Gear Selector falling out on K4 K5 Models

[The Mass]

Hello All,

I know Ceri has tried this before.

I am having problem trying to convince Suzuki that this is a real problem.

I know I am not alone on this. Please Please Please anyone that this has happened to were the gear lever has come off the bike or come lose on the K4 / K5 model ...Please please please contact Suzuki on the below number and ask for Paul in Customer Service:

0500 011959 (it's a free phone number, no charge).

Please give them your details Suzuki reckon it's not a problem.

Please dot it, as someone is going to get hurt, as mine decided to leave the bike, whilst I was along the M4, I near came off the bike...

Please do it!

A Big thanks so foar to Flammin Squirrel...come on folks..i know there's more of you out there that this has happened to... SUZUKI NEED TO KNOW!!

Please [-o< tell them - phone the number above ask for Paul.
Mass

[Dave C]

Hi

I have a K5 and touch wood have not had this problem. Does anyone know which part of the gear lever comes loose and then drops off? Is it the bit that goes into the gearbox or an external part.

I'd like to check that mine is ok when I get home.

Ta

[Flamin_Squirrel]

It's external. It's the gear change lever, where it screws into the foot rest that can come loose.

[The Mass]

HI All,

I'venow chnaged the thread heading

Yes it's the Gear Selector that falls out.

I have a few more people to thank.

Please phone Suzuki - THEY NEED TO KNOW


Thanks again all

Mass

[T0mm0]

Hi,

Just called Suzuki customer service, didn't seem to helpful or interested but none the less they requested a detailed description of the problem and said they would log my details.

Come on K4/K5 owners, bombard the call centre with your bike details.

Cheers
T0mm0

[BillyC]

If someone puts this into Biking Issues, where it really belongs, then I'll make it a sticky. 8)

[The Mass]

If someone puts this into Biking Issues, where it really belongs, then I'll make it a sticky. 8)


Cheers Billy,

Moderator - can you do the honours please?

Keep em comin folks - SUZUKI need to know
Cheers

Mass

[The Mass]

Right,

I have found the old thread that Ceri started.

Can the following peeps please contact Suzuki - PLEASE ...

Ceri JC
Carsick
Captain Nemo
Mech
TimTucker
Pork Chop
Italian Job
Adam
XVS2005
a1a
Daddy Sperm
Thor


Please, please contact Suzuki on the following number and tell them that you have either noticed it has become lose or that it has fallen off.

freephone number 0500 011959

Many thanks,
Mass

[silent]

sorry to thread hijack a bit but i had this with my planet, come up to a round about clicking down...clkick click click um...wheres the lever gone....fortunately it stayed on the rod and i managed to do it up tight enough with my fingers again...

could you not just tighten it with threadlock as well to stop it?

andy

[Flamin_Squirrel]

could you not just tighten it with threadlock as well to stop it?

Yes, but you shouldn't have to should you? And you can only do it if you know it's a problem. Most K4/5 owners won't.

[jonboy]

If someone puts this into Biking Issues, where it really belongs, then I'll make it a sticky. 8)

Biking Issues doesn't exist any more ;) Plus it's an SV prob and should IMO be here in tuning and tweaking. I'll ask Admin2 to make it a sticky though.


.

[The Mass]

Cheers Jonboy :thumbsup:

Update:

I have again phoned Suzuki this afternoon to see if they have had any further phone calls.
Yes they have but only 2 or 3 ??

And their comment was "It still does not change our policy on this"??

Yeah..whatever :?

Come on peeps, I know there's more of you out there.
You shouldn't have to put up with a "Make Do", let's get this sorted before someone comes off their bloody bike.

Come on, you guys know the score.

Cheers - Mass

[Big Bad Al]

I'll call tomorrow if it will help. I though nuts and bolts coming lose was part and parcel of owning a bike and one of those things you check occassionally. Mine came lose and had started to move off the spline - some difficult gear changes made me check it all over and spot the problem. Having nipped up the little screw holding it on, it is now fine. Perhaps it's one of those checks that should be done at the initial service?

