+1 my Suzuki Fiero has never seen the SVC not even for the free service

May be the bike is having a toll of my riding habbits. Out of 18.5k kms, 16k kms are on highways high speed long runs and brakings. Although i take good care of her but i guess i am expecting to much from her in return.
The only reasone I go to TVS SVC for services is to be covered under warranty for any major hardware failure.
SVCs truly sucks no doubt but they also have some good mechs who knows the machine better than road side mechs.
After yesterdays so called engine works i revved the bike hard and its running better than ever.
It was not a regular service but specific to some problems and it came out good this time.
I saw in SVC here that they have specific guys for each type of work.
It just the overall experience which leaves a bitter taste in mouth.

Had my bike's 3rd service done on Sunday...it was very cold but still i rode 12 kms to reach the SVC around 9:30. This time i went to Speed Motors SVC and waited while the servicing was being done. Also the 3rd service was overdue by 1 month(6 months completed on 9 Dec but i had done only 3800 odd kms on my bike). i had to talk to the SVC Manager a day earlier for this.

The motor was broken so no washing. but i had a good experience at this SVC. The supervisor listened to all the problems. i had mentioned that the front suspension was very stiff. No oil change was done as i had not even done 2000 kms since last service ( i had changed to Castrol Power 1 just one week after oil change so very good for me ). i said no to the chain spray since i already bought it earlier. The service took around 1.5 hours and they did the battery charging. the front suspension was checked. he said that the oil level was low and they had refilled it.

since i had an accident earlier, handle alignment was done(some loose screw was tightened), the left air scoop was tightened after i reminded them that it was loose. The supervisor took a rest ride himself and then handed me the bike(big surprise for me ).

Overall bill was Rs 23
The right indicator was not replaced since it was out of stock.(will check again in one week).

Overall, this SVC was way better compared to the last SVC.

They also tightened the chain. but guys now it is making "kut kut" noises on turning the wheel. the chain slack is not right. Is it OK to leave it like this( i mean as the chain gets loose will it be alright?) or should i get the chain readjusted.?

A sad story

Guys,

I'm typing this with a broken heart! My last oil change was done at 25xxx odo. This past weekend, we Kerala xbhpians had a New Year G2G at Munnar hill station. It was a combination of offroading in the middle of forest and high speed cornering through the twisties. It was fun filled two days.

On the way back, after we climbed down from Munnar, the engine started making small knocking-kind of noise, just like that of loose tappet. I thought its just cos of the quick succession of down shift and upshifts combined with hard throttle on the way down the twisties. Called up a mech and he asked to check oil-level. I did, and it showed half way between the low and high mark of the dip stick. So I continued. Half way back to home, another guy suffered a bad puncture. Then I also noticed that the sound had increased a lot. We decided to stop over for the night (it was sunday late night).

On monday morning, took it to nearest TVS SVC, which was just 1km from where we stayed. They said its damage to crank. I was like.. WTH?? They drained the oil, and there was hardly some 100ml left, pitch black. (I've always had reasonable drain quantity, and mostly not even black!! ) That too at < 2k since last oil change. So the poured some oil, and started the engine. My heart broke at the scene that followed. The exhaust was full of smoke!! And those guys confirmed that piston rings, cylinder all are damaged.

They then said the engine needs to be opened up for assessing the extent of damage. Also, as they are sub-dealer they will need quite some time. The service manager there asked them to pour in brand new oil and to take it to my regular SVC and ask if it can be replaced under warranty. They poured 100ml extra oil (the normal TVS mineral oil) and asked me to ride slowly. It took us 3 hours to do 120km of super smooth roads.

Today I took it to my regular SVC. I skipped the fact about the smoke in exhaust, but mentioned the decrease in oil level. Now, their initial analysis is 'some problem with the head, need to open to see'. There are in for a big surprise when they open it up.

Current odo reading is 27135, 10th service as per booklet. Sincerely hoping the impeccable service records will help me getting it done under warranty. Looking back, now I'm glad I did all the services even though I wanted to kill everyone there after each service (it goes without saying their service sucks).

With a broken heart and a busted engine,
Lijo

@lijok:

What oil you were running ?
FS or SS ?

If its problem with crank shaft, noice will be like to flour mill. the same will occur on idling also. check the compression pressure to analyse whether its valve oil seal gone kaput or piston rings ultimately check bore kit.

Sounds more like frozen rings and piston slap to me.Of course lack of oil is a serious concern to have run on...You should check for frozen rings,bore scratches,and then, con- rod big and small end bearings wear out.
New bore with piston is around 2,200/- and along with crank reconditioning and labour will be about 2,700/- to 3,000..and you will be as good as new.....IF at all this is needed, and if warranty is not applicable.
Best to give to the SVC,and be there when they open the engine to investigate...you will learn much more than anyone of us can tell you.

In SVC they fix one thing and damage another thing like in my case although they fixed the issue with the gear bearing thing but now the engine cut off switch is not working properly. It happened just after i got the work done in the TVS SVC here in Noida. Sometimes the engine cut off switch works and sometimes doesnt. I can say out of 10, it works 7 times only. Earlier it wa perfect.
And now again i have to visit them and i dont know how many times i have to.
Guys any idea what is happening with the switch, any lose connection any where?

P.S: The morning startup problem is now fixed, i guess after the carb cleaning.

Not sure but try spraying with WD40. Worked in my case. After every wash, some water gets stuck inside and creates a mess. If not, the entire thing can be replaced under warranty.

@renny - I've been using Motul 300V FS for quite some time now.
@nox - yeah, it was indeed like a flour mill, grinding a sack of scrap metal
@psr - sadly, i cannot be there at the SVC. I've already made my manager mad with unplanned leave due to this issue. He has threatened me that he wont let me off even for half a day this month..

Sorry to hear that...I hope your warranty covers the damage.

Just called up SVC. They said cylinder kit and crank needs to be replaced. Will take a week as the parts needs to be ordered. Estimate of 7k. Tomorrow I'll go there and talk about getting it done under warranty. Hope they will be kind to me and do it under warranty.

If it cannot be done under warranty then you are better off doing the repair outside with a good mech.Like I said the RTR 180 bore and piston costs about 2,500/- and crank reconditioning will cost you 500/- and labour another 500/-..so totally it will be 3,500/-...half of what the SVC says.
Please go to PAGE 59 in the same forum(RTR 180) and read post 581..

Thanks bro... I'm visiting them tomorrow to discuss about the warranty. And I'm being advised by different mechanics also to get the crank replaced instead of reconditioning... So be it! I want my Menace back at least as it used to be, if not better!

Have one weird problem , some times when i shift from 3rd to 4th gear after 3 secs it will fall back to 3rd and rpm will shoot to 7k , i feel like there are 2 levels between 3rd and 4th gear i can feel 2 clicks when shifting if i leave at first click it falls back to 3 , anything wrong in gearbox ? I told this to SC but he told it will become smooth after sometime, as its new . but think some things wrong, how can i tell this to SC ? if i tell that this is the issue then only they will fix it