Bike very ill
 

Hi there guys, sorry to bother you all...

Before I start, a quick disclaimer: I am basically an idiot, so you'll forgive the state of the bike. Right, on to some back story.

A couple of weeks ago, my choke lever started being quite hard to move, culminating in turning it (having to push it pretty hard) and then moving really easily. After that, my idle (in first gear) is about 3000 rpm, which isn't really the one I need.

Last week, my clutch pushrod on the left hand side snapped, replaced it and is now all sorted, my clutch lever is properly adjusted.

After the clutch problems began and I got the bike working (although it wasn't properly adjusted then), it started making a light rattling sound. 100 miles later it's now a VERY loud (louder than the engine noise) popping/clicking sound coming from somewhere in the engine, I believe on the right hand side. Drove the 20 miles to work yesterday, the problem got a lot worse at about 6000 rpm in top on the motorway (bike is restricted, btw), culminating in cutting out twice on the drive to my mum's place, which is about 3 miles. It cut out properly as I got back home, tried to start it and it sounded like it had a flat battery. Was pitch black then, so I left it.

Next morning, I sort my clutch lever/worm gear out, start it up, and of course that wasn't the problem, so I lift the tank up, look for anything obvious rattling about at idle (which was then about 1500, which made a change), nothing but still the now ridiculously loud popping noise.

Then I checked my oil level, there appeared to be oil in there at the full level, but I put some sort of dipstick device (read: a stick) in the hole where you put the oil, had a feel around and it came up dry.

Thanks for reading that little essay, and anyone have any ideas? The bike has about 26500 miles on it, is overdue a service and I don't know how many services it has had in the past, bought it off Blue on the forum but he didn't really use it, was a Cat C write off in the past.

Re: Bike very ill
 

What sort of popping sound? From the exhaust?

Re: Bike very ill
 

Have you sorted out the choke?. Sounds rather like one (at least) of the cables might have broken with the plunger jammed open, corrosion being the usual culprit. If this is the case it won't run properly at all.

Re: Bike very ill
 

+1 sounds like it?s the choke cable jammed/frayed.

To be fair, until you have sorted that (at a minimum disconnect it at the carbs and let the plungers return) its hard to tell if your popping and banging is caused by the bike being half on choke (one cylinder on full choke the other fully off for instance and then the excess fuel is being blown into the exhaust and ignited by the hot gas from the other cylinder or summin) or something ?

I have to say the mechanical sounds are a bit worrying, but again, to be fair it might just be your interpretation of backfires etc?? ?

Anyhoo, first thing to do is release the choke and try again ?

Re: Bike very ill
 

p.s. If it is a big mechanical rattle but the bike runs, it could be a cam chain tensioner failed!!! if this is the case, I wouldn't run it much before addressing this as it could jump a cog on the cams and then bend a valve - not good! :shock:

Tensioners are a bit of a pain to replace (got to get in there), but not expensive, if it is that, then it might be one that has just jammed and taking it apart and re-fitting it and it is good to go :)

I'd try that before getting new ones ;)

p.p.s I am sorry to hear you are having a few faults hit you at once here :( ... bearing in mind you have had it what 6 months now? I assume it had/has run well/flawlessly for a untill reacently? ... It was a good little bike when I sold it and everything seemed ok (I don't want people to think I was unloading a known dog :().

Re: Bike very ill
 

It's certainly been running good so far, had to replace the throttle cable about a month after I had it, as well as some cap was missing on the bike, can't remember what though. Apart from that, the clutch push rod snapped but nothing major until what appears to be now!

I'll disconnect the choke, see what happens then, just remove the plunger from the carbs, you say? There's nothing a man can't do without a service manual, I believe, so I'm off to do that now.

But I'm fairly certain that the noise isn't backfires from my exhaust, because I've had them before. I'll try and get the sound recorded at some point, if I can't fix it.

Cheers for the help!

Re: Bike very ill
 

You can't remove plungers, they need to be seated, just chop the cable at the carb end such that the plungers can return (or pull them out and pull them through as far as possible and don't operate the choke).

You can d/l the manuals from here ...

http://www.sv650.org/sv_manuals.htm

Re: Bike very ill
 

Okay, sorted the plungers out, I'm now idling at about 1400 rpm. Which is nice. Still the horrible sound though, so I'm guessing it must be the cam chain tensioners. Not sure whether or not I should really undertake this myself as a quick look at the manual showed a ridiculous amount of things to take apart before I get to them. There's a garage about 2 miles from me, should I risk taking it there? I mean, I can probably do this all myself, but disconnecting those plungers is the furthest I've been in the engine so far.

Re: Bike very ill
 

Give it a crack yourself, you might look a bit of a t1t, but worst case is you take it to the local bike shop to put it back together again ;)

Listening to the engine, where does the sound seem to be coming from? Front, rear, top, bottom?

Re: Bike very ill
 

I'd say the middle/bottom if anything, slightly over to the right. Yeah, I'll give it a go myself tomorrow, expect updates!