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Transmission Exploded Yesterday....

7K views 54 replies 22 participants last post by  TORQ 
#1 ·
:'(
So I take the Bike out on a beautiful day (cold though) to get some gas so it's topped off for the winter storage... I let it run for about 5 mins to warm up in the driveway, do 2 laps around the condo complex, take the back way out to the street, I get on it a little bit down a road about half a mile long, I shift into 2nd REALLY hard, it popped really loud, then roll on the throttle (not to be confused with cracking the throttle), shift into third gear and i hear an even louder POP and the transmission blows up on me!!!! followed by the rocks in a blender sound and it felt like i was in neutral.... *sigh*..............

It sounded like a handful of bolts rattling around in the crank case... :yikes::swear: EPIC FAIL!!!!!! Suzuki better cover the tab on this one, it's less than a year old......... Warranty my a**!!!!

It's a sad day indeed. I've been online for the day on this site and a couple other sites that specialize in M109's, and there are a bunch of guys that claim issues similar to mine. We'll see what happens, I mean, it's about 6 months old, 5500 miles on it, and the warranty is supposed to be 12 months, 12,000 miles.
 
#3 ·
First, are you sure your secondary drive didn't break? Either way, it should definitely be covered under warranty. However, Suzuki is known to come back with the "you abused it" clause and say they won't cover it. You have to stand your ground. You may have to foot the whole bill and fight them afterwards. If so, the bill will be around $2-3k for the complete tear down and fix. The dealer will probably make you sign a form stating that if Suzuki doesn't cover it, you still will pay for the repair. Good luck and keep us informed.

On a side note, just so you feel better, I have seen some that get it done under warranty with no questions asked. Just make sure your dealer goes to bat for you.
 
#21 ·
First, are you sure your secondary drive didn't break? Either way, it should definitely be covered under warranty. However, Suzuki is known to come back with the "you abused it" clause and say they won't cover it. You have to stand your ground. You may have to foot the whole bill and fight them afterwards. If so, the bill will be around $2-3k for the complete tear down and fix. The dealer will probably make you sign a form stating that if Suzuki doesn't cover it, you still will pay for the repair. Good luck and keep us informed.

On a side note, just so you feel better, I have seen some that get it done under warranty with no questions asked. Just make sure your dealer goes to bat for you.
:agree: with BigPaPa, I have lost the secondary drive and a drive shaft, Suzuki covered the secondary, but I just covered the shaft it was only $115.00 (damn 300 tire), Good Luck with it....the Secondary was around 1,300.00 in parts and 1,400.00 in labor....
 
#4 ·
Also, I loosened the clutch cable on multiple occasions this year, but the major thing is (and I admit) I've only been riding for about 1 year. My first bike was a Suzuki Marauder and then I bought this brand new in March.

I'm a bike n00b, and I am kinda learning as I go. They never showed me when I bought this bike how to adjust anything, move anything or explained anything about the maintenance of the bike. My buddy is a bike mechanic and he told me they are supposed to show me all that.

I dont know what broke, but I know I was able to get the bike home. The transmission was super loose and the gears just felt off. IDK what to do. I love this bike but I just cant fathom spending another $2k to fix it when it's only 6 months old.
 
G
#5 · (Edited)
Also, I loosened the clutch cable on multiple occasions this year, but the major thing is (and I admit) I've only been riding for about 1 year. My first bike was a Suzuki Marauder and then I bought this brand new in March.

I'm a bike n00b, and I am kinda learning as I go. They never showed me when I bought this bike how to adjust anything, move anything or explained anything about the maintenance of the bike. My buddy is a bike mechanic and he told me they are supposed to show me all that.

I dont know what broke, but I know I was able to get the bike home. The transmission was super loose and the gears just felt off. IDK what to do. I love this bike but I just cant fathom spending another $2k to fix it when it's only 6 months old.
I'm at almost 6000 dude on my '08. Suffice it to say mine will never see a dragstrip, but my shifting has gotten better as it's broken in. I don't do full throttle shifts all the time, but it has seen quite a few wring-outs. Never missed a 2nd or 3rd upshift. In fact, my shifting has become more crisp since it cooled off, the oil holding viscosity more.

When you say shifting had gotten worse over time, what do you mean exactly?
 
#6 ·
step 1) call the dealer and arrange to have the bike sent there for repair.
step 2) stand your ground, and insist that it is a manufacturing problem. DO NOT SHARE the fact that you are a noob, or unsure on how to maintain or operate the bike. That will only give them grounds to say it was abused. Stay tight lipped and only share enough info to get the work done. ie- "I was riding it down the street normally when the clutch failed."

