2005 oil loss with slight scratchy noise rear cyl.

[Lollie]

Hello everyone, I tried to search these forums first but my search was too common with some words so it couldn't narrow it down. I live in Adelaide South Australia and recently travelled to Sydney NSW - 1400 Km one way. I had a low speed incident and crashed into the rear of a car. The bike fell to the left damaging/scratching some LHS componentry (and my left leg which is mending OK). The bike had travelled around 17,500 Km only and had not used a drop of oil before this. On my return trip when I arrived home I removed my ear plugs and saw that the oil window had no oil when I stopped. I leaned the bike to the right and the oil was visible through the window... the level was around 5mm below the window when bike was vertical. I needed to add maybe 5-600 ml of oil to get it to the right level again. It was around 3000 Km since I changed the oil and filter about a month prior to leaving on the trip. There is also a slight high pitched rubbing metallic sort of noise which seems to be coming from the rear pot. I do not ever thrash the bike and was sitting on around 5-6000 RPM most of the way home into quite a stiff headwind over two days. Cold weather. After topping the oil up I started the bike for a short time and the noise is still there. I have not ridden it since. I thought it best to ask for some help first. Does anyone think the fall and these 2 issues (oil use and sound) could be related and what might be the cause? Thanks in advance.

[Lollie]

One more thing, I haven't tried it out specifically (having not ridden it since), but i noticed no power loss at all. As I said, I don't thrash the machine.

[Seeker]

Sorry to hear about your mishap, glad you're on the road to recovery.

I'm guessing (hoping) the tip-over switch stopped the engine when the bike was on its side. I would drain the oil into a clean container to see if you have any metal particles in there, you could also cut open the oil filter to inspect that.
When push comes to shove I don't suppose it really matters what caused the noise it's something that needs investigating. Low oil level is obviously not desirable, neither is hitting the rear of a car

Does the noise vary with engine revs or operating the clutch? Have you searched on youtube for similar noises (there are quite a few examples)? You mentioned damaging left hand components - did the gear lever get bashed?
If you have a long screwdriver you can use it as a stethoscope to try and isolate the noise source better, although when I've tried it all I hear is a mechanical cacophony.

[Lollie]

Hi Seeker, Yes, the gear lever Knob pushed into the back of my leg, leaving a 2" gash which had to be stitched up. Oddly, the impact did not make a hole in my trousers and the fabric slowed the entry down sufficiently so as not to kill me by bleeding out in a matter of minutes from the main artery. The gear knob snapped off but I replaced it drilling the end of the lever and using a bolt and lock nut in the rubber so I was on it again the next day. Lucky! The noise seems to stay the same but just naturally varies a little with revs as one might expect.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by Lollie

and the fabric slowed the entry down sufficiently so as not to kill me by bleeding out in a matter of minutes from the main artery

sounds like you were very lucky.

I can't offer any suggestions as to the source of your noise - a dry bearing could make a higher pitch rubbing/whining noise, maybe the jolt of the crash has reseated something - I'm just speculating.

I think you're left with 4 options ordered by expenditure:
1) Do nothing and see what happens.
2) Have a chat with one of your local Suzuki dealers for their opinion (although they're usually reluctant to commit themselves - or at least ours are)
3) Send a sample of your oil to an oil analysis company, like this one:
http://www.e-monitor.com.au/
They will be able to tell you if anything is showing signs of premature wear via a detailed chemical analysis.
4) Strip the engine and look for the problem.

You could make your own video and post it for us to listen to which may help (he says optimistically ).

[Lollie]

Thanks again Seeker so much for your time and concern.

Yes I was VERY lucky - I ran into a car driven by a doctor, her husband is a heart surgeon at the hospital she took me too and he got me straight in to a bed in emergency. (Should have been 8 or 10 Hrs wait). He was actually waiting outside when I arrived in the ambulance bay, had organised X-Rays, I went straight through the system without even going through triage. He was simply telling EVERYONE what to do. Lovely people! My brother came to get the keys to collect the bike and the hospital had no record if me being there 1 1/2 hrs after I got there! I was just about already stitched up by then too! A GREAT story for the forum! Thought I would share it with everyone.

I have just re- started the bike, allowed it to warm up and took it for a ride around the block and it is running well.
The noise, well perhaps I am a little paranoid because of the oil loss? We humans can be a little weird when it comes to our beloved machines! It is more of a slight knocking sort of scratchy noise in the mid to top of the rear cylinder - lower head region? - sorry about the strange description.
It was a pretty strong headwind, I was loaded quite wide with a swag etc. and I have never ridden it into such a strong headwind at 110 Km/H for 10 hrs straight before. Perhaps it was just the extra force/strain on the engine that burned the oil? Perhaps I need to do a cam chain tension and valve check? I will take it to a mechanic and seek their advice though. Good thought.
Thanks once again, will keep you posted.

[Craig380]

I'm glad you're OK, and how's your luck crashing into a doc?

What year is your SV? One of the quirks of these bikes is that they can drink oil on long journeys at medium RPM, yet not seem to use much at all in shorter rides. 500 - 600ml used in 3,000km is maybe a little high but not unusual for the journey you did, and what does tend to happen is that as the oil level falls, the remaining oil volume is working harder and getting hotter, so it's used quicker than when the oil level is correct. It's a bit of a vicious circle.

The camchain tensioners are automatic, so no adjustment needed there. If it's never had a valve check in your ownership, it might be worth doing. If you can find a mechanic who has a bore scope (they're quite cheap these days), they can look into the cylinders and see if there are any scuffing / seizure marks on the cylinder walls.

If you can take a video clip of the sound, post it here and we'll all give our 10 cents

[Seeker]

Let's see: crashed into a car driven by a doctor whose husband was a heart surgeon, sounds suspicious - did she ask if you were an organ donor?

The cam chain tensioners are automatic but operate in a series of steps, maybe yours is about to make an adjustment to a new step. Valve clearances are checked at around 15k miles/24k km.

[Lollie]

Yes, Odd for sure, but I swear every bit of the story is true! I consider myself very blessed and lucky too!

I had not heard that these bikes (mine is a 2005 model) may use oil on long hauls like this. On the way over to Sydney and all around it didn't use a drop (probably 2000K's), then on the way back all of a sudden (1500 K's). A little faster on average with the headwind though.
Oh well, I will keep a VERY close eye on things from now on.

[mikerj]

It may have pushed a load of oil out through the engine breather when you had your accident. Might be worth checking inside the air box for excess oil.