Repairs, Failures, and Breakdowns.

[Ian P]

Hello All,

While checking through my maintenance and mileage spreadsheet to work out my 2023 mileage, I was struck by how seemingly reliable my wee strom actually is.
In the 3 1/2 years I have had it I have covered 82,500 Km, and apart from routine maintenance the only failures I have had are as follows:

Rebuilt fuel pump and changed the TPS - this was within a month or so of buying the bike so I suspect it was an issue being managed by the previous owner and part of the reason for sale.

Stator burnt out - this left me pretty stranded, but got home with a bit of finagling.

RH switchgear - the contacts for the start button/headlight interface were not contacting properly, managed to strip and get it all working but changed the switch as best practice.

Steering head bearings - have to admit they have been sat on the shelf for the last year awaiting me getting round to actually changing them. I have told myself I will do them when the Valve clearances actually go out of spec, and need doing.

Everything else has been routine maintenance and just oils, filters, chain and sprockets, tyres, brake pads, etc.

How has every one else found their bikes? any repeat offenders? (I'm thinking of the stator in particular as I have heard these tend to go out at about 100,000 km or so).

looking forward to reading your horror stories!

[mr_diver]

In 60k my K6 wee had the wiring fail between the injectors and was running intermittently on the front cylinder, but got me the 15 miles home.

The headlights cut out while riding at night with my wife on her bike, she lead the way home 5 miles on local roads (I did have side lights).- traced to corrosion in yellow connector behind rad - cleaned and worked fine for the next 30k.

STVA gummed up with road crud and put me at the side of the road, but she restarted and got me to work and home later.
loads of WD40 cleaned it up and never another issue, though I did remove the secondary throttle butterflies

TPS was playing up, but I managed to find a position where it didn't cause issues, but I looking for any NOS unit, but never found anything.

Start switch was playing up and not making a good contact sometimes - commuting bike and it was full of dirt and a bit corroded - was going to replace, but slightly larger failure forced the bikes replacement...

4th gear dog shattered @ 70mph in lane 2, on a bridge with no hard shoulder. - she kept running for me to make a detour to the nearest junction to turn round and come home. all the internal bit knocking around were making a hell of a noise- but I knew from the loss of drive and loud bag the engine was toast but I didn't fancy the 5 mile walk home all I had was 5th & 6th gears, it wouldn't go further down the box.
I can confirm the wee can pull away in 5th if you don't like your clutch to much. 
There has been few reported issued with K4-K6 4th gear dogs failing due to fatigue internationally, like 3-4 including mine

I'd still buy another, my bike didn't have a an easy life and was always going to go out in a big way.

Routine maintenance, tyre and chains and sorting frame/engine bar corrosion due to winter commuting and lack of ACF50 and cleaning.

I still miss the bike, nearly 9 years now, and I'm still wanting another.

[nigel s]

I have 21,500 on my '22 ..........it blew a headlight bulb.........talk about pissed off  ,does that count?

Ho hum

[UK_Vstrom650]

My L2 has been the only bike I've had wiring issues with. First was the speedo behaving weirdly with the petrol gauge hunting left to right. Was under the initial 3yr warranty and the dealership said it was corroded connectors above the radiator which they cleaned (I then wrapped them in old bicycle inner tubes) and that fixed the problem.
The second wiring issue was the engine cutting out in lane 2 of the A1 in Newcastle with no hard shoulder leaving me stranded in lane 1 in live traffic. That was eventually traced to a break in the wiring loom where it crosses the frame near the coolant expansion tank. This is probably the main reason my next bike won't be a Suzuki.

Aside from that, the only other issues I've had are two leaking fork seals (clutch side - second was due to using reputable non-OEM parts on the initial replacement) and having to replace the bearings on the rear shock cushion as they disintegrated - don't think they'd ever been greased on all the servicing I had done on the bike.

[Valzdl650]

Have a wee k5, 70k when I bought it ,

Clutch slipping - 150€ changed myself

First bit of rain died on me and left me stranded , ended up being that the front HT cap wasn’t on properly so all the water got in front spark plug - new sparks plugs couple quid

Valves clearances checked and all sitting in the middle

Solid bike drive 100km round trip commute in the rain , pitch black autobahn everyday , and drives amazing, trust it and very happy with it , full tank 25-29€ and I get just over 300 km motorway driving

[Froglodyte]

There's a bloke over on Stromtrooper in the States with 437,000 on the clock and it's still going

[Touche]

2021 650xt.
Break in the wiring loom just short of 15K miles.
Went to ride home from a trip to see a son after a few days away parked up and nothing happened. Could not hear the fuel pump spinning up plus the dash display had vanished. Apparently one wire from the fuse box feeds both plus something else which I forget.
Dealer found corrosion and verdigris in the joint where they split and has opened it up and repaired it at Suzuki's instruction.
Bike was and is definitely under warranty but got caught in the back and forwards between the dealer and Suzuki and ended up having to accept the repair. I am still not at all happy with this as I asked for a replacement loom as its clearly not a service item, but apparently 2.5 years old with that mileage is a no way and Suzuki would only authorise a repair.
Recovered promptly by the AA to the dealer which was a hundred miles away from the breakdown location. I have not had a bike recovered on a trailer since I was a kid and confidence in the bike has now evaporated.
It will likely get part exchanged this year as we want a larger bike for touring now we are retired. I have not decided whether to change makes as reading forums on varied makes and models gives plenty of warranty horror stories with all the manufacturers.
If I get another Suzuki I won't be bothering with any extended warranty services.

[timangus]

My 2013 model had the stator changed as a recall. Other than that nothing has gone wrong, just routine servicing. I plan to change the brake hoses as they are 10 years old for something like HEL lines.

[graingerblaze]

Reading the issues so far shows just how good these bikes are! I’ve owned many different makes, Ducati, Harley Davidson, BWM… all have their own issues. So far this Suzuki has been faultless in comparison.

I’ve had my K5 650 for 6 years and covered 35k to date. I’m the second owner from new and the bikes now 19 years old.

I’ve had the same few electrical gremlins. The badly placed yellow connector under the air box and the main front headlight unit connector on the left hand side. They are easy to fix and I’ve been lucky that I was able to correct while in my garage and not out on the road. Other than that… nothing. I know I keep it clean and well maintained, but no issues at all.

I replaced the exhaust because I wanted a better sound and look. Nothing wrong with original, purely vanity. The motor and gearbox are all original and faultless, bike is very underrated.

I keep thinking of changing but the reliability is just to good. Plus it’s comfy, practical and fun.

[joethebike]

On my K5 650 the only failures in 142,600km have been the usual headlight issues easily fixed with relays, 1 rear disk, front disks, front wheel bearings, rear suspension unit after it started leaking, TPS, and the gear lever circlip replaced with a split pin.
Recently had to replace the O rings at the cylinder head associated with the cooling system/short hoses connected to the thermostat.
Still running the original fuel pump with filter bypass mod and stator.