Hi, recently got my 2001 GS running after buying it with a gummed up set of carbs and a rusted tank. After addressing these issues the bike has run great. However the other day while riding I began to lose power. I pulled off the road to stop in a parking lot and as I shifted down from 2nd, there was a god awful grinding noise followed immediately by the sound of metal disintegrating. The engine runs fine but I immediately lost all power.

     I've taken off the side cover and two of the teeth on my clutch basket have sheared off. They've pretty much disintegrated and there is a million bits of metal in my clutch area. Upon draining the bike, I've found bits of metal from the clutch basket in my oil.

     I'm wondering what would have caused this and if I try to fix this will I just forever have bits of metal in my engine that will that will destroy things? any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Pictures included below. Thanks.

https://imgur.com/pmdZOdC

https://imgur.com/yaM6tDX

https://imgur.com/vlBewPZ

https://imgur.com/K2fs0t6

Wow, that is some serious carnage. Very sorry that happened to you and your bike. I've been on this forum since 2008 and never heard of anything like that!

I can't help with the how or why of the clutch basket disintegrating (maybe just bad luck of a defect in the casting process?), but I can give some hope that the bike may be able to run again after having metal bits in the oil. I had my starter clutch bolts shear off and send hardened steel shrapnel into the engine. Most of it luckily ended up in the sump. I was able to remove the sump and clean it out and then do 2 oil changes in quick succession. I also installed a magnetic drain plug. That was at least 20,000 miles ago.

I would drop the sump and see how much metal made it down there.

I hope you can figure out what happened and eventually get your bike back on the road.

Quote from: Bluesmudge on August 30, 2021, 04:41:13 PM
Wow, that is some serious carnage. Very sorry that happened to you and your bike. I've been on this forum since 2008 and never heard of anything like that!

I can't help with the how or why of the clutch basket disintegrating (maybe just bad luck of a defect in the casting process?), but I can give some hope that the bike may be able to run again after having metal bits in the oil. I had my starter clutch bolts shear off and send hardened steel shrapnel into the engine. Most of it luckily ended up in the sump. I was able to remove the sump and clean it out and then do 2 oil changes in quick succession. I also installed a magnetic drain plug. That was at least 20,000 miles ago.

I would drop the sump and see how much metal made it down there.



I dropped the sump, and there's quite a bit of debris in it. Upon a closer inspection it seems that there is a lot of very fine metallic dust on most of the surfaces as well as a good bit of chunky shrapnel throughout. I may try to flush with oil as you suggested and see how it goes. I really appreciate the feedback.