[Ceri JC]

I called, them. Explained the problem and the situation regarding the fact that a few SV owners I knew had had the problem, which made me run a poll:

http://forums.sv650.org/viewtopic.php?t=23718&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I told them about the stats, 13 people out of 52 polled (~25%) had experienced the problem, typically early on in the bikes life. I suggested that they include it in the servicing schedule (preferably the first service) to re-tighten/re-torque the bolt securing it. They seemed reasonably interested and agreed to make a note of it.

[Big Bad Al]

Wow - they are very defensive about this! Just called and asked for Paul.
When the guy asked what it was about and I explained that there seemed to be an ongoing issue with the gear linkage on the SV650 model, he immediately took the high ground and said there wasn't an ongoing problem and that one person had had a conversation with Paul about this.

I did correct him and mentioned that more than a handeful of riders had called to log a similar problem at which point he said he would make a note of my problem and took my registration. I wonder if any good will come of this. Still best to check the bike over regularly I guess and not rely on someone else to look after your safety.

[The Mass]

Wow - they are very defensive about this! Just called and asked for Paul.
When the guy asked what it was about and I explained that there seemed to be an ongoing issue with the gear linkage on the SV650 model, he immediately took the high ground and said there wasn't an ongoing problem and that one person had had a conversation with Paul about this.

I did correct him and mentioned that more than a handeful of riders had called to log a similar problem at which point he said he would make a note of my problem and took my registration. I wonder if any good will come of this. Still best to check the bike over regularly I guess and not rely on someone else to look after your safety.

Cheers BBA,

I knew they had the hump yesterday after I phoned them, he got right on the defence when I asked him if enay one else had phoned.
I explained to him that they fitting on the K4 and K5 are completely different to earlier models, in the way that it's incoporated into the foot rest and not a seperate entity of the bike.
We've gotta push for this particular part of the bike to be looked at by their engineering dept.
As that's where he said it would go to next.

Good news is that I have written to MCN (Chris Dabbs I think), and asked them to politely inform SV owners.

Haven't had anything back yet..but will keep you all posted


Cheers...and we need more peeps to phone still...come on folks!

Mass

[legin]

Am I missing something here?

I've got a K5, my wife has a K4. Both the gear levers are held in place by a circlip that would need circlip pliers to remove.

So how can the gear lever fall off?

[tj2]

The gear lever pivots on a bolt shaft that is threaded into the footrest mounting plate. The circlip is there so the gear lever can be removed easily to clean/grease the pivot point.

Why would I know this :?: :?: :?:

Because mine fell off on my SV1000 on the M42 the day after i collected it.

Hate to think of the possible consequences if I had been on my way to the Ponderosa amd not me mums...................................

Suzuki GB are crap when it comes to problems across a model range, remember all the threads about corrosion? NFI was a complete waste of time talking to them......

Had a problem on my K3 650 jumping out of gear under hard load, reply was..."they CANT do that, its the way the gearbox is designed to lock in under load" local dealer was just as bad, kept promising to investigate with suzuki. The reply came back .... "Must be rider error/ not shifting fully into gear"


They got your cash via the dealers........ THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED

[legin]

Now I follow. thank's for that. I'll check ours tonight.

[enzyme]

Yup , mine fell out on the A10 slowing down to a roundabout which was not a fun experience , then spent 1 hour at the roadside waiting for the great free Suzuki road side assistence , before finally finding my tool kit ( never though of reading the manual when I got the bike :oops: ) and fixing it myself :shock: Now I check it every few weeks just to be sure...

[The Mass]

Yup , mine fell out on the A10 slowing down to a roundabout which was not a fun experience , then spent 1 hour at the roadside waiting for the great free Suzuki road side assistence , before finally finding my tool kit ( never though of reading the manual when I got the bike :oops: ) and fixing it myself :shock: Now I check it every few weeks just to be sure...

