Hey guys,


I have a 1999 zuki gs500e with about 11.5k miles on it.

It's my first bike and I don't know the first thing about diagnosing mechanical issues.

Yesterday it started making a rattling noise. I thought something was just loose, but the sound became worse very rapidly. Within probably 20 miles of riding (into town, back home, etc) it got so bad that I barely made it up my driveway (lost a lot of compression in the engine).

Anyways, I recorded a short video so you could listen to it, and maybe help me out. I'd take it to the shop, but it's closed today.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.




I've checked the chain to make sure it wasn't rubbing anything, but tbh, it really sounds like it's coming from the engine block. Metal on metal is never usually a good sing...

WTH - you kept riding after it started making metal on metal noise ... lemme guess ... you rode it harder cos it wasn't making as much power ...

Anyway I will look at that clip and get back to you.
Cool.
Buddha.

Oil starvation?, was she running hot when this happened?

Wow that sounds awful. Sounds like a valve slapping rather hard. Which is probably the best case scenario.

Sounds terminal. Drain oil (observe the quantity drained, should be at least 2 liters) and look for metal shavings.  If that looks good, post results. Maybe you got lucky.

Quote from: The Buddha on July 06, 2013, 12:04:51 PM
WTH - you kept riding after it started making metal on metal noise ... lemme guess ... you rode it harder cos it wasn't making as much power ...

Anyway I will look at that clip and get back to you.
Cool.
Buddha.

Yes, I kept riding, but I was near my house. Less than .5 miles.
Before the "knocking sound", it was just a rattle. I wouldn't have left my house if it had sounded that bad.
I tried diagnosing it online (using this forum) and almost everything that sounded similar wasn't a big deal.

Then it started that really, really bad sound

When an engine starts making a noise like that, shut it off before it goes from broken to irreparable.

Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on July 06, 2013, 01:03:52 PM
Oil starvation?, was she running hot when this happened?

Maybe I'm alone, but my bike ALWAYS runs hot. Has since I bought it. I had a lot of problems with the oil gasket leaking like crazy and had to have it replaced. The oil was changed many times in the 2.5k miles I've put on it the past month or two. I did notice that it ran real low on oil the other day. It caught me off guard because the oil had just been changed a couple weeks ago and I hadn't seen any leaks, but it had been leaking. So yes, it's quite possible I did some damage by running the oil super low (I added more oil as soon as I noticed, the existing oil is very, very dark-- black).

Pretty sure my engines facked, eh?

Quote from: RossLH on July 06, 2013, 04:59:33 PM
When an engine starts making a noise like that, shut it off before it goes from broken to irreparable.

Yeh 

Quote from: Paulcet on July 06, 2013, 02:14:47 PM
Sounds terminal. Drain oil (observe the quantity drained, should be at least 2 liters) and look for metal shavings.  If that looks good, post results. Maybe you got lucky.

I may try and do that tomorrow... Or just wait till Monday and let the guys at the shop listen to it. Pretty sure they're gonna tells me it's gone.

On that note... what's the cost of replacing the motor in one of these?