First gear problem

[djorgensen3]

On my way to work this morning I may have bent a shifter fork. I was getting ready to take off from a stoplight quickly and I guess it wasn't fully in first gear. It came out of gear and revved sky high and instead of waiting for the revs to come down I did a boneheaded thing and tried to put it in gear too soon and heard lots of grinding. After the revs came down I put it in gear and drove away slowly. I tried to accelerate briskly and it started lurching in and out of gear so to speak. It only happens in first. All is well in the other gears. I don't want to take it to the dealer because I don't trust them. I am mechanically inclined and have done a lot of motorcycle and car work so I think I can accomplish the repair myself. Is this a shifter fork problem? If so what will this entail as far as repair? Or should I just bite the bullet and take it to the dealer and have it fixed under the warranty?

 

[Krieg]

Check the shop manual for a detailed explanation of the work involved.

 

[djorgensen3]

Wow all this infinite wisdom on this board and I get "check the service manual". Someone here must have more advice than that. I really do appreciate the help.

 

[johnstein]

i have mine at the dealer in pieces its not a pretty sight ! the shop manual is the only way to go step by step , but you are rippin into the inside so everything should be kept clean , and make sure you have plenty of space . my 05 is at the dealer the warranty you have is useless and the 1500 dollar estimate is going to go to about 2120 , motorhead at sh.org has it in stock he is in ohio he quoted me 1100 in and out same day under cut , that is the way i would have went had my bike not been disassembled already 3 weeks and suzuki still wont respond ? they said they are triing to goodwill some money probably wont even be a third of the cost ! good luck ! hope this helped im sure sombody will jump in !

 

[Charlesbusa]

Can't help you with advise but I'll

the post for ya!

 

[justintime2]

I don't understand this warranty non-sense. What does the Suzuki paperwork say it covers for a warranty. Bring it in or ask them for a copy and hold them too it. They can't just say "abuse" and we are not covering it. Most jurisdictions have a smalls claims court that could easily deal with this and they pay all your fees for suing them if you win. Most have a limit of around $2500. Don't let them just say no.

 

[djorgensen3]

Thank you gentlemen for your replies. This is definitely not the direction I was hoping for. Court was the furthest thing from my mind.

 

[BusaWhipped]

I had the warrantee discussion with the stealership yesterday.  I've been taking my bikes to these guys for 4 years and have a good relationship with the service guys, but all stealerships are not created equal.  Here's the skinny on the Suzuki warrantee .  The warrantee states that the owner is responsible for the teardown to determine if the problem is from a defect or abuse. If it is a defect, then Suzuki covers the teardown as well as the repair.  The guys at the dealership will go to bat for you with Suzuki provided (1) the service guys at the stealership aren't a bunch of lazy a$$es and (2) they actually believe that you are not abusing your bike.  The guys where I take my bike aren't stupid, even though some people wish they were.  One guy brought his bike in for "warrantee" work with sponsor logos and number plates.

I see posts telling guys to undo the mods that have damaged their bike and then have it fixed under warrantee.  That hurts all of us since the more the stealerships see it, the more they just assume that's what we are all doing.  Then someone with a real defect gets screwed.

 

[djorgensen3]

Wow thank you for the information. I have an appointment on Friday with the dealership I bought the bike from(2nd bike from them) to have the problem "diagnosed" by a "qualified technician". I use this bike as my daily driver to work everyday in 117 degree heat. It's a dry heat right, just like a house on fire. Anyway I don't even have any mods done to it other than filter, gutted mufflers, and front lowered with custom brass spacers under the handlebar clamp. So I don't think they will find it from abuse, I hope. I have an extended warranty that covers even tires and brake pads so hopefully this too will be covered. I had them put a Pilot Power on the rear and the did it with no hassle and love it by the way. Any idea what the tear down fee is rough guess?

 

[BusaWhipped]

Johnstein might be able to answer that one. He's going through it now as well.

 

[djorgensen3]

Thanks for the link. I appreciate the help.