Enzyme,


Can you please phone Suzuki with your details. The more people we can get to phone, then they might do something about it.

it's a free phone number: 0500 011959

Cheers - Mass

[tigersaw]

I've not really understood what it is that comes loose from the descriptions in this thread, so I took a look at my K5 this afternoon.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

It appears the gear change lever sits on a shaft which is threaded into the same casting as the footpeg. If you remove the circlip the gear lever will slide off, and the shaft can be removed/tightened using a 17mm spanner on the straight edges at the far end. You need to remove the gear lever to expose it. I assume this is the rod which comes loose? Mine was very tight. I've also cut a notch in it at 'north' with a junior hacksaw so I will soon see if it ever works loose.

Looking at it, if it were to work loose so much it fell out, it would still be retained by the circlip and nothing would be lost.

[The Mass]

I'm not too sure if the K5 is the same setup as the K4.

Yes you are right about the circlip holding it in place. But the whole thing will fall off or out. including the circlip, so the whole shaft will move.

worth having a look as under closer examination of all the models K3 -> it loooks to me like they have been "playing" with this part of the bike for a while, as the K3 model has it built into the footrest where the K4 and possibly K5 have it as a seperate entity to the bike.

All the same Suzuki are just shoeing us off with any excuse, we shouldn't have to put up with bits falling off your brand new bike after or before its first service???

That's why this thread is in place. We need eachothers help to let Suzuki know that there is an obvious problem with this part of the bike.

Hope this helps?

Mass

[knightster]

This happened to me too.

Just rang Paul from Suzuki Customer Services and gave my details.

[tinceysv650]

this has also happened to me, well hasnt happend to me but i did notice it..

the first morning i got the delivery of my bike, i had a good check over the bike and made sure all bolts were tight, i.e if i could rattle it its to loose..

i found that the gear lever was loose and simply tightened it up instead of whyning and bitching about it..

[Captain Nemo]

this has also happened to me, well hasnt happend to me but i did notice it..

the first morning i got the delivery of my bike, i had a good check over the bike and made sure all bolts were tight, i.e if i could rattle it its to loose..

i found that the gear lever was loose and simply tightened it up instead of whyning and bitching about it..

i dont suppose that you contacted your dealer and asked why they left a major bolt loose then? or perhaps you didnt want to whyne (?) and bitch

to many here this is a mojor issue, please dont take the ****, we are trying to gauge how serious a problem it is , if its not a problem to you then dont troll, ie keep your $h!t to yourself

[The Basket]

This is a serious issue...I will look for it in the morning...If Suzuki don't listen then don't buy a Suzuki...If I find loose nuts then that is an issue...But is this a K5 issue though?

[The Mass]

This is a serious issue...I will look for it in the morning...If Suzuki don't listen then don't buy a Suzuki...If I find loose nuts then that is an issue...But is this a K5 issue though?

Yes it's also a K5 issue. Some of the K5 riders on here , have also had this happen to them.

[The Basket]

I have checked my Gear shift and it seems solid enough...I will ask at the first service.

Question...Are you claiming this to be a design flaw or simply a PDI some monkey hasn't put it on properly type thing?

[The Mass]

I have checked my Gear shift and it seems solid enough...I will ask at the first service.

Question...Are you claiming this to be a design flaw or simply a PDI some monkey hasn't put it on properly type thing?

Trying to make Suzuki aware really, it looks as though they have been playing around with the design of this on different models. Even though it was pointed out by Billy C that the design is the same on all of them, that may be true. But the design of the lever in which it is set in has been changed on most of the models.
So... It would be good if we could geta response from Suzuki.