Good Luck. I can't really see any reason how they could make up an excuse not to cover this repair under warranty.
 
#8 ·
step 1) call the dealer and arrange to have the bike sent there for repair.
step 2) stand your ground, and insist that it is a manufacturing problem. DO NOT SHARE the fact that you are a noob, or unsure on how to maintain or operate the bike. That will only give them grounds to say it was abused. Stay tight lipped and only share enough info to get the work done. ie- "I was riding it down the street normally when the clutch failed."

Good Luck. I can't really see any reason how they could make up an excuse not to cover this repair under warranty.
Yeah, my mechanic friend is going to talk to his company, which is a authorized Suzuki dealer, and have them come pick it up in the next day or two.

Since this is my buddy's shop, I'm letting him do all the talking. I ride with him fairly often and even he says I didnt ride the bike that hard. I'll answer questions, but I'm letting him take point on the talking.

Thanks for the advice everyone!!! I'll keep you posted on the results!
 
#15 ·
Too bad about your bike going out.

I just got mine out of the shop a week ago with a bad clutch.

They split open the case and checked everything. Bad bearing on the clutch shaft or whatever its called.

12000 miles warranty? I was told I had unlimited mileage. Had 30,000 when it went into the shop, Seven months old, no miles when I bought it.

Suzuki fixed it under warranty.

My clutch cable broke at 5000 miles, but a tranny or clutch? Thats got to be warranty.

As far as riding hard, I didn't baby mine, not even close.

Knock on wood I wont have to go back to the shop, and an extended warranty is going on the bike before the end of my warranty.

Good luck


:super:
 
#16 ·
Too bad about your bike going out.

..........
Suzuki fixed it under warranty.

..............

As far as riding hard, I didn't baby mine, not even close.

Knock on wood I wont have to go back to the shop, and an extended warranty is going on the bike before the end of my warranty.
Thanks Spillman! What did you tell them when you took it in? Did they give you a hard time?
 
#40 ·
The info on this site is invaluable.I absolutely love how people go the extra mile to help out others in need. Helped me on mods and teardowns of gas tank etc so much. So fewer headaches when you read from people who KNOW what their doing . Example .....Bigpapa m109
help on legal advise and tech savvy.....priceless just like Zoom and many others here. And DDs avatar on his post is a ASSET to any club members eyes ...Save except for fellow woman riders hey.
NOW YA DID IT, Harris's head is going to blow like that tranny haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa He with all the other founders of this sight are a wealth of knowledge dats for sure........
 
#19 ·
It's not like I was shifting hard, you know? just a normal shift but the bang into gear was what i was referring to.... Well, I havent ridden the bike that bad. Some of the guys i ride with really abuse their bikes and have no issues on them. No way this is my fault...
 
#20 ·
Why do you have to shift into 2nd so hard? People should read this site a little more and see that you can easily shift into 2nd with nothing more then just a little release of the gas providing you are putting upward pressure on the shifter before pulling in the clutch..... I am not sure if "Shift it like you mean it" is very good for these bikes!!
 
#35 ·
My paranoia agrees with Rockford here. Delete the thread NOW.
 
#25 ·
take the bike in at stock height, they are big on saying its the mods that caused it.
 
#31 ·
Pull the left rear chrome cover. The speedo sensor goes in the secondary housing and is held in by one bolt. pull that sensor out of the housing. I bet it is full of shavings. If it is ,you secondary it probably toast.
Also if you have a chrome cover over you driveshaft, on the swing pull it and check out you swing arm real good. I broke mine almost all the way around. Thought it was the tranny. Never saw it until I pulled the chrome drive shaft cover. Had my engine completely down and found the tranny was in good shape. Then the cover was pulled!!! and there it was!!!
 
#34 ·
Yeah, thanks everyone for your comments and help...

I am pretty sure I still have my original bones, I just need to find a lift to put them back in. I originally put them in with my buddy's help at his garage. But he closed up due to the economy...
 
#39 ·
By the way

:'( By the way ,,reason I read this post over and commented on it is,, my bikes surge in 2nd gear is most likely this same problem. I am PO ed over Suzukis lack of interest and darn right refusal to back up a bike with repeated problem.If percentage of cars had this problem would not consumers watch dog groups come forward with a bitch???? Maybe next bike is a Honda or cruiser with less issues. All have their problems I know but ,,,come on suzuki engineers fix it for Gods sake.:cus:
 
#41 ·
It could also be that you stripped the drive shaft splines. Some don't have much grease on the final drive end and they rust up badly. More than one on here have stripped those. Since the bike would still move afterward I lean toward the secondary or the drive shaft.
 
