[SV650] Greetings and questions

[Ernest Montague]

Sprockets: $70
good chain $110
Headgaskets $20 each
seals    usually reuse
race tires...$350-$450 from dealer

Labor on head gasket around 5 hours each.  give or take a couple hours.


On Jul 5, 2009, at 9:24 PM, John Treadwell wrote:

> 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
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> 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>
>