Aaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhh, I'm at a loss...HELP!!!

**R1** · 19th July 2006, 13:20

Hi all, as some of you know I have been having some issues with my R1

It all began 4 months ago while drag racing at Ruapuna, to cut a long story short I blew my clutch (2 broken fiber plates) anyway I replaced the clutch the following week
with a complete new clutch, inner and outer baskets, metal plates and fibers, I also dropped the sump to retrieve the bits of clutch plate, put it all back together and stated the bike up, now when the clutch blew the bike had a knock, and even after replacing the entire clutch it still knocked!!!

So I thought I would check everything accessible with the engine still in the bike, so after exhausting checking, valve clearance, cam chain, cam chain guides ignition pickup, flywheel, cam chain tensioner, to no avail, I pulled the engine out, now the following is what I have pulled down and checked,

Head, and cam and valve assembly, all stripped and looks as good as the day it was assembled, bearings all look fine buckets, shims, valves all look good, valve seats are fine, so I concluded it was nothing from the head.....and b4 you all ask where the knock is coming from I have no idea, I have had the engine running and gone over EVERY part of the motor with a Snap-On stethoscope and can not isolate where the knock is coming from!!!

Next I removed sump and one at a time removed rods and pistons, all are well within spec and again look as good as the day the bike was assembled the bores all look like they were honed yesterday, I checked all piston crowns rings, ring groves, gudgeon(sp) pins, all are within spec and look mint...

I then removed water/oil pumps(on a common shaft & chain driven) the water pump was suspect as one of the impellers was slightly bent, but I have ruled this out as the cause of the knock as it would be a scraping noise and not a knock...
I then split the cases and checked the crank and bearings, these as with the rest of the engine looked like new!! I measured and checked the crank with a dial gauge and its in perfect condition, now I'm starting to panic!!! my bike has a loud knock and so far every thing seems perfect..

I pulled the gearbox down and again measured and checked everything and as with the rest of the engine its all well within spec..
I'm now at a loss as to what it could be???

I have striped and repaired many engines b4 and always found the cause of what ever problem it may have had and been able to fix it..

My bike is a 2001 R1 with 22k on the clock, it's been ridden fairly hard and done millions of mono's but it's been well over serviced and looked after
any ideas? please?? help?? I need to ride.

now just for some info I'm not a qualified mechanic but I have blown up many many engines and always been able to diagnose and repair them myself so I'm not a retard trying to save a few shillings by fixing it myself, and to be honest apart from Dwayne there isn't a mechanic in Chch I would trust to fix it, but I have spoken to most of the Yamaha dealers in NZ to see if they had had similar problems but all I got was "don't bring it here"

Oh also the bike runs as sweet as the day I bought it if not better, it starts easy and runs strong, no missing popping nothing it just runs fine...
so chuck any ideas you may have up as I'm starting to think it's something stupid that I have over looked,

Thanks for any help
Aaron

**cowpoos** · 19th July 2006, 13:28

it makes this knock when??? and is it consistant?

**R1** · 19th July 2006, 13:32

Originally Posted by cowpoos

it makes this knock when??? and is it consistant?

when it's running, and its consistant with engine speed..duznt get louder with revs only faster.

**k14** · 19th July 2006, 13:46

I think you might just need to buy a honda. Would be faster then too.

**R1** · 19th July 2006, 13:50

Originally Posted by k14

I think you might just need to buy a honda. Would be faster then too.

Thanks but i'm straight..

**sAsLEX** · 19th July 2006, 13:51

Originally Posted by **R1**

I have spoken to most of the Yamaha dealers in NZ to see if they had had similar problems but all I got was "don't bring it here"

Originally Posted by WINJA

WOULDN"T GET THAT PROBLEM WIT SUZUKI THEY HAVE THE BEST CUSTOMER CARE!

. .

**R1** · 19th July 2006, 13:57

Originally Posted by sAsLEX

. .

K-mart aint bad either, and there products are crap as well, do K-mart own suzuki?

**FzerozeroT** · 19th July 2006, 14:00

once every few seconds or once per second then gets faster?

does it happen when you roll the bike along (plugs out)? or is that going a bit far. if it goes when you are rolling it (not under load) then you could sort out some sort of method of spinning the engine when working on it (roller etc) and then start pulling parts off until it goes away?

**cowpoos** · 19th July 2006, 14:01

Originally Posted by **R1**

when it's running, and its consistant with engine speed..duznt get louder with revs only faster.

idler gear?

or camchain lash....tensioner okay??? and working??

**R1** · 19th July 2006, 14:02

Originally Posted by cowpoos

idler gear?

Na I have checked it,
This is driving me nuts but keep the ideas coming..

**FzerozeroT** · 19th July 2006, 14:03

haha, all us pro mechanics are gonna start giving you the hard questions, does it hesitate when it knocks, does it knock under engine braking, is it a knock or a tap or a sort of tappy knock?

**R1** · 19th July 2006, 14:06

Originally Posted by FzerozeroT

once every few seconds or once per second then gets faster?

does it happen when you roll the bike along (plugs out)? or is that going a bit far. if it goes when you are rolling it (not under load) then you could sort out some sort of method of spinning the engine when working on it (roller etc) and then start pulling parts off until it goes away?

its faster than crank rotation,its around every 180 degrees I think

I thought it would be a crank or piston bearing or something easy to ID so I didnt go to far trying to diagnose the problem b4 stripping the engine and box, but I may just have to put it back together and do just that...

**sugilite:Me** · 19th July 2006, 14:10

is the knock coming from the clutch area of the motor?

**R1** · 19th July 2006, 14:11

Originally Posted by FzerozeroT

haha, all us pro mechanics are gonna start giving you the hard questions, does it hesitate when it knocks, does it knock under engine braking, is it a knock or a tap or a sort of tappy knock?

It duznt hesitate, it knocks the whole time the engine is running, and its a loud knock, I can also feel the knock through the bars but it duznt make the bike run any differnt