#46 ·
GM zoomer, The shaft comes out when we pull the final drive, What holds it in the final drive, to get it out to grease it? A C clip or??
 
#44 ·
OK I read this and get worried a little. Is this bike stock? Should I be worrying about mine doing this?

Can this come from not shifting into 2nd very smoothly or is it just from riding hard?



And P.S, I'd rather look at DD's Avatar than a lot of the others I see here.......

No offense taken or intended....:)
 
#45 ·
OK I read this and get worried a little. Is this bike stock? Should I be worrying about mine doing this?

Can this come from not shifting into 2nd very smoothly or is it just from riding hard?

And P.S, I'd rather look at DD's Avatar than a lot of the others I see here.......

No offense taken or intended....:)
It is not common. However, if you beat on the bike, you do risk damaging something. My bike has 37k, Mary's has 15k and we don't abuse them. There are a few occasions where I hit first to second very hard. I usually preload it first. That means pull up on your boot against the shifter so when it is time to shift, it clicks right in. However, I treat this bike like a cruiser and enjoy it. Most of our hard runs are second, third and 4th gear. If you treat it like a race bike, it is going to break. Just ride and enjoy it. This is a problem with the bike, but believe me, not common enough to freak out and worry about it.
 
#52 ·
Yeah, me too.

I had the dealer install my bones. First thing I asked was would it mess with the warranty. They said I would have to actually open up the engine and do something there to mess with the warranty. When I took my bike in for the clutch work they did ask me if I had installed a new clutch as mine looked so good, it was in perfect condition. Nooooo! I have not touch the engine! prolly goes the same for the drive shaft.
 
#53 ·
True, the lowering bones should have zip, zero, nothing to do with this issue. And I did a bunch of research on that Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act that someone had mentioned earlier. This goes for EVERYONE here!

NO MODs that you install on your bike will void your power train warranty unless you open the motor or transmission. If it's a bolt on mod there is no way it can affect your power train and there is no way Suzuki can claim that. That's what the law was written for: To protect the buyer for situations like this. Check this out: http://www.mlmlaw.com/library/guides/ftc/warranties/undermag.htm

"The Act sets forth that the consumer may choose a free replacement product or a full refund if the manufacturer cannot comply with its warranty for that specific product. The Act also provides for recovery of Attorney Fees if the consumer is successful in bringing his claim. "

Legally, a vehicle manufacturer cannot void the warranty on a vehicle due to an aftermarket part unless they can prove that the aftermarket part caused or contributed to the failure in the vehicle (per the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. 2302(C)) http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm#Magnuson-Moss.

Its one thing to have the service writer say you or your independent shop is at fault and quite another to have a large manufacturer go on record that you or your independent repair shop caused the problem. It is very difficult for the manufacturer to do, especially if your independent shop is using the manufacturers recommended procedures and specifications. With regards to performance upgrades, pipes etc., unless there are significant cases already on the books and the manufacturer can produce a genuine engineering study indicating that, a combination of accessories installed will cause engine damage, they will have a great deal of difficulty making a strong argument that will stand the scrutiny of litigation or arbitration.

http://cadrecycle.com/magnusonmoss.php
 
#54 ·
Well, yes and no

It's all well and good saying that Suzuki should honor it's warranties, but when they don't, they don't. So then what? You have to serve them, go to court, get a judgement, and then try and collect. Just like a renter that won't pay you. He owes the money, but getting it isn't that easy, maybe impossible.
And proving that "any" mod done didn't harm the transmission, well. Lets say you put a drag racing slick about 3 feet wide on the rear, red line it, and drop the clutch. Sure this is an extreme example, but my point is the same. Can you expect stock parts to stand up to mods and full throttle drop clutches. A weekend at the drag strip will answer that question, No!
Suziuki's contention that abuse is the reason may or may not apply to you, but you can see people abusing their bikes and then claiming warranty repairs is an ongoing problem to all companies. It makes everyone suspect. And easier for them to deny you.
And no offense intended, but shifting a motorcycle is a skill. Any manual shift vehicle can be damaged if done incorrectly, intentional or not.
It's easy to say it's all Suzuki's fault. Maybe yes, maybe no. Nobody ever seems to want to admit fault, us or them.
 
#55 ·
That really sucks. But you are armed, with what you need to do. Let us know what happens! We all what to know what Suzuki tells you.
 
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