Cheers anyway

Mass

[ruffryder]

mine too - ill be calling em

[gahdzila]

same thing happened to me, so this problem is not limited to the UK or Europe...I'm across the pond in the states. Mine is a 2004 SV650S, by the way.

http://forum.svrider.com/index.php?topic=42532.0

http://forum.svrider.com/index.php?topic=52623

Anyone know how to get in touch with Suzuki America? Tried their website, couldnt find anything. Not really worthwhile for me to call the UK and be on hold for a half hour waiting for someone to answer.

[ryrides]

never had this happen but do on occasion have trouble with the bike going into gear ..ussually 2-3 gear and ussually when im in the middle of a turn..any experience with this?

[curium]

Surely this is a PDI issue. Someone has obviously never tightened it correctly on assembly.

If correctly assembled it shouldn't work loose which is why Suzuki-GB are not responding. They list torque values for all the bikes nuts and bolts but if dealers don't adhere to this then you need to take it up with them.

If you are saying that even when correctly torqued the assembly works loose in between scheduled services then its a problem Suzuki-GB need to deal with.

All I'm saying is that your post is unclear on what exactly the problem is making it hard to judge if Suzuki-GB are being unreasonable.

[Foey]

Surely this is a PDI issue. Someone has obviously never tightened it correctly on assembly.





I would normally agree with this statement, however it seems that there are a number of people from different area's all experiencing the same problem, surely not all those suppliers could have missed the same item, i have not personally had this problem though (yet). :wink:

[The Mass]

Surely this is a PDI issue. Someone has obviously never tightened it correctly on assembly.

If correctly assembled it shouldn't work loose which is why Suzuki-GB are not responding. They list torque values for all the bikes nuts and bolts but if dealers don't adhere to this then you need to take it up with them.

If you are saying that even when correctly torqued the assembly works loose in between scheduled services then its a problem Suzuki-GB need to deal with.

All I'm saying is that your post is unclear on what exactly the problem is making it hard to judge if Suzuki-GB are being unreasonable.

Hi Curium,

Sorry for taking so long to come back on this one.

I can assure you, it's not a local dealer issue, even though my local dealer is an **** wipe, that shouldn't sway your opinion.
Anyhow, it is the whole gear selector or rather the pin and clip that will all come loose.
It'll just fall out, as if it didn't fit in the hole in the first place.
Now I know that mine was reported along with a lot of other to suzuki GB who have done absolutely sweet FA about it so far, however, I have written to them to ask what the procedure is for getting the model looked at, still waiting for a reply :roll:
My local "**** hole" dealer was contacted by suzuki Gb and told to Put Right" ....and this meant stick it back in the hole with some threadlock.

So there ye go, hope it helps, and if it does happen to you, then please contact them, it'll bug them, and maybe, just maybe they'll look at it one day..who knows...

[Banus]

is this restricted to K4/5 's ? I have a K1 that doesn't want to change gear - taken it to my "trusted" man that knows about these things and although he has yet to have a detailed look - he thinks its the gear selector shaft that goes into the Gear box.
So, is the problem that you are all talking about internal or external ? if its internal sounds like i'm have the same problem - mines only done a very careful 10 K :(

[setanta]

I havnt reread the thread yet cause Im in a hurry out but just wanted to let you know mine fell off Friday thats at 3000 on the clock. :cry: :cry:

[tonydc]

hi all,

I've just picked up my shiny new SV today and after reading this I'm a bit concerned this problem may occur with my bike.

My bike is a brand new 2006 model, is that a K4/K5??

Thanks
Tony

[fizzwheel]

hi all,

I've just picked up my shiny new SV today and after reading this I'm a bit concerned this problem may occur with my bike.

My bike is a brand new 2006 model, is that a K4/K5??

Thanks
Tony

No your bike is a K6. The number after the K denotes the model year. So a K4 is a 2004 bike and a K5 is a 2005 bike etc etc.

Cant really advise as to the gear lever trouble. My girlfriend has a K5 SVS shes done 11500 miles on it now and shes never so far had a problem with the gear lever.

Oh and welcome to the site BTW enjoy your new bike 8)