Was leaving a side road the other day and accelerated to jump the gap. Second or so into the rev I hear clunk and immediately after the engine stops. Wife said she was amazed I didnt cuss or say anything (intercomms) when it happened but she should see the chain links flying at her and her SV. Stranded for about an hour until a co-worker helped me trailer her home. Tore into her and cried the whole time...









Got lucky and found a new output/countershaft cover for cheap and had it in a few days. Went into town and found a new chain. Got everything back together Saturday morning. Prior to complete reassembly I ran the engine with the cover on. No leaks and no unusual sounds. Clicked her into 4th and the countershaft spun just fine.

Go for a ride... under load theres a god aweful howl now. Similar to as if the transmission had no oil or were being ran too tight. Chain slack is good. So my only guess is the countershaft bearing is bad or the shaft got tweaked. As you can tell on the last picture the cover that got shattered was also knocked forward (or the shaft got knocked backward...) when the chain spun around the front sprocket and jammed itself into the case saver.

Another thing I noticed is my speedo is off... by like 15mph. The slaver cylinder/sprocket cover upper bolt hole/case was snapped off so when you disengage the clutch it flexes and doesnt do its job completely.

What im hoping for is someone to say, "yeah samething happened to me and the speedo drive is whats whining because its not full seated or..." but im doubting thats the case because the howling can also be felt.'

If im not accelerating it doesnt do it. Coasting, or engine braking theres no sound.

If it turns out its that bearing, can that bearing be bought alone? The parts finders show it being 1 piece with the counter shaft... for around $240 Also meaning split cases...

Any insight or condolences is welcome.

 

I'll give you my condolences first CM - a real bummer!

My guess - from a distance - would be that the chain winding up inside the housing like that has moved/knocked something (bearing??) inside the gearbox.

As for the speed difference, that fact that the clutch isn't engaging/disengaging correctly, does it slip on acceleration? Looking at the pictures closely it looks like the clutch rod has a slight bend in it?

Perhaps it might be time to look for a good used motor.

How old was the chain?

Heck, just looked at the bottom photo again. The shaft is out of alignment as the gap is inconsistent around the seal. Internal damage is likely.

Cheers, SB

 

Ouccccchhhhh... And Yuppers, there is a clear gap between the seal and the axle so the bearing is done, worst case scenario the bearing seat has cracked too, so either way that engine must be split, possibly at the least the left side case must be replaced, possibly better off swapping the whole lump...

 

Can't edit with my phone, so those pics are taken BEFORE the cover has been already replaced? So there must be some internal damage, something is clearly grinding to something else when the engine is under stress. Take it apart and try to find what but prepare yourself for an engine swap...

 

Ouch man I'm sorry this has happened. Was the chain very old ?? That said it looks like your countershaft would be bent and like the other guys have said probable major damage in behind that case. Did you look at where the chain let go ? Please tell me the chain didn't have a clip style joining link ? I'd be finding another engine mate.

 

Man that is terrible. Good to hear you were not hurt. I always run a RK gold chain on my bikes. First thing I do is change the chain and gears unless the previous owner can verify new chain and gears. Then I drive her easy till I can get the new RK chain on there. Just cheap insurance. But on the other side if something went wrong internally any brand type of chain could break.

I have seen motors in the 300-600 range. So there not that expensive. A pain in the *** to swap but definitely doable if your a do it yourself type person.

When I break something, I get ticked at first then calm down and regroup my plan of action. Make it better and stronger on the repair or replacement.

Best of luck to you, we have all been there before. It happens to all of us.
Hang in there, make it bigger , stronger and faster.

 

Condolences mate

I think you're looking at hours of work to make that engine good again. Cheapest and fastest way is to look for a new/replacement engine. You could keep the old one for spares, or part it out and recoup some of the cost.

Sorry mate.

 

I was tight on money and bought a cheap chain & sprocket set. I optd for the non-o-ring thinking it'd be fine just need more maintinence. Turns out the chain I have seems to have slightly thinner metal, assuming meaning lower tensile strength. My guess is this should have been on a 500cc bike with 530 sprockets. Didn't even snap at the master link (rivet). Just horrible luck. I've looked around and found a few engines in the mentioned range... but I've found a '93 not far from me around $1700. Its in much better shape than mine... but I feel like id be cheating on mine. Bikes been good to me. Got it at 17k miles in '08 and now I've got 65k.

 

First off condolences, that's a tragic thing to see. All I want to add is beware of getting sentimental about mechanical things. I've fallen into that trap often and it always costs more than the logical option. Good luck which ever way you choose to go on this one.

 

The 93 for 1700 sounds like a good price if its clean and all. I bought my 88 cane with 31k on her and sold her with 62k on the clock. I did alot of work on that bike and she never let me down. I know these bikes will run past 100k if maintained. I really liked the ole 88 cane, but when I found the 94 1000F I fell in love. LOL It was super clean but needed carbs cleaned and insulators replaced. I got her really cheap cause of the idle issue. Once i got that corrected and she would idle normal (1000rpm) I got a chance to really enjoy her. She stops and handles so much better than my 88. Speed wise the 94 may be a tad stronger. The 94 also has a bigger fairing than my 88 and offers more wind protection. I bought her with 35k on her she has 38k on her now.

Buy the 93 if it checks out good. Keep the other bike cause its not worth anything until you fix it, unless you decide to part her out. What year bike do you have now?