MOT Failed :(

[AJDBaillie]

Took my sv for its MOT (The first one since I got it) and it failed for excessive play in the swingarm! I also got an adviser for bearings in the front. The guy told me that they would need to replace both bearings in the swingarm at a total cost of £160 including labour which I thought was alright.

Still, its an 07 bike with 4000 miles on it. Surely the bearings can't have worn out with that?

[Reeder]

I always take my bike or car to an independant MOT centre just to make sure they're not going to try and get more money out of me.
Sorry to hear the news if it is the case that the bearings are shot.

[StitchSV]

Fek me. That seems odd given the milage?!

[AJDBaillie]

I know. I have a funny feeling it might have been caused by me when I installed a lowering kit. I put the bike on a rear wheel paddock stand and took the suspension links out, which of course caused the bike to drop almost right down. Luckily I had a jack underneath the engine as well so I managed to hold it up and put in the new links but I wonder if that would have shredded the bearings?

Either way I was looking online and the bearings only cost about £10 for a set and i'm going to be paying £60. :(

[Reeder]

Buy the bearings yourself and just ask them to fit them.

[embee]

If it's endfloat in the swingarm bearings there was a thread on this subject a few weeks ago. Seems "they're all like that, Sir". Do a search to find the thread.

[Red Herring]

There is no way your swingarm bearings are shot in 4,000 miles. Add another nought and maybe just a chance, but not in that distance, and dropping it even until the rear wheel hit the underside of the seat wouldn't have damaged them. They are either out of adjustment, or he is having you on. Have you felt the play yourself? How is he detecting it? Get someone else who ought to know what they are doing to give you a second opinion before you part with any cash.

[maviczap]

There is no way your swingarm bearings are shot in 4,000 miles. Add another nought and maybe just a chance, but not in that distance, and dropping it even until the rear wheel hit the underside of the seat wouldn't have damaged them. They are either out of adjustment, or he is having you on. Have you felt the play yourself? How is he detecting it? Get someone else who ought to know what they are doing to give you a second opinion before you part with any cash.

+1

[maviczap]

If it's endfloat in the swingarm bearings there was a thread on this subject a few weeks ago. Seems "they're all like that, Sir". Do a search to find the thread.

Here's the thread

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=145453&highlight=swingarm+shim

[Bibio]

tell your MOT inspector to phone suzuki for an explanation on the end float.

what other bearings.. headstock by chance?

i think your MOT inspector is trying his luck. there should be no bearings shot in 4000 miles even given the lack of grease the employers of suzuki have to squeeze out of the production manager's personal lube.

[AJDBaillie]

Yeah the bike also got an advisory for headstock bearings! How did you guess? I actually didn't get to feel the play and I didn't even get the certificate that says it failed. Surely the MOT inspector would recognise the difference between shot bearings and alignment issues? I'm a bit of noob so I'm not really sure what you mean by the end float?

Thanks for all the replys by the way!

[Red Herring]

Is your bike now out of MOT or were you getting it done early? Whereabouts are you, maybe someone on here can offer you a second opinion.

[AJDBaillie]

I'm in Edinburgh. I have the bike back home at the moment but its booked in for its MOT/repair on Friday. I might stick a message in the 'Ecosse' section to see if anyone would be willing to have a look.

[TheRamJam]

i'd suggest taking it to Saltire Suzuki if you can. Good bunch of guys there who will be able to help you out there :-)

[Bluefish]

1 year ago I took my Sprint for an mot and got an advisory for slight play in the swing arm, took it back to the same place last week and got an advisory for slight play in the swing arm, and mine has done 19k. Take it some where else.

[AJDBaillie]

Yeah i'm taking it to bibio tomorrow morning to get a second opinion from him.

[Paul the 6th]

I took my vw transporter to an independent vag specialist in York in January for it's MOT.

Failed: 6 brake pipes, track rod end, 1 rear disc, 2 rear pads, Advised: handbrake cable worn

Quote to fix it all £700 odd quid.

