[Alwyn Gaybba]

Good day Gents,

Appreciate this forum, has helped me sort out a few problems in the past.

So here is my story i would like to share,

I have owned my M50 boulevard now for 8 years and its on +/- 32 000km.
I drove over some train tracks and a piece of metal flat bar punctured by oil filter.
I came to a stop and switched of the engine, went and bought a new filter and oil.
Started up the motor and no issues, GREAT,
But then after a short while a heard a slight ticking, Valves I thought , Right?

Did the valve adjustment, No success.
Did some reading on this forum and other sources and a lot of people said they have this noise.
Some said it was normal, some said that's just how they were built.
I couldn't find any rock hard info so i said to myself, let me ride it some more and see what happens.
The knocking became worse after some considerable riding.

I was now convinced it must be bearing.
The noise was now distinctly coming from the bottom right hand side of the crank case.
I could no longer drive the motorcycle as the sound was becoming alarming.

So the current situation,
I pulled the motor and stripped it down completely.
I could not find any severe damage to the crank, crank bearings or the conrod bearing.
I even took the bearings and piston to my suzuki dealer and asked them to check if i am missing something.\
They did this free of charge, we have a pretty good suzuki dealership in my town.
So maybe piston slab? Also now sign of piston slab.

So I still ordered new bearing and will replace them when they arrived.
The advice I got from my suzuki dealer is the finely inspect every part as I reassemble the engine.
The engine was never opened prior to now.

So any suggestion are welcome and i will keep u updated as I do this build and hopefully i will find the problems and be able to help others aswell.

Regards, Alwyn

 

[Whiskey]

Welcome from Kennesaw GA!

The engine has a ticking sound, what most refer to as an angry sewing machine, but knocking isn't normal. I'm not sure that I have any good suggestions for you, but hang out, there are some mechanical whizes around and one will be along shortly.

 

[oldenslow]

I'm puzzled, but curious about what you find out. Tickety-tickety doesn't bother me; knock-knock is alarming.

 

[Skrapiron]

You caused oil starvation by running it low on oil once the filter was punctured was punctured. You you have caused internal damage to image to moving parts of the engine, which means you need to completely break it down and put a pair of calipers on every component No exceptions! There are no shortcuts on this and parts are prohibitively expensive on these bikes.

 

[Alwyn Gaybba]

I do agree with u on that one Skrapiron, I am in the process of checking each component according to the spec in the workshop manual. If I find anything out of tolerance its getting changed.

The repair will no doubt be expensive, but there is a lot of history that comes with this motorcycle.
It's for sure not ticking, I've known it to tick sins ever, but its for sure knocking somewhere.

I am some what strapped for time as i can only work on the engine late at night and weekends.
I already have the new crank bearing on back order from suzuki. 3-6 weeks delivery.

Will keep updating .

Regards, Alwyn

 

[Alwyn Gaybba]

Good afternoon gents,

Just an small update.

Photos of the crankshaft and crankshaft journal bearings.
The crankshaft is undamaged and there is minor wear on the journals bearings.
The scratches on the bearing was induced during removal.
Still in the process of checking tolerances on engine components, taking is slow to ensure I find the knocking.

Regards, Alwyn

 

[DCinCT]

admire your ability to do what you are doing ...hope you are able to find the issue and make it right, also sounds like you have a great dealership/service dept close by that today are extremely rare to find. Good luck and keep us posted on your repair...

 

[Alwyn Gaybba]

Good afternoon Gents,

I checked every parts tolerances with calipers. I honestly could not find anything that is not within the tolerances given in the workshop manual.

The engine genuinely looks very good inside. With re-assembly I will have to check timing chain tension.

Regards Alwyn.

 

[coffee man]

Take a very close look at the timing chains and sliders. They are probably worn and that is your noise. I had a 2005 C50 with less than 25,000 km and the chains were bad. Dealer had it all apart and gave it back to me making the same noise. They had not had either a Volusia or C50 before with bad chains,tensioner, sliders. In any case you would be best to put in new chains at the very least. It might be difficult to understand wear on the sliders. Best Wishes

 

[Alwyn Gaybba]

Take a very close look at the timing chains and sliders. They are probably worn and that is your noise. I had a 2005 C50 with less than 25,000 km and the chains were bad. Dealer had it all apart and gave it back to me making the same noise. They had not had either a Volusia or C50 before with bad chains,tensioner, sliders. In any case you would be best to put in new chains at the very least. It might be difficult to understand wear on the sliders. Best Wishes

Thanks for the advise coffee man,

I will fine comb the guides, chains and tensioners for wear.

Regards, Alwyn

 

[Alwyn Gaybba]

Good evening gents,

I did measure the pistons and sleeves and they are not over the service limit.
But while assembling I did notice some play with the piston on the front head and also the rear head.
Is this amount of play normal, because I do believe this is the noise I am hearing, and will explain why the noise goes away after warmup.

Also did check the chain guides and they are in excellent condition with minimal wear.

See the attached Video and tell me what u guys think?

Regards, Alwyn