Serious mechanical breakdown you've experienced?

[Gary856]

My ’05 ZX-10R with a bad crank bearing is in the shop. The crank needs to be replaced, maybe a rod, and a bunch of other stuff. It’s either that or an engine swap. Bought it with only 4,600 miles, currently at about 8,400 miles. The bike is stock except for a pipe. Even though I don’t know its previous history, it seems to be pretty low miles to have this kind of mechanical failure. Makes me wonder if this is because the bike was abused/neglected before, or just one of those things – bad luck? It left me stranded on new year’s eve; waited 3.5 hrs for a tow truck on 35, between 9 and Alpine.

What serious mechanical problem(s) have you experienced with a newer street bike (non-track/race)? The circumstances?

 

[sebastacruz]

One time, the lid wasn't on all the way on my *$, and It spilled all over my new all-white gear :|


I've been very lucky, off to knock on wood now...

 

[HIglesias]

my shit doesnt break

but, i will say this. when i go really fast on my old bikes, i get scared of a horrible mechanical failure. like the bike just imploding at 130mph or something.

 

[UDRider]

Bike 1
Alternator started to go
Replaced alternator was faulty
seal on counter crankshaft got compromised because some hoses got caught up in a sprocket spraying oil all over back tire. This was a month after gear position sensor was replaced (that general location...)
top end had to be rebuild, Seals were worn, heavy build up on the valves (I think), cam chain skipped also.
bunch of other minor stuff by comparison....
Bike 2
Alternator or maybe RR went taking out wiring harness, battery, damaging ECM
Good times, good times.

 

[mean dad]

I had an RZ350 that stuck pistons so often I put fuckin wingnuts on the head.

 

[weak_link]

One bike snapped a crank.

Another mushroomed most of the valves.

Both were Yamaha's from the early 90's. Oddly enough, I don't ride Yamaha too much these days.

 

[stan23]

2007 SXV, 900-miles and the case sealant failed and the coolant mixed with oil. Luckily, I didn't run the bike anymore and had it fixed.

Took about 4-months to have it fixed, and luckily Aprilia USA goodwill'd the fix. Rode the bike for 300-miles, and same problem again. I dropped it off to a different Aprilia dealer and had it fixed again.

When I got the bike back, I sold it and and swore off the SXV.

About a year later, a well-taken care of SXV came on the market with about 1800-miles and with no problems. I bought it and after a few hundred miles later, the case sealant failed. I took it to the dealer and had to pay out of pocket to get it fixed. ~$2,000.

 

[ALANRIDER7]

The initial service a bike receives is 100% critical. Most manufacturers call for a service at the 600 mile mark. On any bike I buy, I do 3 oil changes in the first 600 miles. There is a tremendous amount of particulate matter that gets put into the oil during the break in process. I've seen customers blow off the initial service/oil change for several thousand miles and then develop major problems from it later on. An oil change is cheap insurance for a long engine life. Take good care of your bike and it will take care of you. Neglect it at your peril.

It's impossible to say what happened to your bike without looking at the maintenance records (if available). This is why it's important to have a used bike inspected prior to purchase. Ask a lot of questions about who took care of the bike and when.

Some bikes get abused. Some are neglected. It's buyer beware.

This skank is what typically comes out of a new motor at the 600 mile mark. If it looks like it came from a baby's diaper, it's been in there too long.

 

[kawikz]

having a flat on the bay bridge during morning traffic is kinda scary...i survived.

 

[Lunch Box]

1. had an RD400 w/an oil pump setup. Worked on the bike in the pits between races, and didn't realize that I had pinched the oil line in the case. The first lap of the race (5th corner) the rear wheel locks up, slides, and then launches me in a major highside. Good times!

2. Putting along on my BMW R-80 (years ago), I launched the right side sparkplug out. My brother had the bike before I did, and I think he must have stripped the threads during maintenance. 4 days and one helicoil later, I was back on the road. Those old beemers are pretty bullet-proof.

 

[Critter]

I remember my CBR F2 Chain failure and cracked case out on HWY 5 at about 3AM. Thats the worst. Oh and my Dukes stator bolts backing out and destroying it.

 

[sckego]

'04 EX-250 with 14k, that I had purchased a few thousand miles before. Let the oil level get too low and broke the engine (no idea what actually let go, but it would still turn over and start if you gave it some gas, making a god-awful loud knocking noise, and it would die as soon as you released the throttle). All my previous bikes were very low maintenance: change the oil, ride for a few thousand miles, change the oil. I never had a bike that actually burned oil and required refilling periodically, so I never even bothered to check it. Lesson learned. Swapped the broken engine out with a new one with only 2k on it, and made it a point to top off the oil every 600-1000 miles.

 

[ReadtSetGo]

I had the same issue as Critter. Chain break on highway 50 over the causeway. It cracked the case and started to spill coolant on my rear tire. Applied front brake and stuck myself on the causeway during saturday afternoon traffic. This was an yzf600r. SOLD it!

 

[Pushrod]

BMW airhead, did a big-bore 1050 high compression kit, ported heads, dual plugs yadda yadda. Made enough torque to snap the input shaft of the transmission. Twice.

Things got to where the parts house had my credit card number on the drop down screen.

 

[n10sive]

I had an RZ350 that stuck pistons so often I put fuckin wingnuts on the head.

I had an RD that stuck a piston once. Turns out I had water in the oil tank and that created a bit of steam that my aluminum pistons didn't like. I waited until I was hauling butt down a South Carolina road to stick, locking up my rear wheel and tossing me into the trees

 

[DucatiHoney]

Cracked valve guide that appeared at a stoplight while I was in neutral after having gone 110 mph only minutes before. Got lucky. Really lucky.

The engine was pretty tired at that point, so I ended up just getting a big bore kit to freshen the top end up. That happened at 36K or 38K and I hit 78K on that bike yesterday.

 

[Stormdragon]

Seized the piston in an F6 while doing 55MPH downhill on Torrey Pines Grade.

Let a friend rebuild the bottom end in my GPz. He was more familiar with Hondas, and didn't prime the oil pump. Needed a new crankshaft the second time around.

 

[Erbuck]

Had a Ducati 500 GTL seize a crank bearing on me. 16k miles. Later on, heard that was a common thing for those bikes. Wish I knew when I bought it.

A seized crank bearing on a ZX10 doesn't sound right with the mileage you have unless there was some kind of abuse.

Its so hard to tell if the previous owner overheated the engine or never changed the oil when you look at a used moto. Compression and other stuff can be fine, but it could be a ticking time bomb.

 

[ob1ventura]

A seized crank bearing on a ZX10 doesn't sound right with the mileage you have unless there was some kind of abuse.

I was thinking the same thing. Have about 80k on my '05 zx10 and the only issue has been that the horn dosn't work. Adjusted the valves at 35k and only inspected them at 75k........no adj needed.

The '01 harley on the other hand. Damn thing had the stator go out at 110k mi. pos! Oh yeh, and had to replace the headlamp bulb.

 

[motobecane10]

Spun the crank bearing(ball) on my H2 triple 3 seperate times fortunately for me I was headed straight every time, well once was lofting the front end leaving Alices and missed the shift to 2nd...OOOOPSSSSSy.