SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

Hi everyone,

Apologies in advance for this rather long post.
I was just wondering if anyone could give me a bit of advice regarding a bit of an issue I'm currently having with my bike.

Its a SV650S K9 Sport.
Just gone over 5k Miles
Totally stock (except heated grips and v-strom hand guards :cool:)
Serviced at about 4500miles.

Its been lovely and smooth to ride up until about 3 thousand miles on the clock, then it seemed to develop a slightly different engine note and get more vibey. The engine note seems to be less like a sewing machine and more hollow sounding. MPG is fairly constant. The revs sometimes dip slightly on idle and it seems to hunt a bit more at town speeds.


The vibrations seem to increase from 3/4k...and start to get more pronounced around 5k onwards to the point where the footpegs/hand levers/grips are vibrating like if you touch a washer on the dry cycle.
Its made my hands and even feet a bit numb on the longer rides.

The vibes are in time with the engine and not bike speed, as if I ride along at 5k rpm and pull the clutch in to coast at idle rpm the bike is totally smooth except the bumps in the road.
I can then build the revs back upto 5k with the clutch in and its the same strength of vibration as when the clutch is out.


The symptoms seemed to come and go over a period of weeks and initially I thought it was just a bit of damp somewhere.
It had its service very recently and for the first 200mile or so it was back to being perfect but now its suddenly got worse again.

Its almost the same feeling as if the bike is labouring throughout the rev range. I'm not sure if its in my head but I've noticed a slight rattley sound torwards the front of the bike (under the front part of the tank).
The chain seems in good condition and is lubed ok.

I took the bike back to the shop where I bought it / had it serviced and asked them to have a look at it seeing as it suddenly changed. A mechanic took it for a 5-10min test ride and brought it back basically saying it rides the same as others hes ridden and its nothing to worry about, even though I said it has suddenly started happening.

Its annoying me now because I know it should ride a LOT smoother and be more perky but not sure exactly where to start seeing as the shop didnt seem too interested.







Would these symptoms be the case if its firing on 3 outta 4 plugs?
Could it be the cct's have slipped / broke? (surely they would've picked up on that at the shop?)
Could a loose HT lead cap cause it to run like this?



I'm not massively bike mechanically minded so advice would be greatly appreciated as I have a rather fruity exhaust waiting to be fitted and dont want to fit that in case the shop blames it for the running problems lol

I will try and get the shop to have another look at it even though they are adamant that its running perfectly but I wondered if anyone could point me in the direction of what it could possibly be.



Thanks for reading this rather long post :)

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

I dont think this is in your head. Last week i went to Brighton and gave my k8 with 5500miles a bit of a quick run. When i got back the exhaust sounded louder and something (dont ask me what) seemed different. I then turn the bike off and restarted it and the noise was still there. I then ran inside dropped my gear came outside and thought i would go for a ride around the block just to see. I did this and the noise seemed to have gone. The loudness of the exhaust seemed to return to normal and all seemed fine. Now the bike only sounds different when its idling and i blip the throttle. I think you i msut both be nuts. Lets see what the org comes up with!

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

Check the gasket between the rear header pipe and the collecter box. When mine failed on the thou ( common ) it would vibrate in the connection, sometime covering the slots under the clamp ( quiet ) and sometimes not covering the slots ( noisy / vibey ) if you know what I mean. Look at the joint / clamp while your assistant revs the bike and see if you can see anything vibrating in the joint.

Was a pig to change on the thou because the side stand bracketry had to come off to get the collecter pipe down, but may be easier on the 6 1/2.

Have a look and let me know.

Ratty

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

whats a collector box and when you say header do you mena the engine head?

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

The header pipe is the pipe that comes out of the cylinder head. The front and rear header pipes ( on the thou ) go into a collecter box under the engine before heading off to the tail pipes.

The 650 should be similar but go to your single tail pipe.

Follow the exhaust pipe out of the back of the rear cylinder until it joins another tube with a clamp over the joint. The gasket is in the joint and can break up and move within the joint.

Does this help ? I'll be back about 4:30 am.

Ratty

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

It does sound like an exhaust issue.

But to throw it into the mix; what state are your tries in?

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

thanks ratty. had a brief look and the clamp seems intact. when i get time ill check the gasket. What type of gasket is it, what does it look like when its failed?

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

Hi again,
The gasket seems fine with no leaks what I can tell.
The tyres are fine too. Plenty of life in them, no flat spots and at the correct pressure.

Its starting to annoy me because I know it isnt riding as good as it should be...

Thanks for the advice.

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

UPDATE
7,500miles

It still has the same really bad vibrations, surging and in the last thousand mile especially, I have noticed some kind of tapping (similar to clicking a biro pen really quickly).

The vibrations are not in time with the piston "thumps" but at a higher tempo.


I dropped it off for its 7500mile service on Friday (the same shop as it included a "service pack" for the first 2 services), asking them to have another look to see if they realised it wasnt riding as it should, giving them a brief description of the symptoms I have noticed.

To be honest I wasnt holding my breath for them admitting there was a problem with the bike but was surprised when I went to pick it up later in the day and was told they had noticed the unusual vibrations / noises and were concerned.

They said I could take it home and bring it back to them on the Monday as a "bloke from Suzuki" would be going to have a look at it but I didnt want to risk it getting worse and getting blamed for it breaking.
The shop has quite a few mechanics and some Suzuki factory trained ones so could be it be an SV650 specialist Suzuki GB chap coming out to look?

I'll let you all know the outcome. Fingers crossed the guy finds whats causing it and makes it ride as nice as it used to.

