[SV650] Greetings and questions

[John Treadwell]

Bigger problem I just noticed. The oil looks like a milkshake. And My 
coolant is down 1/4th of the way in the radiator, as yesterday... it was 
almost full.
Blown headgasket.
Does anyone have any idea how much it typically cost to get one replaced? I 
figure it can't be too hard to do on this, if it's the rear cylinder. If it's 
the front it will be harder. I won't be able to work on it and get the 
compression test results until Wednesday now, as some things came up. But 
I'm wondering if I could get a good deal on getting a majority of these 
things fixed... like the headgasket, some oil leaks... chain and sprokets 
and tires.... I'm imagining the price list for the parts will be something 
like this...
Sprockets front and back - 60
Chain - 60
Headgasket - 50
Seals - 20
Tires - 260-300 installed from a stealership
(Does anyone know If you can get better deals on tires online?)

Anyone have any idea what labor might cost me on these things If I have 
someone else do it?

Looking at the diagrams, it doesent look too difficult to pull the heads, 
and I probably need to for valve adjustments anyway, But I just wonder if it 
would be more worth my time to let someone else do the work instead. But It 
might cost far too much and I need to do it myself. lol
Looks like the carbs are at least less of a worry than before.
Thanks again,
--John

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From: "Randy Grein" <randygrein at comcast.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2009 9:38 PM
To: "Suzuki SV650 Mailing List" <sv650 at micapeak.com>
Subject: Re: [SV650] Greetings and questions

> Sounds like you still have crud in the gas. If it was sitting that  long 
> you may need to drain the float bowels a few times if any water  is 
> collecting. Also check the air filter & make sure something isn't  nesting 
> there. The right side cover, if it's from the outer cover is  an o ring; 
> if the last owner pinched it it will leak like anything. If  you try to 
> replace it clean the groove of oil & put a bit of grease in  it - sticky 
> wheel grease is good - to hold the o ring in place while  installing. You 
> might as well drain the oil at the same time; that way  you can replace 
> the washer under the drain plug. I'm guilty as anyone  of not replacing 
> it, but they don't reuse well.
>
> The loud clicking sounds bad - broken wheel bearing maybe? Grab the  wheel 
> & back end and push/pull it hard sideways; if you can feel any  slop don't 
> ride it - at all! A loose chain has nothing to do with the  general lack 
> of torque, that's still your carburation problem. At  least it idles but 
> the choke (really it's an enrichener circuit, not  choke) cable needs to 
> be cleaned. You can still find a cable lube kit  at some bike shops, the 
> heart of the system is a blue anodized fixture  with a twist knob to clamp 
> around a cable end. A hole in the rubber  accepts the spray nozzle of a 
> lubricant can like WD-40 and is great  for cleaning and lubing cables. You 
> will have to disassemble the left  handlebar switch, but it's not a big 
> deal.
>
> Good luck...
> Randy Grein, WMRRA #41
>
> On Jul 5, 2009, at 5:36 PM, John Treadwell wrote:
>
>> Well, I got the gas in it, and the carbs cleaned, and it runs a bit 
>> better. It will rev past 5/6k now, but sometimes it gets a little 
>> hesitation as it's approaching it. I suppose the gas needs to run 
>> through it a bit, but I've got an oil leak from the right side of  the 
>> bike, around the larger engine cover over there.... Possibly at  one of 
>> the plugs on the bottom as well. I'd like to fix those, as  theres quite 
>> a bit of oil leaking. I'm going to do a quick wheel  alignment, and chain 
>> tension, as my brakes on the back seem to  engage too early, And I'm 
>> getting a loud clicking from the back as I  take off. Also, the bike 
>> doesent seem to want to have enough torque  to take off from the lower 
>> rev range, I've gotta feather the clutch,  and rev it up too long I 
>> think, But I'm thinking that could just be  really loose chain tension.
>>
>> The front tire looks cupped from what I can tell. I need to check  air 
>> pressures. I torched and hammered out the kickstand itself a  little bit, 
>> and now I'm thinking about bending the mounting piece a  bit, or 
>> continuing to whack on the kick stand itself.... the bike  will lean 
>> now... but it's still leaning a little too much for my  comfort. So I'm 
>> gonna go throw that bracket in my vice, and see if I  can bend it out a 
>> little.
>>
>> Also... the bike will idle however I want it to now... The choke  works 
>> now.. it didn't when I got it. The choke is a little... hard  to pull 
>> though. I am going to check plugs and compression here in a  few minutes 
>> as well. I'll report back with those findings as well.
>> Thanks,
>> --John
>>
> <snip>
>