Took it to another garage for a quote to do the work and he said "hang on a minute, 4 of the 6 failed brake pipes are absolutely fine.. they've been overly harsh there"

So had it re-MOT'd at this new garage:
Failed: 2 brake pipes, 2 rear discs and 1 rear pads, handbrake cable on the verge of snapping
Advised: track rod end has slight play but nothing to worry about.

Bill to fix including new MOT and VAT - £370..

So although the MOT test is an official test carried out in official time slots with computers linked upto a national database, the MOT testers can be a bit 'overly harsh', especially if it's their garage which is going to be doing the repair work..

[Bibio]

all sorted.

lower link bearing needing greased and torqued up properly (he fitted the lowering links himself), swingarm bearings fine. headstock bearings are fine also, the click at the front is the pads moving in the callipers so obviously the MOT inspector was pumping the forks to check headstock bearings instead of putting on a jack.

nice young lad.

[TheRamJam]

Good Job Lance :-)

Another Happy young Orger :thumbsup:

[Bibio]

Good Job Lance :-)

Another Happy young Orger :thumbsup:

maybe not. Saltire have failed it again. so i phoned suzuki uk and they phoned Saltire who suddenly changed their tune. and are now saying that the swingarm bearings are cordoned have been overtightened which is atrange because that have never been touched. they also say that there was an advisory for the same thing last year. I SMELL BULL SH!TE.

when i checked the bike there was indeed play in the lower linkage bearing but that has been sorted.

[Reeder]

Dear oh dear. All sounds a bit silly.

[Sid Squid]

i think your MOT inspector is trying his luck. there should be no bearings shot in 4000 miles even given the lack of grease the employers of suzuki have to squeeze out of the production manager's personal lube.
I'm not so sure.
The tester checks the bike for areas that don't meet the relevant requirements, if the swingarm moves - and we know that some Pointies do - she/he, like the vast majority of people working on bikes, despite what Suzuki say, will rightly regard that as a fault, that's a fail.
If the tester were aware of what Suzuki think about this it may be different, but it's unusual enough a situation, (engineering wise it's horrible), that I doubt the number of people who think that's right is very high.
Knackered headstock bearings at low mileages are not at all unusual, adjustment is critical in ensuring long life.

When you've seen as many bikes as an MOT tester, knackered parts at any mileage low or high won't make you bat an eyelid. I've seen many notched headbearings on relatively young motorbikes, and despite the time I've spent spannering things, (for money and for fun), it's never been my job to MOT bikes.

[AJDBaillie]

I've just spoken to the manager at the garage (Who is possibly one of the friendliest mechanics i've spoken to) he personally checked it and said that there was definite play in the swingarm and he too would fail it. He reconed the cause was someone jet washing the grease out of the bearings on the engine side of the swingarm which had caused them to run dry. He said there were going to strip the bike and regrease the bearings-if they weren't too worn.

[Bibio]

thing is Sid they have the play from new. so who is right VOSA or Suzuki.

i personally screamed BS when i got my K8. when i went to adjust the chain for the first time and discovered it i was told they are all like that so i shouted BS and they led me to the workshop to inspect bikes straight out the crate. low and behold they were exactly the same and it's not just SV's i had a go with bandits and gsx's they all had the same distinctive side to side 'click click'. back to front, up and and down are rock solid just like the OP's.

[Bibio]

Calum knows his stuff and i will be interested to see the results. but i bet there is still the same play.

[AJDBaillie]

Yeah, I mean I felt the play myself and to me it felt like a little click as you said but I think I trust Calum enough when he says its more than just a little bit. Either way we'll see what happens tomorrow with it. Hopefully its just a regrease!

[andrewsmith]

Subscribing to see the end result

[Sid Squid]

thing is Sid they have the play from new. so who is right VOSA or Suzuki.
An MOT tester who has heard of this and passes the bike is right, a tester who hasn't and fails it is right just the same.

Despite what Suzuki have said, this is NOT how to build a motorbike, it clearly isn't evidence of something being worn, as new bikes are like this too - Suzuki are making them like that - but that still doesn't make it right, no-one who understands motorcycle frame and suspension technology will suggest this is a good way to construct a motorcycle.

