scraping noise in rear cylinder Suzuki Vstrom 650

[kalinaki75]

Hello friends!!! My name is Kalin and I am from Bulgaria. In March this year I bought a brand new V-strom 650  from Romania. Why from Romania...because in Bulgaria it cost 2000 euros more. Whatever. Unfortunately, the Bulgarian distributors did not want to service the bike under warranty, so that I had to go from Varna to Bucharest for the first oil change, which was at 1000 km. At the beginning of July I did a tour of part of Europe and traveled about 7000 km. For this trip, however, the Bulgarian distributor was polite and sold me the necessary oil and filters. I dare say I treated the bike like a small child. I changed the oil every 3500 km, and my maximum speed has never exceeded 120 km/h. It all sounds good...right-until yesterday. I had planned to cross the Transfagarasan pass in Romania, but even after I crossed the border between Bulgaria and Romania, I heard a strange noise in the rear cylinder. Something like whistling, scraping, grinding...I can't quite place it. It is strange that at idle these sounds are not heard and the engine works extremely quietly and calmly, but when I step on the gas and the revolutions rise to 3000...3500 revolutions, a music starts that is not pleasant to the ears. Maybe I acted irresponsibly, but I continued on my way, hoping that I would get where I was going... and not only that, I even went home to Bulgaria, but this unpleasant noise remained. So....now I'm thinking....maybe a stretched camshaft chain????....but the noise comes from the left side of the motor and the rear cylinder chain is from the right side. Even more noise is heard only in medium revs, and in high revs it starts to die down. And is it possible that the tensioner of the chain has been damaged, or that a valve is rattling. I could take the bike back to Bucharest for warranty service, but it's unlikely they'll Honour my warranty. I'm now 10000kms since the first service which means I've skipped two service visits so.....I guess it'll be a waste of time. I've never been worried about getting my hands dirty and to be honest I've always serviced my bikes myself but this is my first time dealing with this problem so any advice and opinions would be great. Тhank you in advance

[V-Twin]

If you have skipped two services, then get it done now.
Change the oil & filter at least.

[Dark-Strom]

Hi, I see you have done your own oil changes, but have you adjusted the final drive chain in the time you have had the bike, just mindful chain and sprockets are on the left as you sit on the bike.
If it was engine trouble I would expect aome noise to be there at tick-over too.
I had a 2012 strom 650 and I would never ride it much below 3000rpm as you would be labouring the engine.
Good luck 👍 

[UK_Vstrom650]

I thought the service intervals were c.7,500 miles / 10,000kms now??
Regardless, if it is the engine I'd be taking it to a dealership for inspection / warranty claim with Suzuki if needed.

[Youngman]

If you were crossing into Romania from Bulgaria, were they still working on the bridge? I was there last year :-)
Its a bit of a worrying mystery this one. If the engine is behaving at high and low revs its unlikely to be a problem in the pistons or crank. If it is then you are incredibly unlucky, as its a bullet-proof engine normally. Is it when the bike is stationary, or just on the move?
Different noises at different revs suggests vibrations at different frequencies. It should peak at the same revs and then fall away. The whistling and scraping could be the final drive bearing. You can check that by pulling the cover and chain off the sprocket then give it a good wiggle. You can try packing the gapping with a bit more grease.
I bought a 2021 650 XT here in the UK and let's just say the folks who pulled did the basic assembly at the dealers were blind, drunk, stupid - or all three, as I had a few issues on the front and rear wheels to sort as well as greasing the gear shift.
If you know someone in the medical field it might be worth borrowing a stethoscope and trying to track down where the noise is actually coming from. Final drive , then back through gearbox. Also, carefully check to see if there is any metal on the magnetic sump plug when you change the oil. If there is then its going to have to be a warranty claim!
 

[purplebikeunicorn]

Does the noise change if you pull in the clutch lever, in gear or out of gear? My bike has a lot more miles and age on it, but it'll make a racket at slower speeds once its warmed up (probably not helped by the sound reflective belly pan).

[Upt North]

As per Youngman, if you can't get hold of a stethoscope a long screwdriver with the  handle against your ear and the pointy end on the cases should help in locating the area of concern.
Upt.

[kalinaki75]

hello friends, аfter almost a week, I'm already calm ....Problem solved...I'm too embarrassed to share what exactly the problem was. Now I laugh at myself for my own incompetence. I've been driving a V Strom for 14 years. My first V strom was 2009. I have many pleasant memories with it and more than 200,000 km with it. After it was out of warranty I've always serviced it myself...replacing consumables, adjusting valves, cleaning nozzles and whatnot, but I had never run into the problem I had on my new machine. And what was he like...I'll tell you now. In the end, I decided to take the bike to the official dealer in Varna. To my great surprise, they recognised the warranty and took the bike to the workshop. However, after only an hour they called me on the phone and asked me to go to the repair shop again. A boy, apparently around 25 years of age, met me and with a smile on his face said...."the roll bar of your bike was loose" In fact, the two parts of the roll bar meet at the front in front of the radiator and are joined by a bushing and a bolt. The bolt has come loose and at certain engine revs the bushing starts to vibrate and the vibration and noise is transmitted along the roll bar to where it is caught on the frame next to the rear cylinder. I'm sure that when I installed the rollbar, there were two rubber rings attached to the bushing that held it tightly in both parts of the rollbar. However, those two rubber rings were now gone, allowing this bushing to rattle. I know this all sounds childishly funny, but it actually turned out to be the root of the problem. I took my bike from the workshop a little embarrassed...I've been riding a bike for over 25 years but as my dad used to say "it's never too late to get a laugh" I put on two new rubber rings and now I'm happy that everything is fine. Thank you so much for responding to my problem...maybe we should just laugh together.

[kalinaki75]

On the Danube bridge near Ruse - Gyurgevo, everything is fine, there are no repairs and the passage is calm

If you were crossing into Romania from Bulgaria, were they still working on the bridge? I was there last year :-)
Its a bit of a worrying mystery this one. If the engine is behaving at high and low revs its unlikely to be a problem in the pistons or crank. If it is then you are incredibly unlucky, as its a bullet-proof engine normally. Is it when the bike is stationary, or just on the move?
Different noises at different revs suggests vibrations at different frequencies. It should peak at the same revs and then fall away. The whistling and scraping could be the final drive bearing. You can check that by pulling the cover and chain off the sprocket then give it a good wiggle. You can try packing the gapping with a bit more grease.
I bought a 2021 650 XT here in the UK and let's just say the folks who pulled did the basic assembly at the dealers were blind, drunk, stupid - or all three, as I had a few issues on the front and rear wheels to sort as well as greasing the gear shift.
If you know someone in the medical field it might be worth borrowing a stethoscope and trying to track down where the noise is actually coming from. Final drive , then back through gearbox. Also, carefully check to see if there is any metal on the magnetic sump plug when you change the oil. If there is then its going to have to be a warranty claim!

[Rixington43]

Glad to hear it's nothing serious, engine bars have been the cause of phantom rattles many a time before, I'm sure you'll not be the last to experience it.

[Rusty Nuts]

A rattling spot light on my engine bars had me convinced my vstrom was dying in France. The bars send the noise all over the bike.

[UK_Vstrom650]

 
Glad it's sorted and nothing serious.