[Whiskey]

Wow! We killed this thread for a second time and left it buried for four years. This zombie is definitely hard to kill.

 

[Duffy]

[ QUOTE=rvcycleguy]

There are some VR members here who will slam the bike for its components and they have put down their C50 sometime ago. Take the opinion and advice from current owners and riders, not necessarily former owners.

Now that is harsh. Some of us would still have out C50 if the engine hadn't crapped out prematurely..

Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App[/QUOTE]

I sold my 05' C50 in 08' with 25K on the clock.....I actually never had any problems with the bike. It did use oil from day one however......a quart every 500 miles. Suzuki dealer that I bought it from said that was acceptable oil consumption......I traded it back to them in 08' for a much larger Kawasaki. I would not buy another unless it was VERY cheaply priced and then only to flip it.

 

[gkeefer]

51,000 on my 01 Volusia,no engine problems,knock on wood,still riding it today

 

[aztoolguy]

I have a 2002 VL800 with 60,200 miles and runs great. Use Amsoil and stay on top of maintenance. The valves sound a little loud but it feels much like a new bike. I hope it can make it to 100K. Don't sell this bike short.

 

[Skrapiron]

Wow. where did this thread come from???

I don't think half of the people who were on the original discussion are here anymore...

I still miss my C50...

 

[Gamergilbert]

I don't think you are going to get many responses from people who have put over 100,000 miles on their C50s- there are only a few owners on this site with that many miles on their bikes, and they have all replaced their entire engines at least one time, sometimes multiple times.

You are going to get a lot of responses with cam chain problems in the 40,000-50,000 mile range. Myself included- cam chains starting to have problems with 45,200 on my meticulously maintained 2006.

The C50 is an inexpensive bike, with a very small engine for a bike as physically large as it is, and steeply geared to make it work- my C50 is actually slightly longer than my Electra Glide, but the Harley has an engine more than twice as large. So it stands to reason that the bike with the 800cc engine that cost $6,699 brand new is simply not going to last as long as the $18,999 bike with the 1700cc engine and six speed overdrive transmission. Cars are the same way- no one would expect a $11,000 Chevy Aveo to last as long as a $35,000 Acura RDX.

A C50 should give you 40,000-50,000 good miles. As the average owner of a small Japanese cruiser only puts 3,000-5,000 miles a year on their bike, this is considered to be a more than acceptable life span, and is about what you would get out of similarly priced and sized models. If you want a bike that will last 100,000 trouble-free miles, get something much larger, like a Kawasaki 1500, a Honda Goldwing, a Kawasaki Concours, anything from BMW, or anything from Harley that is not a Sportster.

That was a terrible comparison a harley is a work on thru ty he week to ride on the weekend bike hell harley learned more from copying jap bikes ,hell my uncle was a 1% outlaw he said the only mistake they ever made was breaking the law and trying to escape on a harley which busted or popped a sprocket half a mile down the road if the cops didnt catch ya they would spot your busted harley. If we would of had rice burners hell we would of run the country, lol.

 

[Gamergilbert]

That was a terrible comparison a harley is a work on thru ty he week to ride on the weekend bike hell harley learned more from copying jap bikes ,hell my uncle was a 1% outlaw he said the only mistake they ever made was breaking the law and trying to escape on a harley which busted or popped a sprocket half a mile down the road if the cops didnt catch ya they would spot your busted harley. If we would of had rice burners hell we would of run the country, lol.

That was also in the '70s maybe if you take care and ride responsibly your bike will last alot long er.

 

[Gamergilbert]

Is a gearshift return spring hard to replace on a 95 intruder 1400

 

[hearsejr]

I wish I had seen this earlier. I had bad trimming chains at about 35-40K, changed them at 50k. The were more then two links longer. I compared them when I removed to see just how bad they were. The inside of the engine was spotless! No crud or build up, just some staining. Now I'm close to 100K, and I have some noise in the engine and it runs extremely rich and will not idle, and I can not seem to fix it with spending like $1500 in parts so I just deal with it.

 

[dfinitlydisturbd]

much like this thread mine refuses to die, she's been past the 50k mark five times and is well on her way to go past a sixth...smokes like a b----, makes very noticeably much lower hp, but no timing issues since the rebuild when the timing failed at the 12k mark...on the bright side she uses so much oil that I haven't needed to do an oil change in several years now.

 

[Bradrobly2017]

There has been a lot of talk about timing chain failure on the C 50 Boulevard engine. I find it hard to believe Suzuki built a motor and continues to build the same motor with a timing chain weakness considering todays advances in motor technology. Any well designed motor should be able to go 100,000 miles with proper maintenance today. So here is the question. has anyone ridden their C 50 motorcycle 100,000 and did you have to replace the timing chains and tensioners. And if you did have the Timing chain problem, how many miles were on your motorcycle. Please include the year so we can look for problem years.
Thank you for participating.
I just bought a 2007 C 50 Boulevard with 13,000 miles on the clock and want to know whether I can plan on riding it another 87,000 miles without a timing chain failure or whether I should sell it at 25,000 for something better designed. Thanks and hopefully we can get to the bottom of this timing chain issue

I'm Looking at buying a 2007 C50 that started rattling after an oil change..The issues seem to be in the Tensioner which is not accessable from outside the engine as with many other 4 strokes..I'm trying to figure out if this tensioner is hydralically operated and could be dirt fouled since the problem appeared right after an oil change..The bike is TMU but supposed to be low miles..Some engines you can reset the tensioner or replace it from outside..Not these..

 

[Skrapiron]

No. The tensioner is a ratcheting mechanism that is controlled by a spring. The service limit for chain stretch is very small and it cannot be reset. Unless you plan to do the work yourself or are getting the bike for free, pass on the project. The parts and labor will cost more than the bike is worth.

 

[EazyDyz]

There is a hack to force the tensioner to click into place. Roll the bike backwards down a hill with the clutch depressed, once its rolling release the clutch. If that doesn't work, run it til the chain snaps, which could be in 10 miles, could be in 100,000 miles. I wouldn't put anyone off buying one for a problem which may never happen.

 

[Bmorebug]

Have 112,000 mikes on my 06 and still runs well.

 

[Skrapiron]

The return of the Zombie thread. It just won't die.

 

[Whiskey]