| Author | Message | ||
     Swimmonkey |
Last Sunday I was riding my 2007 Ully near Johnson City, Texas when I had a catastrophic engine failure. I usually ride with ear plugs but recently took a short ride without them. I noticed some engine noise but figured that I just didn't typically hear everything due to my ear plug use. I was out with two friends on a spirited afternoon ride. Nothing too fast and nothing near red-line. I was leading and decided to slow up and wait for my mates. I downshifted into fourth and BANG! It sounded like someone dropped a fork into a garbage disposer. The bike kept running but had little power and sounded terrible. I pulled over and shut her down. I restarted it once and the noise was even worse. I called a buddy and he came out and picked me up and I took the bike to Cowboy Harley in South Austin on Monday morning. They tore the motor down and Friday, I went in to see what the damage was. Apparently, the noise I was hearing was the result of a worn rod bearing. When I was riding, the piston exploded at the wrist pin and slammed into the top of the head, lodging there. There is no indication that the piston or head over-heated so I don't believe there was any oiling issue. The cylinder was not even scored. Fortunately, the bike is still under warranty. Buell questioned who did the maintenance[on the bike]. I have maintained the bike myself. This is probably my 50th motorcycle and a 1200 Sportster motor is about as simple as it gets. I've changed the oil four times in 9500 miles using Harley synthetic and factory filters. I also always change the primary oil every time. The engine blew with about 9500 miles on it. I had all of my receipts and following some discussion, Buell agreed to totally replace the engine. Has anyone else experienced anything like this or know anyone who has? Please reply! Thanks, JMS, Austin, Texas | ||
| Ulyscol |
In my limited experience with these engines I have always heard they are bullet proof. Hopefully yours is an outlier. Sorry to here the bad news. | ||
| Crusty |
I'm on my fourth Buell. My '98 S3-T had 60,000 miles on it when I traded it in. The guy who bought it from the dealership tore the engine down to build a Drag racing motor, and he said there was almost no wear. He didn't even need to go .005 over on the pistons. My 2000 M2 had 55,000 miles on it when I sold it in 2006. The kid who bought it is still using it for daily transportation. My '06 Uly had 34,000 on it when I traded it in. It was the most trouble free and reliable motorcycle I've ever owned. I don't know who bought it, but they got a sweet running bike. I have an '08 XT now that has 17,000 miles on it. Last fall a clutch bearing died, and it's in the shop right now for (I think) a bad Engine Temp Sensor but the engine has been fine mechanically. I would say that youe engine problem is an anomaly. | ||
| Swimmonkey |
Thanks, but I think I'll buy the three year extended warranty for $1045. I've had a few Harley's and they have all been reliable but not as high strung as a Buell. I love the bike and the handling just blows almost everything else I have ever had away. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
It's rare, but I have heard one other instance of this type of failure. I believe that Jlnance had a similar failure. Here is the results thread: http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/406 2/407537.html?1225135111 I think they are rare enough that Buell wants to dig into them to see what caused them. They backed Jim's as well and his was WAY out of warranty. | ||
| Froggy |
Shit happens. I know a guy that had a brand new 2007 Cadillac CTS-V that had a total engine failure at 50 miles. It sucks that it happened, but the motor was replaced and he still drives it no further issues. | ||
| Id073897 |
Rod bearing failures had been reported serveral times, mostly around 15k miles. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Kudos for Buell for standing behind you! Kudos to you for clearly maintaining the bike well. | ||
| Blake |
I'm not clear as to root cause of failure. Please elaborate. How does a rod bearing failure end up embedding parts of piston into cylinder head? Photos? | ||
| Muppet |
Hmmm, looks like I may be number 3 on this forum then. My engine has just failed part way through a tour to Italy. Heavy knocking noise coming from fairly deep within the engine from the sounds of it. I'm waiting for the bike to be repatriated back to the UK so my dealer can take it apart and see what's happened. There were no warning lights or lack of power, just a horrible knocking. BIke is about a month out of warranty so it's gonna be "interesting" to see what Buell's reaction will be. It'll be a few weeks yet before the bike even get's back here but I'll keep you guys posted. | ||
| Paul56 |
"How does a rod bearing failure end up embedding parts of piston into cylinder head?" If the rod bearing fails and the piston normally has very little clearance to the head and/or valves the inertia of the ascending rod and piston will push it higher than normal. The thickness of the bearing is gone and allows piston to go too high. | ||
| Id073897 |
BIke is about a month out of warranty so it's gonna be "interesting" to see what Buell's reaction will be. In Germany bikes out of warranty with a full service record were mostly done on goodwill ... if the owner decided so. Several gave it away to people who know their stuff, instead of having some "trained" Buell mechanics FU the engine again. | ||
| Swimmonkey |
Blake, Paul56 is correct. There was a bunch of play on the rod. I don't know why I had a brain fart and didn't take some pics when I was in the dealers service dept. I will try to describe this to you. The head and what was left of my piston was removed. I could grab the rod and I could move it up and down about half an inch at the bottom end. This indicated to me that the bearing was completely gone. That allowed enough movement for the piston to slam against the valves resulting in the eventual failure of the wrist pin and the piston stayed lodged at the top of the head. Hope I am describing this more clearly. Thanks to you all for your responses! |
