My first scary motorway experience
 

I had to ride to work this morning along the M5, only by one junction and I have done this journey many times before. Not like this though.

Left on the bike, came back on a truck and am now facing a large bill for a new engine. My precious little XJ lump let go while over taking a slow moving lorry, as I drew level with the cab of the truck, my engine let out a huge bang and I lost power, the truck sailed past me and I had to pull over from the middle lane on to the left lane and then the hard shoulder. Where I lost all motive power from the engine and coasted to a sad and sorry halt.

Thirty minutes later a very nice man with a very large truck came to pick me up, via the RAC. When he got there he tried to start the engine, but it was utterly dead. So I was brought home in a truck and decanted into the garage.

With out taking the engine apart we can only wonder at what has gone wrong.

Aunty Jayne is an unhappy Bunny.

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Women....put some oil in it next time.

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Not nice! Glad you're ok!

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

At least it didn't lock the wheel up ey :)

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Oi Mister! I checked the oil on Sunday and topped her up slightly then. Oil was not the problem. :rolleyes:

Thank you, was a bit scared and I did not cry, well not much anyway! :pale:

I was grateful for that, it was the wheel turning that was driving the engine though. Can't wait to look inside and see shattered lumps of metal. :smt082

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Could be anything, little engine there is a lot of mass moving to crunch through stuff, but they can still lock. We putting bets on what has gone wrong?

My bet, timing chain fail, bits of piston in the sump, lots of bent valves.

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Jayne, you would be forgiven for crying after that!

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

I think you know more about this than your letting on Hmmmmm ;-)

Jayneflakes I'm glad your ok even though the bike isn't.

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

all that matters is that your okay, it couldve been alot worse. its better to have a dent in your pocket than a dent in your head.

have to keep us updated on what you find in the sump ;)

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Oh how we laugh! Speaking to Carol she tends to go for this option too, my poor little bike is all mangled inside!

Some good news, new engine found in Leicester and is being shipped down to us for a reasonable amount. It is the 550, but is the same size engine cases etc. The 400 is a Grey import and getting another 400/4 will be an almost impossible mission, so a nice 550 will do the job. My only worry is the Power output, I am still on a restricted license and we had a Dyno run on the 400 that showed that she was putting out 31BHP. I do wonder how much restricting we will have to do to the 550?

Ooh, all excited now, it has been ages since I pulled an engine out of a bike. It has been an expensive month for us, it all started with the Fridge freezer packing up, then the washing machine, yesterday my computer failed and had to have a rebuild of mother board and graphics card and today the motorbike. Thank f**k it is nearly February! :smt061

Thank you to every one for kind words and thoughts. Will keep you posted of what we find, could be quite exciting. :smt093

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Hi Jayne

This bang, was it a big explosion from the engine bang or could it possibly be a big bang from the exhaust?

Glad you got pulled over ok.

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Loud bang in the engine, followed by a couple of back fires from the exhaust and a complete loss of power. The wheel turning drove the engine and once stopped the engine could not be cranked over by the starter motor. :smt061

Hopefully the nice new engine will be a little better. :D

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Glad you ok Jayne and sorry to hear your bikes died :(


On the plus side though...

You can now look for a nicer commuter ;)

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Was it trying to? Did it make any attempt at starting? ANy noises at all?

I only ask because when my reg/rec burnt out on the BlackBird I was overtaking at the time and there was an almighty bang (backfire as unspent fuel got thrown down the exhaust) and I ended up pulling the cltuch in to coast in to a layby.

Would not start, would not even attempt to start.

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Pull yours in bits and find out what the damage is, like stretch says even little electrical gremlins can get in the works and make bangy noises, but you'll probably be able to tell what a backfire sounds like and what a major mechanical crunching sounds like.

Checklist, does it turn over, does it have compression, does it have spark.

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

**** luck mate but you should feel better in the knowledge you will never become a bike murderer to the scale of myself

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Good to hear you're OK Jayne and another engine is on the way :) . My father had a chain break at the split link on his old XBR500 in the middle lane on a busy M6 going to the T.T. a few years ago, luckily it spat itself out the back instead of wrapping itself round the front sprocket. We found the chain, got it back on while one of the party got another split link, and made it to the ferry!

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

It most certainly not a back fire, although it did back fire after the initial bang.

In answer to your check list.

1, Barely
2, can't tell, engine wont will only turn small mount
3, yes
My replacement engine should be here by the weekend, which is handy because I have a mate coming down for the weekend and I might just get him to help lift it. JUst how much is a 550 lump going to weigh? :???:


Once again, thank you every one for your kind words, tips and good humour. This is one of the reasons why I love the Org. ;)

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Sorry to hear about this. Glad you're alright. Was quick work getting your replacement engine.

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Thank you, it was Carol who sorted that out. She was on the phone as soon as I told her what had happened. When I got home on the back of the truck I had three to choose from! She is a good girl really. :D

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...zw51rn6NSb2poQ Really, The Big Bang Theory.

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Just seen this Jayne.

Been lucky, I have had a false neutrals between 5th and top overtaking and banging it back in give a tank slapper.

Like stretch and YC said see what happens as it could be the electrics, but my money is on bent valves and fubared pistons

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Probably about as much as an SV engine :smt082
Rough guess 50kg. A good lift for one person.

How do you know it has spark if it won't turn over?

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Any news on what went pop?

Re: My first scary motorway experience
 

Sadly still not had time to even look at the bike yet, working harder than ever in my part time job and expect to clock up sixty hours this week. Hope to get a look at it soon because I want to know what went bang too. On Nights for most of this week, which is not great fun when compared to opening up broken motorbike engines. I am sure that once Carol and I can get in there, she will quickly be able to tell me what I broke and how badly. :smt040

I will keep you posted and hopefully this weekend could see some progress. Cheers,

Jayne and Carol