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

i have a friend in a very similar situation, hes just waiting on a call from suzuki then hes gonna txt me to let me know the outcome of his bike. i hope yours is ok bud.

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

oooooow !

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

UPDATE
I've just spoke on the phone to the bike shop and probably back to square one.

He says the Suzuki guy has noticed a knock on start up but says "its not bad enough to warrant stripping the engine as they wouldnt find anything and they'd just build it back up as is"

As for the vibrations / surging / rattle he said two mechanics have been out on it for a test ride and cant find the problems and the service may have cured it..deja vu...

The outcome is they are happy for it to leave the shop as it is and if I notice the problems worsen in "3-4 month" then take it back for them to have another look.
I hope they arent just trying to wait until they can blame "high" mileage or age on the condition...or that it runs out of warranty


I'll be picking it up Tuesday / Wed and hopefully it will be ok.


Its starting to pee me off as I know it shouldnt ride like that..and it didnt ride like that a while ago but suddenly worsened.

I've even stood next to an idling K9 Sport in the same stock condition as mine and it sounded different.






*********
I live near Sheffield and if the worst comes to the worst does anybody know someone / a garage near my way that know seemingly more about SV's than the shop?




Fingers crossed for when I pick it up..

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

Yorkie_Chris on here may be worth giving a shout

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

If it's still in warranty and they're fobbing you off you have to make it clear that you're prepared to reject the bike and will be contacting Suzuki directly and/or trading standards to resolve the issue.

If they admit that it's not right then they either fix, or replace. They can't ignore an issue just because it's hard to resolve.

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

i would contact suzuki directly. see what they say. tell them your not happy and you want a second opinion because you feel fobbed of and threaten trading standards. you need to get summat done before the warranty runs out

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

As long as you've notified them of the problem within the warranty period it's covered.

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

UPDATE

I picked my bike up on Tuesday.

The guy said the knocking is still there but cant be sure if its the top or bottom end and the Suzuki bloke's said its not bad enough to justify stripping the engine as they wouldn’t be able to tell the cause.

They booked me back in for 4 months time to see if its gets worse. In the mean time they said they’re happy for me to ride it and if it does get worse before they have another look then take it back in.
He explained it could stay as it is and not have any problems or it could get worse or better, there’s no way of knowing.



He says the order it was done was "they heard the noise... did the service...the Suzuki guy had a listen...2 mechanics had a test ride to try and pick up on the vibrations / tapping / surging"
The 2 test riders couldn’t pick up on anything untoward so the service manager (the guy I've been dealing with) said it could be that the service cured it.

After starting the bike for the ride home I could tell it sounded different and more normal.
70miles on, it still has lots of vibrations through the bars, levers and foot pegs but it isn’t as bad and not as smooth as in the first 2k miles I had it. Previously it made my hands and feet go numb after 10min.

It seems to ride smoother and I couldn’t pick up on any major surging.

The rattle / tapping more noticeable at certain revs is still there.

Overall it isn’t as smooth etc as it was before the problems suddenly developed but it is a very big improvement and fairly close to how it used to be.

I'm going to put a couple of hundred miles on it before I contemplate my next steps / putting my new exhaust on as the service before cured the problems for a little bit before they returned.



I'll keep you all posted if you are interested.

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

big question is. did you get what they said in writing?

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

the tapping is normal, im yet to hear an sv that isnt full of rattles.....

Ive owned my bike for over 2.5 years now, and there are still days i get on it and think its different or slower or quieter.....im not sure i think its mostly in my head tbh

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

UPDATE

I've done about 400mile since the service and all was going reasonably ok until about a couple of days ago.

The bike seemed to start going back to how it was before. It was intermittent over a couple of rides but now it has got worse and is the same every ride.

Its got a lot more vibey and noisy.

It seems to surge at constant speeds (more noticable at town speeds)

After I picked it up a couple of week ago it didnt surge at all, even when I let the revs drop lower than I normally do. Rolling the throttle on a little after just got the bike to accelerate lovely and smooth but now it is all juddery, almost like it is labouring (even at higher rpm than the test after the service)

I've also noticed a strange noise develop which increases the more the bike is leant over to the left. Kind of like a metallic hum.

I'm positive it shouldnt ride like this and after times when it was perfect, along with a couple of years on a previous faultless SV650 K4 I feel I know how it should ride.

...I guess the exhaust isnt going to be put on soon :mad: lol

I'm going to get back in touch with the dealer yet again. *sigh*
:(

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

any chance you've got a tight spot (or more than one) in your chain? that can make a bike 'surge' quite dramatically at constant speed (been there, done that) - and it might cause vibration, altho that probably wouldn't explain the 'noises'.

if you've got a rear stand, it's easy to check - just run the bike in gear and the chain should run pretty smoothly. if it 'flaps' up and down a lot, there's a 'bind' in there. you could also have someone ride beside you to watch for the 'flapping'...

you don't have much mileage on the bike, but some links in the chain might have tightened up - if so, not much to do 'cept slap a new chain on... in which case, you might need to replace the sprockets too...

(p.s. I'd expect the service shop would have noticed this if it was an issue, but...)

Re: SK9 suddenly got noiser / more vibrations
 

This is very interesting.

I do sumpathise as I had a similar situation with the CDi on my RD350, the only new bike I've ever owned. I got fobbed off and finally the engine self destructed. The new engine rebuild was "rough" and it was due to the clutch. They never did change it and it never was as smooth again.

I'm not suggesting this is your clutch though.

I'll be following this and hope you get it sorted out. Don't take being palmed off. You know your bike better than any other test rider and if its not right, keep at them.

Good Luck!

C (who isn't offering an opinion as he doesn't know what it could be and doesn't want to waste your time checking phantom items.)