe the bike just doesn't like what kind of oil is in it. Get a shop manual, read it, learn how your machine works, then maintain it.

Or, blissfully give money away to other people.

Whats makes you think everyone who rides a GS5 is short on cash? 

QuoteEasy stuff first.

I'm all for that. However, I stand by my statement: If you get a distinct noise in just one gear it's 90% probablity that it's caused by the respective gear pair.

No sense in sparing them the hard facts if that is what they are.

I agree entirely and 100% with the comments regarding the gears.....But read the original posting again. The statement made is that the metalic noise comes from the engine when in top gear, not the gearbox. That suggests to me that something is worn in the engine that is only manifesting itself when under load. The noise and vibration coming from the gearbox has been getting progressively worse over the last few months and is not dependent on which gear is selected, that suggests to me a bearing problem. To replace any gearbox component takes a fair degree of skill and confidence plus the resources to do it and my view is that anyone who doesnt recognise a major gearbox problem is not capable of overcoming it no matter how many times they read the manual.

Quote from: suzukigs500e1998 on April 22, 2006, 08:59:13 AM
Hi,
The nosie and vibration has been getting a little louder over the past few months, nosie is coming from my gearbox, i can feel lots of vibration through my left foot peg, any one got ideas as to what is the cause!
Moving up into 4th and 5th gears there is like a clunk and it sticks a little, so you have to push it into gear a little harder with your foot than the other gears, its fine going down through the gears, bit hard to find first sometimes and neutral.

Oil level?

Quote from: suzukigs500e1998 on April 22, 2006, 08:59:13 AM
Also a matalic nosie comes from the engine when in top 6th gear, when you put on the revs and stops when you come of the revs!

At what RPM's are you at when this happens?  I think you are lugging the engine.  Keep the rpm's above 4500 in 6th gear.