Hi all,
It's my first time posting here and unfortunately it's with a heavy heart.
I bought my 2006 DL for a steal 3 years ago with 90 000 km on the clock, but the whole bike was overhauled by Bobby Scott Racing, and they did a fine job from what I could see. Now it's got over 135 000 km on and it seems due for the 2nd motor overhaul. I was riding on the highway, at 140... I mean, 120 K/h around 6000 RPM when the bike suddenly lost power and started vibrating a tiny amount more than usual. I got off the road as quickly as I could. The motor turned over but the bike wouldn't run. I thought it must be petrol feed or electronic as I had issues with the lights about a year ago. I had the bike lifted home on a friends bakkie and parked it.
My DL always used a bit of oil, but lately the oil consumption seemed to have increased dramatically so I was monitoring oil consumption, checking the level frequently to see more or less how much it was using. I overfilled it one day trying to top up in a hurry, but I'd read many threads saying it won't cause damage to run it like that (and I was sure the bike would chew through the extra oil in no time). But, before I could gather any useful info, the oil was finished and now I have big problems.
Firstly, I called Suzuki to see what they recommend, and the guy knew off-by-heart that the crank costs R18 000... That's almost what I paid for the bike back then. So I reached out to a few guys who helped me troubleshoot a few things. I checked everything from the petrol pump down to the stand switch before I thought to check the oil, and there was nothing except what remained in the oil filter. Then we started troubleshooting engine problems. We established that the cams would run dry first because of the way the oil flows so I popped off the cam cover and inspected the journals and they were all damaged... When I tried to start the bike (with a fully charged car battery), it turned over 2 or 3 strokes, then seemed to stiffen up, like not enough power to turn any more.
I started looking for parts and found a second hand cam and conrods in KZN for R6500. Cams and other parts for the top of the heads would be about the same and the I still have to look at labour costs. I've been tied up in ongoing legal proceedings which have drained anything resembling a coffer!
So, I guess my questions it this: Do you think it would be worth it to try fix the DL, should I break it up for parts OR is there someone/somewhere that would buy it as it?
Thanks,
Bret
It's my first time posting here and unfortunately it's with a heavy heart.
I bought my 2006 DL for a steal 3 years ago with 90 000 km on the clock, but the whole bike was overhauled by Bobby Scott Racing, and they did a fine job from what I could see. Now it's got over 135 000 km on and it seems due for the 2nd motor overhaul. I was riding on the highway, at 140... I mean, 120 K/h around 6000 RPM when the bike suddenly lost power and started vibrating a tiny amount more than usual. I got off the road as quickly as I could. The motor turned over but the bike wouldn't run. I thought it must be petrol feed or electronic as I had issues with the lights about a year ago. I had the bike lifted home on a friends bakkie and parked it.
My DL always used a bit of oil, but lately the oil consumption seemed to have increased dramatically so I was monitoring oil consumption, checking the level frequently to see more or less how much it was using. I overfilled it one day trying to top up in a hurry, but I'd read many threads saying it won't cause damage to run it like that (and I was sure the bike would chew through the extra oil in no time). But, before I could gather any useful info, the oil was finished and now I have big problems.
Firstly, I called Suzuki to see what they recommend, and the guy knew off-by-heart that the crank costs R18 000... That's almost what I paid for the bike back then. So I reached out to a few guys who helped me troubleshoot a few things. I checked everything from the petrol pump down to the stand switch before I thought to check the oil, and there was nothing except what remained in the oil filter. Then we started troubleshooting engine problems. We established that the cams would run dry first because of the way the oil flows so I popped off the cam cover and inspected the journals and they were all damaged... When I tried to start the bike (with a fully charged car battery), it turned over 2 or 3 strokes, then seemed to stiffen up, like not enough power to turn any more.
I started looking for parts and found a second hand cam and conrods in KZN for R6500. Cams and other parts for the top of the heads would be about the same and the I still have to look at labour costs. I've been tied up in ongoing legal proceedings which have drained anything resembling a coffer!
So, I guess my questions it this: Do you think it would be worth it to try fix the DL, should I break it up for parts OR is there someone/somewhere that would buy it as it?
Thanks,
Bret