[embee]

....also if the bearings are worn, regreasing them doesn't make them any less worn.

[Sid Squid]

....also if the bearings are worn, regreasing them doesn't make them any less worn.
True.

[AJDBaillie]

That's a fair point but the belief of the MOT tester is that the grease in the bearings has been washed away when it was cleaned with a jet washer (Previous owner). So the hope is that, the lack of grease has caused the play and the bearings are okay. Either way there is still a notch in the headstock bearings which got an advisory so it will have to go back to the mechanic to fix that sometime this year as well. Still don't see how there can be such wear in the headstock bearings with only 4000 miles though.

[andrewsmith]

That's a fair point but the belief of the MOT tester is that the grease in the bearings has been washed away when it was cleaned with a jet washer (Previous owner). So the hope is that, the lack of grease has caused the play and the bearings are okay. Either way there is still a notch in the headstock bearings which got an advisory so it will have to go back to the mechanic to fix that sometime this year as well. Still don't see how there can be such wear in the headstock bearings with only 4000 miles though.

Mr Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki budget for 1kg of grease between the four of them

[Sid Squid]

No, the bearing works by having metal to metal contact, the grease is there to lubricate the surfaces, if there is play then the bits don't fit together properly any more, and if they don't touch grease can't make up the clearance - if the bearing has play in it, it's knackered.

But let's all be clear about what's meant, the Pointies seem to have some axial movement of the swingarm, this is not due to wear of the bearings, only radial play is indicative of a worn part or parts, neither circumstance is redeemable by regreasing.

[AJDBaillie]

Went to pick up the bike today at 5pm but its not ready. The bearings hadn't arrived. Which was nice to hear after leaving uni early. Anyway he confirmed that it was a lack of grease that had caused the wear. They are putting it down to it being jet washed. He also said that since the headstock bearings had a notch in them that it was further proof that it was probably jet washing. I also got an e-mail back from suzuki who have asked that I get the swingarm play 'diagnosed' by an official dealer so that they can provide me with further information. I asked the guy at the garage if he reckoned I had a case against suzuki for not putting enough grease in the first place but he said no.

[-Ralph-]

it failed for excessive play in the swingarm! I also got an adviser for bearings in the front. The guy told me that they would need to replace both bearings in the swingarm

So the guy was right. Bet your sick at the time and money spent now on another MOT and what Saltire will charge you labour rates. Should have just given this guy his £160 quid! Ah well, hindsight and all that, lesson learned hopefully.

[AJDBaillie]

Yup! Its looking like £190 now :(

[-Ralph-]

Plus the petrol to get over to Kirkcaldy. Are Saltire charging £160 including parts as well? I thought that was a good price for a job that requires taking the swingarm off.

[AJDBaillie]

Yeah it was £60 for the bearings £50 per hour labour for 2 hours and a re-test so I guess including the petrol it will be £200. Either way I'm glad I went to kirkcaldy because I got the linkages sorted as well. Thank god for student loans!

[-Ralph-]

Well other than having to MOT twice, you have done pretty well then TBH.

[AJDBaillie]

Yeah definitely. I don't feel like I've been ripped off or anything.

[NTECUK]

How can you fail a bearing for corrosion if you cant see it?
It would be excessive stiffness in the movement of the rear suspension.

[AJDBaillie]

Finally got the bike back and the final conclusion was that yes, the bearings were completely worn. There was basically no grease in them and the hard coating had completely worn away. In total it was £170 for the work and the nice guys at saltire gave me another free re-test so all in all couldn't thank saltire suzuki enough.

[Dave20046]

Did they comment on/find a gap between your swingarm pivot spacers?

Just resolved mine today

[AJDBaillie]

Did they comment on/find a gap between your swingarm pivot spacers?
No they didn't mention anything about a gap just the bearings were worn. Although when I was researching about the swingarm play I did come across quite a few people who had that problem.