 

[johnstein]

Johnstein might be able to answer that one.  He's going through it now as well.

i didnt ask the tear down fee but i dropped it at ten am at 330 they called and said no warranty  come on down and take a look  ! i was advised that i should ve stayed and watched the tear down , who knows whos parts thier showing you ?  and then what are you goin to do take the bike out in boxes  they charge to put it back together ? good luck i hope you have a better experience than i did , they told me
1 tire showing too much wear for 5000 miles !
2 three inch strip down middle of tire shows hard launches
3 sprocket shows unusual signs of wear, looks like you have been tryin to wheelie alot
check all these things before you bring it in , check for tire rubber under the undertail,
and make copies of all service records and hand them to the service manager  when you drop the bike off  , oh yeah never tell them you have missed a shift ! doing this once they say will destroy the trans
good luck ! call suzuki and get a file #  
suzuki 1-714572-1490
i spoke with cheryl , harley , and thier supervisor brad  took them three weeks to tell me no warranty now i am waiting on a goodwill payment cause the bike was so new , but i still have no awnser on that ?  and if i tell the dealer to start the work it ends suzukis  responsibilitys , so basicaly  they are f###in me and the horse  i rode in on !
heres the part that hurts !
1 i dont wheelie , im 32 years old and have three boys  12 ,9 , and 3  all of whom expect to see me at home again  , the bike has come up on me 4 times and i figured out that it was always coming out of a turn and that i had very little fuel in the tank !  now i keep the tank full  and wait till i complete the turn to get back into the throttle !  
2 launchin the hayabusa hard ? i wish i could  i dont want the front coming up on me   as stated above , so yes i have left a traffic light fast  or accelerated hard to enter the highway  but far from what i have heard of as far as launching" leave the line at four grand "  everytime i read that i picture the 550 pound busa slamming me in the chest cause it looped ! " and if i have a hard time imagining it there are videos of it happening to people  posted here monthly"
i dont beat on my bike , i commute back n forth to work , dome some two up semi long trips
if i should ever get hurt on this bike i would be screwed !
loss of job
morgage
credit cards
kids
wife
dog
ect...
my older brother is permantly disabled for life cause somebody made a left in front of him so anytime i need a reminder of how much it would suck he is there! he is 41 now  happened when he was 22!  i have too much too loose for a eighty mph wheelie ! i dont care what other people do ,it is fun to see or watch  ,but strictly a spectator sport for me ! it just sucks that suzuki is tellin me this is what i did  ! cause i know i didnt ! good luck
I LOVE MY BIKE !



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[justintime2]

Again gentleman do not let them just tell you "NO". They cannot speculate they have to prove. Magnuson moss warranty act covers things such as this. If they believe a particular act caused something they must show it, they can't guess. Again, take them to small claims court and say you said I abused my bike? Show me exactly how you diagnosed this as the cause of the problem and the steps you took to get there. They cannot do that as it is an assumption based on what they think when they look at it. Try this with any other warranty and see how far they get with it, sir you fed the DVD into the mcahine to fast and abused it, no warranty. Sir you stomped on the gas one too many times because we looked at your trip computer and saw the horrible mileage, no warranty. Think if cops could operate this way with no proof or ever even having been there. Sir here is your ticket, mailed too you. $2000 (cost of tranny repair LOL) for speeding at some point in your life even though we can't prove it and didn't even see it, but it must be so that you "abused" the law because you have the fastest production bike ever made. These denials are a joke and they should be hauled into small claims court emediately when this stuff happens.  

You don't have to prove you didn't abuse your bike, they have to prove you did.
-worn down center strip on tire? = Sorry must have ran my tire pressure a little too low causing excessive warm up and wear down, you can deny my tire warranty claim if I should need to file one.
-excessive sprocket wear? = Dealership can pay to have a metalurgist test the sproket to make sure it's manufacturing and it's tempering was to spec.
-you missed a shift causing internal damage? = Can you please provide me with the instant playback you used to determine this?
Again they prove you did, you don't prove you didn't.

 

[BusaWhipped]

JT2, Good advice on the backside of the fix. But one thing to keep in mind. In small claims court they only need to "prove" it to the satasfaction of a judge. I can see the docet now: "respected business owner vs. the squid". Some advice that that may help up front. Find a dealership you like, none of them are perfect. Preferably one who sells alot of Busas, no just total bike volume. Get to know the service manager when the times are good.

Reading johnstein's post, he took it to one dealer who made an adjustment, then took it to another who tore it down. If you don't trust or know the dealer, how are they supposed to know all of the things you have shared with us?

Of course, this is free advice, take it or leave it for what it's worth.

 

[djorgensen3]

Ok so if I do the repair myself, what all is involved? I have looked at the service manual and I'm wondering if the lower engine case will seperate from the upper without removing the cylinder and head or do I have to take it completely apart? I want this to be a simple as possible obviously and don't want to seperate the cylinder from the pistons. If any of you have done this yourselves please feel free to give me some good advice. I thank you all for your help.

 

[frisbee]

Ask johnnycheese???