Well, I was driving to work today when the bike suddenly started making really loud clacking noises.  I pulled over as quickly as possible, and as soon as I hit the clutch the bike died.  I got to the side of the road and looked down to see the last of the oil draining out of the bike      



I pulled out my camera and took some pics under the bike to try to figure out where the oil was draining from...  I think I found it.   :x



:x    :x    :x    :x  

I came back later and put a new plug in, filled it with oil, but to no avail...  no luck, no start, can't even turn the wheel.

What are my options?  New engine?  Rebuild? I don't have a lot of spare time. how much would it cost to have the engine rebuilt by someone?

:x

oh, and did I mention  :x  ?

No oil is bad. Safety wire would have been very helpful here.

Probably need new pistons & rings. Suzuki sells 74.5 & 75mm pistons with rings for about $80 each. The cylinder can be honed for about $30-$60 depending on how much material has to be removed.

Oh my god that sucks! I would think if you can't do the engine rebuild yourself (time or experience) then a donor bike/motor swap might be the easier way out...if you need a new/rebuilt motor that is.

I feel for ya...

Way to go... there goes the june 12th trip (little joke)....   So sorry Richard!  Look at it this way,  Kerry now has a brand new photo op.  

I'll keep an eye out for any local fixes.  An engine swap would probably be easiest and we could have another get together and finish it in no time.

Keep us posted....

So how you gonna get to work now??

I'll have to drive the old Pontiac and make Dad take the bus to work. (it's my car)  it gets about 20mpg...  :x

I was actually going to have to back out on that ride anyway, since it turns out I have to work that day     but I guess it's not an option now anyway.

I'm currently thinking I'll have to find a salvage engine... don't have the time to replace an engine, much less rebuild it.  Not sure what I'm going to do.

and I had it running pretty well, too. :-(  what an expensive mistake.

There is a complete GS motor on ebay now. It is located in NC so I do not know how bad shipping would be.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7903722890&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

i can never tell how muc oil i have in there, my dipstick is the same color the whole way up... should i buy a new dipstick     or should i frequently just check for leaks, casue oil probobly dosent run out  tht quickly


im sorry richard... i feel ya too           my snowmobile seized up tis winter because of some loose bolt      i was pissed

hope it works out

lol.  I was just looking at that.

I think Srinath lives near there, perhaps he could tell us from his experience if the $108 that I'd be charged for shipping is reasonable or not.

Maybe he could stop by his house and make threatening faces 'til the guy sold it to me for cheap.

I'm also not certain how much it would be worth to bid on it... not knowing what I could potentially find in the salvage yards.  

salvage yards i found to be pretty expenisive  they were trying to sell me a junky caplier for 150 dollars,

mybe i just had a bad experince

On the bright side, at least it killed the engine before it coated the rear tire with oil enough to take you out as well.  That motor might not live to see another ride, but you will.  And when it all comes down to it, broken bike is much better than broken rider.

I thought I saw a couple of "project"/salvage/trashed GS's on ebay lately.  And that motor mentioned earlier.

Best of luck getting back on the road again.  Perhaps you could get a couple GS'ers on the list to contribute toward one of the salvage auctions in proportion to the value of the parts each want from it?  :dunno:

Quote from: wasabi_peasI thought I saw a couple of "project"/salvage/trashed GS's on ebay lately.  And that motor mentioned earlier.

I am actually bidding on a bike on ebay with plans of parting it out.

Quote from: dgyverThere is a complete GS motor on ebay now. It is located in NC so I do not know how bad shipping would be.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7903722890&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

OK Its being sold by our own Tshirt racer so here come the threats ... Ok come here you... Grrrrr  :x  :nana:  :x
Now how much you take for that motor... Dont make me bring out the nun chucks... or call Kerry and his camera hand... or PHP extrordianire Richard...
Cool.
Srinath.

Make that "those donut gobblers Kerry and Richard".  

$108 shipping is reasonable.

 The motor with transmission weighs close to 150lbs.   I shipped a GS motor one state over a few months back for $68; and you're looking at cross-country shipping.  Plus its a real pain to package up properly, requires a large box and a lot of packing material.



Adam

I bought a motor about a year ago from a guy in LA the shipping was 220 but they crated it and garenteed it.  T-shirt racer had a thread in the buy sell swap forum a while back, if I remember right his asking price was around 450.  if you have the time the cheepest way is to tear it all apart and find out where it seized,  you can probably fix it with some sandpaper and new bearings.  I'd try to contact Bob B.  and see if he whould be willing to play with it if you don't want to do it your self.

Rebuild is way cheaper than a new motor.  How many miles are on the one you have?  Get the 75mm pistons from Suzuki and make it a true 500!  Better yet get some 76mm big bore pistons with Nikasil plating and have the engine balanced, your already in there

yeah you mentioned  :x  i'll throw in a   and a few
:x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x
:x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x  :x
now you can do a 'busa swap :mrgreen:

the engine had about 17,000 miles on it.  if there were someone close enough to work on it from the board, I'd be willing to pay to have someone rebuild it, but I don't have the time to try to figure it out myself.  really, the work I've done on the bike has all been new territory for me, and tearing open an engine is a bit more than I am likely to be able to figure out in the "spare time" that I do have.

I do appreciate everyone's advice and suggestions, however.  I'm still deciding specifically what I'm going to do.  maybe I'll keep the old engine and rebuild it over a period of time, and then I'd have a spare in case I come across a bike that is down an engine.

Swapping motor is what I recomend... the oil less riding, causes lots og things to overheat, and once its overheated, aluminum is never the same, it has a memory and will come back and take revenge on you.
A swap is also easier, take off tank and bodywork, chain, carbs, cables exhaust etc, and undo and loosen, not take of yet the bolts holding the sub frame and the motor mounts, then lay a mattress on the left side and lay the bike over on it, and then reach under and remove all the bolts, then lift it up and the frame will come up and motor will be on floor. Reverse them for re install.
Cool.
Srinath.

Wow, that looks bad.  I can't tell from the picture where is that hole?

Anyone have an estimate how much he would have to spend to rebuild the motor w/ new pistons?  At least would be a comparison to $500 for the new motor.  I saw about $80 for the pistons...

ASLAM.