Hi All I searched "The Garage" for anything on this topic and see little comment on a known issue with these Suzuki 1000 V twin engines. Had two SV1k's of my own and they were both a little vibey/resonatey right from when they were new. I held onto the second for 15,000 miles and over time the vibrations got steadily worse and sort of crept up on you to something significant. Only when you rode another bike did you realise how much your own vibrated. After visiting SV and DL sites I got to suspecting the main bearings and the clutch basket damper. DL's particularly had a bad reputation for a vibration about 400 rpm wide at between 2,800 and as high as 5,000 rpm. The same symptoms were sometimes mentioned in SV's. I came across a guy who welded the damper up solid in his SV and reported a transformation of his bike. Smooth as any other V twin and also had a much cleaner run to the red line. This got me thinking and because I have an engineering background decided I would strip the damper down and see what was wrong with the original design. I became a bit of a specialist and after a good few prototypes and alternatives tried by other owners, hit upon the source of the problem. These dampers are made with four cylinder loads in mind - not 1,000 cc V twins. The basket is the same size and design as a GSX1300 HAYABUSA - designed to damp two small fires per revolution as you have ina four cylinder - whereas the V twin produces one double size fire per engine revolution to make the same progress down the road, or up the hill. In short the dampers go out of tune with the engine and after plenty of experimenting I have now come up with a fix. The problem is also related to the heavy clatter some of these engines have when they idle. Its a different issue to the regular loud knock at high temperatures when idling. A good few guys from the US and Europe are about to independently road test my modified dampers. The modification involves help with diagnosis, a strip and inspection, then modification and adjustments to overcome the poor design and manufacture issues. I don't just bang a few washers into the springs as some have tried - bit too risky if they come back out and there are other issues need sorting inside to give a permanent fix fit for a long trip or the life of the bike. I found that every one stripped so far has been bottoming it's damper and needed a good engineering repair to sort them out. Put simply the springs start to eat their way into the alloy from new and there is a perect looseness comes about that creates the horrible vibration. Even Suzuki's own later baskets (said to be modified to overcome the vibration problem) are getting the same old vibrations at the same sort of distances. Reports from all are very good so far. After well over a years development I can say the design is now finalised. I have posted my findings and shared pictures of the clutch baskets insides on all the obvious SV and DL sites. If there is sufficient interest I could start to repair on a cost of parts and labour basis for people. Trialists covered their own shipping costs. Early days perhaps but many people are getting rid of these lovely bikes because of this vibration. There has up until now not been a credible fix that lasted so owners just gave up and moved on. I would like to help turn this situation round if anyone is interested. They are a truly fantastic engine once you get this resonance out of them. Respond here for an open chat with questions and ideas. If you need to be getting on with a fix very soon then send me an e-mail or PM. Sharealike
I picked up a brand new leftover 04 DL1000 in jan. of 05 and on the way home i thought what a piece of shit it vibrated at highway speed and backfired into its air box anywhere from 2800 rpm up to 4000.i've heard of people dumping there v stroms in slow speed turns if the bike backfired at just the wrong time.i called the dealer to complain before i even made it home.since he wanted to charge me to correct the problem ,this is the same dealer who set up my new ducati monster m800 dark with almost 5 qts. of oil, i took it to a friend.everything was fixed in less than a hour for less then 100 bucks.the yosh box took care of the pooping and farting into the air box,the bike was delivered with the fuel injection set up way too lean,they told me they were" all like that" to pass california emissions. and a throttle body sync took care of the vibration.it was a different bike.i was afraid it was the clutch chudder that was talked about so much back then,nope just sync the throttle bodies.well the v strom is gone, totaled by an old man and now i have a 03 sv1000 and it has needed nothing,nothing at all and it came from the same dealer.go figure.
duckman Thanks for the info. Suzuki tech rep had the opportunity to do the throttle sync up to three times to cure my SV vibrations - I only saw them do it once and it was no better after. They also said my injection map has never been touched. While some peoples bikes were in to investigate vibrations I know they were lifting the right side covers to check primary drive gear nut tightness and the clutch basket dampers - Suzuki definately had problems with both types of the early bike and did this sometimes without owners knowing. I doubt my bikes were ever at the dealers long enough for any of this other than throttle sync to be done. I never understood how throttle sync could have much impact on how the engine ran once over 10% open. Surely only affect idle and just a whisker off idle setting we all get so fussy about. I know a few SV's with the "idle knock" when hot were supposed to be cured by dropping the vacuum on the front cylinder to below the rear. All was lost at later services when dealers did a later TBSync which removed the Suzuki technical reps balancing work. Sharealike
Latest news on clutch basket modifications http://www.stromtrooper.com/group-b...e-vibration-cure-clutch-basket-chudder-2.html Idle hammer noise when hot. http://www.stromtrooper.com/v-strom...nce/78087-idle-hammer-source-found-fixed.html
Shown much of this before over the years and in all sorts of places. From top left. Re-engineered basket and re-engineered gear. Bottom row from left. Re-engineered inner and outer plates. New high tensile setscrews to replace old rivets. All other components can often be used again after fine check for tolerance and signs of damage. New ground finish to hub of gear. Where the new sharealike bearing - precision machined to match will run. - example of original finish to right. Old rivet holes are drilled, tapped and counter sunk for new high tensile setscrews. Some copiers have drilled these oversize and used thread inserts. This weakens the posts as the basket is very thin where the posts meet the main casting. Inner plate fitted to back of basket. Setting of exact position is done later after measurements. Gear and Spring Set fitted. Position of each spring is key. Dished Springs fitted. Look round the centre. Fit Top Cover. Original case hardening is roughed up to ensure underside of the setscrews key into the plate. This area is often polished on older baskets because the loose rivets allowed the surfaces to fret as they chuddered. Insert and tighten three high tensile setscrews and oil pump gear drive dowel. Fit oil pump gear. The one thing that will only fit the right way round. Circlip can be fitted wrong. Look inside to check component positions ready for damping deflection checks. Measure damping deflection. Basket prevented from rotation while gear is rotated with increased loads. Check the loading for each and observe the four phases of the torsion absorber working. Strip after earlier test assembly. Adjust damping, deflection and phases based on measurements taken in above two stages. Lubricate, rebuild, confirm adjutments are correct, seal to prevent moisture getting in and lubricant escape. Pack and ship back to owner. This is by no means the complete process. Hope it gives some insight into the original sharealike re-engineered modification. Only used approved transmission engineering and widely accepted methods for the work. Pays much closer attention to position and tolerances of each component than when new. These dampers can now be opened up and re-adjusted after the initial modification shown above. They can then be regarded as an easily serviceable item. Well over three hundred modified like this running in bikes all round the world. Started offering to modify them to save owners fitting replacement baskets so they could rid these lovely engines of the chudder for ever. Enjoyed helping everyone sort out their bikes. Fuller details to do your own have been available on request. Comprehensive engineering knowledge and workshop required.
