| Author | Message | ||
     Donatello |
I posted this in the KV but thought I'd post it here as well... my bike stop running while on the freeway and when I pulled to the side, tried to restart it, there was a clanking noise and white smoke came out the exhaust. I know it's going to be expensive, whatever broke in there, but have any of you had this happen?? I am trying to figure out how long it'll take me to $ave for the repair. By the way, my 12R had almost 28K miles on it.  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Sorry for the trouble. Sucks dude! If it spins, it's at least not siezed. I'd rather sling a v-twin than in IL4, though. The cylinders, heads, and case are all separate allowing you to replace only the offending parts. My guess is that one of the other turtles did it.  (Message edited by ft_bstrd on June 12, 2007) | ||
| Donatello |
Yeah, Raphael still carries that chip around... | ||
| Spatten1 |
I'd pull the spark plugs, put a wooden dowel down each hole, and try to feel the pistons moving up and down while hand-cranking the engine. You can use a screwdriver, but be careful not to scratch the innards or get it caught at a bad angle. If one of the pistons is moving and the other is not, then you probably threw a rod. Keep us posted. | ||
| Donatello |
That's a little out of the scope of my mechanical skills unfortunately,but I'll be talking to a mechanic later today. So if it did throw a rod, what kind of $$damage$$ is that? | ||
| Spatten1 |
It is a full rebuild, hopefully that is not the problem. Could also be a dropped valve, which would be much less invasive. Could be a thousand things, no reason to panic yet, might be an easy one. I wish you the best luck. | ||
| Court |
Ahhhhh....in the world of motorcycles a shelled engine is not a problem, but an opportunity. Just ask any of us who owned XR-1000's . . it's an annual event! Congratulations! | ||
| Rubberdown |
Man! That sucks. I hope it's a simple fix. Engine work on a bike with only 28k miles is not an opportunity I would wish on anybody. Good luck. | ||
| Reepicheep |
If I were you, I would drop the oil pump and look up in the cam cavity before I turned *anything* else on that engine... | ||
| Ironhead1977 |
I agree with court sounds like an oppurtunity.Has anyone found any four valve heads? | ||
| 07xb12scg |
Is 28,000 miles a lot for the Thunderstorm engine? 28,000 is a lot on an inline 4 that screams to 15,000, but it doesn't seem like much at all on a low revving twin! | ||
| Saintly |
Your motor grenades, and people are congratulating you on your great opportunity???  Man this place is frickin weird sometimes!! | ||
| Hughlysses |
He should submit it for one of those new "La Quinta" hotel "wake up on the bright side" ads! | ||
| Sshbsn |
Dude that sucks!! It's a little odd to speak of expensive events as "opportunities" when so many people are feeling the effects of a weak economy. Good luck! | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Saintly, there must be a little extra something in the koolaid today. | ||
| Spatten1 |
I'm at about $1,500 in "opportunities" so far. | ||
| Sshbsn |
Congratulations  | ||
| Reepicheep |
28k miles is fairly young for a catastrophic failure of a Buell motor, especially if you proactively address a couple of known areas, like the weak oil pump pinion gear. My Cyclone (which was far less reliable an engine configuration then an XB) was probably in better shape at 28k+ miles when I sold it then it was in at 4k miles when I bought it. Nobody has to be positive if you don't want to be. But then what, exactly, does saying "Dude! Sucks to be you!" add to the topic? $1600 in "opportunities" so far. So assume that is a 28k mile motor. Thats 3 to 4 valve adjustments on an inline four (at $300 a pop?). Theres $900 to $1200. Add in two or three sets of chains and sprockets... theres $600 to $900 more. That brings you up to $2000 that you are already ahead of the game. It sucks to blow a motor, no doubt. But if you have gotten 30,000 miles out of that motor, and you are already $1500 to $2100 ahead of the game, and drop $3500 for a new reliable hopped up motor... lets keep it in perspective. Thats a net $1500 or so spend and you end up with a bike making 15% or more extra horsepower. One can choose to moan and whine, part out the bike and move on to take your chances with greener looking pastures and walk towards the light, or to stick with the bike and walk towards the light. I fail to see how being pissed and depressed about loosing money on a broken motorcycle puts me ahead of being optimistic and positive loosing money on a broken motorcycle. But that's just me... | ||
| Destroy |
Any word on what is actually wrong or broken in this motor so far? Status report? | ||
| Ridrx |
Being positive is great...but, if my motor blows, the LAST thing I want is people celebrating my misfortune. Seems like rubbing salt in the wound to me, that's all. Donatello, Sorry to hear about your troubles, I say rebuild...We can make him better, faster, stronger...(opening of the 6Million dollar Man, close anyway). Hope you get running again soon. | ||
| Sshbsn |
I agree with Ridrx. Nobody's pissing or moaning here, but for some of us $1500 represents a substantial amount of money and the celebration seemed strange. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Reep: My $1500 "opportunities" is with me doing nearly all the work. Valve adjustments are free as far as I'm concerned, and at least they are scheduled. Two belts, used upgraded pulleys, complete engine teardown, replace all tranny bearings, broken primary chain, chain conversion. I'd take scheduled valve adjustments that don't cost me any dough any day of the week over my "opportunities". | ||
| Spatten1 |
Oh yeah, all my "opportunities" were in less than 6k miles. | ||
| Donatello |
Not taking anything personal... I do look at the possibilities of improving on what I had. It's just harder to justify spending the money at the time when I have a full micron system on back order at the time. I'm sure it's going to add up to an amount that I won't be able to drop right away, so I'll have to set it up as painle$$ as possible. Also haven't had a chance to get it looked at yet, so don't know the extent of the damage. I also don't wish the "opportunity" on anybody when it's your commuter.  | ||
| Spatten1 |
I'm enjoying the XB for what it is. Personally, I'd never spend big money on it to get more power. It is much cheaper to buy a different bike for that. | ||
| Ridrx |
I wouldn't spend it(big money, or small for that matter) on a running bike, but if your gonna be in there anyhow... I commute on mine as well and have no desire for more power, but if I was going to be rebuilding anyway, I might consider upgrades that would be cost effective(read: nearly the same cost as a stock part) and not sacrifice longevity. | ||
| Thepup |
Reep,at 28,000 miles on a Yamaha I4 you would have had 1 valve adjustment,Honda 1,Suzuki 1,and Kawasaki 2,Chains and sprockets depend on how you ride.I don't believe that is anywhere near common that a Buell engine would go at 28,000. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Opportunity is spoken by the folks with lots of extra $$$$$$$$$. As much as I like to think about upgrades most of mine are inexpensive compared with Motor dollars. My understanding is that the more you tinker with the motor the less reliable they tend to be. Not exactly what I am after. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I was going by the last I4 I knew that a friend bought new, a 2000 Kawasaki ZR7. It required a valve adjustment at something like 3000 miles, and then every 12000 after that (I think). That was from memory. The dealer killed him on that first adjustment as well, it was over $300 out the door (valve adjustment and oil change). Glad to hear newer bikes are better... | ||
| Blake |
Until you determine exactly what the problem is, it is kind of silly to get all worked up. It could be a number of things, some expensive, some not so expensive. You might have water in your gase and a goofed up primary tensioner. Who knows? "a weak economy. " What country do you live in? LOL! |
