So I was on  my work today and the driver in front of me decided to try and do an unexpected u turn in the middle of a junction where it is forbidden, leading me to hit him at 30mph, bending my forks and causing the bike to slide a fair distance.

The most noticeable damage however, is to the crankcase which got quite scratched up and is now leaking oil at a very fast rate. It is now pretty much drained. Is replacing the cover and gasket as easy as it seems or would it be a long job? Also, there is now a squeaking noise from the front end when the bike is rolling(engine off). Anyone know what this could be? Below is a pic of the leaking engine case:



One more thing is that i ran the bike and let her warm up for a couple of minutes while talking to the driver who had hit me, before realizing oil was pouring out of the side. No engine oil light came on though and it didn't overheat so I assume everything is ok.

Sorry for the long post and I would greatly appreciate any help or advice anyone can give me. So sad right now 

Hi santeria13, I am so sad to hear about what happened! Are you okay??

More pictures would probably be helpful to the others on the forum to give you an idea of what that sound might be... or maybe someone will know straight away, I'm not sure. I wish I had more help to offer but sadly, I do not. I can't really tell from the picture where is the oil actually coming from... like is there an actual crack or hole in the cover or is it coming from where the seam is?

Sending good thoughts your way, hope you get this all sorted out soon.

Thanks for the reply Showbiz! And yes, thankfully I got by with a few scrapes and bruised knees but on the whole I am in one piece 

Also, it seems to be actually leaking from just under where the suzuki emblem used to be. However, I could not see any visible hole but there might be one under the scratch that is hard to see in the dark or just plain obscure.

Yeah, I will post some more pics up tommorow but for now it was dark and I didn't bother taking that many shots. I appreciate the reply and the good wishes!!

For now my checklist is:

1. Order and paint new alternator cover ( will probably buy second hand so will be rough looking). Apparently they're relatively easy to install but I would still like someone here to confirm that for peace of mind.
2.Since the forks are bent, it now gives me an excuse to order some new springs along with a new set of forks and perhaps pay a mechanic to have them rebuilt and new seals etc fitted.
3.Clutch lever also bent so needs replacing.

Another thing is the gear shifter itself seemed to be very loose and it was quite hard to find neutral but I'm not sure if this is a case of needing adjustment or replacement.

Lastly, I'm not sure what I should do regarding the front tyre. It took most of the impact so it is possibly out of alignment and creating the rolling squeaking noise?

It's my first bike so I was already overwhelmed with regular servicing on it, never mind having to realign a whole front end. Luckily my friend is pretty handy with fixing cars etc, so he could help me out with the bits that aren't too hard. Should I consider removing the old forks and replacing them myself, having a mechanic do the rebuild or would it be wiser to take it to a professional to do the whole fitting?

Totally understandable about not many pictures in the dark. I'm super glad you escaped with only a few scrapes etc !!

Hmm.. it sounds like you're in a lot of the same situation I am with my bike. Your friend works on cars, my dad works on cars... he was able to help me out with smaller stuff too in the beginning which was awesome. When I bought my GS, the front forks were bent so I bought replacements. With the help of this forum, watching youtube videos and the Clymer manual, my dad and I did the fork swap easily.

We *were* planning on also putting in new fork seals and upgrading the oil to 20w... but he's super busy... and so was I... so after idk a year went by I just took it to my bike guy who does the yearly inspection and had him do it... so I can't really offer an experienced opinion of doing fork seals personally but I can say that I feel as though I could have done it.

After having my GS for almost 5 years now and being pretty darn familiar with everything on it, I'd feel confident trying to figure out all that is wrong... but in the beginning, if I were in your shoes, I imagine I'd have just taken it to a mechanic... OR I would have tackled the project with my dad (given the time) and then maybe taken it to a shop to have it kinda proofread to make sure I didn't screw anything up. Safety is obviously the most important thing !!

Sorry this will be quick..... first: hope you're 100% ok.

You'll need to find out exactly what all is wrong. If the forks are bent, you may need a new triple tree / steering bearings / etc, and you'll have to pay special attention to the frame. If it's damaged, there isn't much point to fixing anything right now.

If the left engine cover is leaking oil, you'll have to check the condition of the crankshaft.

Hiya man,  firstly,  I'm glad to hear you're okay,  but secondly,  and i'm no lawyer,  it sounds to me like this guy's insurance should be paying for your repairs or rather buying you a new bike seeing as how it doesn't take much at all to in damage value to total out a GS500,  if he was making an illegal U-turn.  Did you call the police and file a report?  get contact info from any witnesses?  Anywho,  I hope it works out for ya man.  Take care and good luck with your bike! 

Yeah, why are you fixing this? Seems to me that this is between insurance companies. If the other driver was cited, you should be getting a check for the full value of the bike and your injuries from their insurance.

What happened after the accident? Did the police show up? Did the other driver admit fault?

I assumed the OP is not in the USA where insurance and at fault laws apply almost universally.

Glad to hear you're OK. Regarding the forks: I recently messed up my front end as well, and I needed a new steering stem/bottom triple clamp, new axle, and new forks. So I would inspect all of those parts to make sure they aren't bend up in some way.

The squeaking noise could be your wheel bearings, they tend to get moved around if the axle gets bent.

That said, you shouldn't need to do these repairs. The other driver's insurance (provided you're in the US) definitely should cut you a check for the value of the bike.

Thank you for the replies guys! I am from the UK and claiming is quite complicated, sometimes taking up to half a year to receive any compensation so I'm hesitant to go down that path for now, even if it would mean getting more money. However, the guy was fairly apologetic and willing to co-operate so for . He has told me he can order all the new parts I need if i send him the links and find them for him, and that he can throw in some extra cash needed for mechanic payment etc as he obviously doesn't want to involve insurance either.

My main concern is whether the actual frame is bent as I have been reading that in a lot of cases bent forks also means a bent frame at the neck. Would this make the bike un-rideable ?

Here are some pics I took today and greatly appreciate all the input I can get:

Before fairing removal: (Notice how close tyre is to fairing-worrying me)


After one panel removed:


Without panels :


And 2 pictures of the bent forks:

I doubt the frame would be bent at the neck, although I guess anything is possible. Cowling brace might be bent, depending on how the bike hit/fell.

Yeah, I've heard the GS frames are quite robust so it should be ok fingers crossed. I also inspected all along the neck frame and that area for paint cracking and all is good. Under the neck , the paint is peeled as can be seen below but due to the amount of rust I suspect it was there all along?

Here is the rust patch under the neck:


and some other pictures of the frame and wheel. They look pretty straight to me and my friend but then again we are not experts












Regardless, a whole new set of forks, handle bars and upper/lower triple stems are on their way already. I can't stand seeing her broken  Is there anything I missed, possibly a new steering stem? What do you think about the tyre/rotor from the pics?

Also replacing alternator cover on tuesday. Is it normal for engine to leak out of there in the first place if there is a crack? Considering the bike fell on that side and leans on the kickstand sloping it in that direction, I guess it makes sense?