Well f***.

[Tylar]

Blew up the motor in my 08 R1. Riding to Silverthorne with the family following me, slowly acquired a vibration and going up a 7% incline (Genesee Hill just past Lookout Mtn exit) at 80mph maintaining speed in 6th gear, heard a large crack followed by constant rattling and a complete loss of power. Immediately grabbed the clutch and killed power. The aftermath is below. Nothing like an oh-sh1t moment on I-70 heading up to the Eisenhower in traffic.



Probably spending some time tomorrow finding out how much a new motor costs. How this came to be is beyond me, and some feel I should bring it up to Yamaha whether I have them replace the motor for me or not. Not sure it's worth it.

Bike has 14k miles, A&R Baffles and K&N filter are the only mods on for the drivetrain. Fresh oil and was running strong all they up to the C-470 exit before it had a load on it for the climb.

...drowning my sorrows as I type this.

[Wrider]

Well hell man I'm sorry to hear about that! Are you going to take the motor apart so you can figure out what went wrong?

[JimDog]

Wow...that would have scared the crap out of me too. Bummer about the engine, but glad you're OK. Engines are replaceable...humans are not

If you do find out what happened, would love details (just out of curiosity).

[Tylar]

Wow...that would have scared the crap out of me too. Bummer about the engine, but glad you're OK. Engines are replaceable...humans are not

If you do find out what happened, would love details (just out of curiosity).

The goal is to get a new motor in and find out what happened with the stock one. I know this year of R1 has a valve weakness and I've heard of this type of thing happening. I hope to have all the infos and pics of the destruction, but no real course yet.

[~Barn~]

Craziness. Glad it didn't dump you off though!

[Slo]

Wow, that is crazy, glad you didn't get hurt on it, good luck on a replacement motor.

[Mother Goose]

I know there's some used motors up on the R1 Forum right now. Could have Bart go through it when you get one in, just to make sure everything is tip top.

[Tylar]

Craziness. Glad it didn't dump you off though!

Thanks. It was on the straight, so I was fortunately upright and just maintaining speed on the incline. When it went I immediately clutched it and hit the kill switch.

Wow, that is crazy, glad you didn't get hurt on it, good luck on a replacement motor.

I know there's some used motors up on the R1 Forum right now. Could have Bart go through it when you get one in, just to make sure everything is tip top.

Yeah. We're going to see. Moto-Garage is looking in their stock to see if they have a motor laying around. I may just run it up to Jensen and have him diagnose it...if I buy a new motor and put it in, then that'd give me more piece of mind than I currently have.

[Mother Goose]

Yeah. We're going to see. Moto-Garage is looking in their stock to see if they have a motor laying around. I may just run it up to Jensen and have him diagnose it...if I buy a new motor and put it in, then that'd give me more piece of mind than I currently have.

If you had that PC3, this wouldn't have happened. jk. If you need any help with anything, lemme know.

[Tylar]

So, went to move the bike after hearing a dose of reality that I was afraid of and noticed that the case that popped IS NOT the crank, it's the transmission:


Soooo, that changes things (I hope). I'm more encouraged to have it professionally diagnosed and fixed.

[Tylar]

So the bike is now at Moto-Garage under the care of Scott Jensen. Assuming all goes as planned, the needful will be repaired and I'll have a y-pipe and a PC3 with a custom map afterwards. All is not lost....

It looks like the generator for the bike, or the stator, literally exploded. Assuming no parts made it to the crankcase, I'm golden.

[Kim-n-Dean]

So, went to move the bike after hearing a dose of reality that I was afraid of and noticed that the case that popped IS NOT the crank, it's the transmission:

Soooo, that changes things (I hope). I'm more encouraged to have it professionally diagnosed and fixed.

Not really. The engine and tranny share the same case, use the same oil, etc. If you grenaded something, all that debris is most likely though the entire engine. The cover that is cracked is your generator stator cover, not the transmission. Still, what caused it? That is the mystery. Open it up...

EDIT: I see we were typing at the same time...

[Tylar]

Not really. The engine and tranny share the same case, use the same oil, etc. If you grenaded something, all that debris is most likely though the entire engine. The cover that is cracked is your generator stator cover, not the transmission. Still, what caused it? That is the mystery. Open it up...

EDIT: I see we were typing at the same time...

So I took the bike to Moto-Garage and confidence is high. Yes, it's the stator housing that blew. Only time will tell after he opens the bike up, but i'm hopeful my baby will be salvageable. what caused it....man, i'd love to know.

[Kim-n-Dean]

So I took the bike to Moto-Garage and confidence is high. Yes, it's the stator housing that blew. Only time will tell after he opens the bike up, but i'm hopeful my baby will be salvageable. what caused it....man, i'd love to know.

I have my fingers crossed for ya!! The rotor on the '08s look like a deep-dish pizza. It's also your starter clutch assembly. If you got it shut down super quick, you might be okay. So hard to tell with mechanical stuff until you get it apart. The way that rotor interacts with the stator is a huge problem if one of them comes loose. It appears they hit each other and broke the cover...

[Tylar]

I have my fingers crossed for ya!! The rotor on the '08s look like a deep-dish pizza. It's also your starter clutch assembly. If you got it shut down super quick, you might be okay. So hard to tell with mechanical stuff until you get it apart. The way that rotor interacts with the stator is a huge problem if one of them comes loose. It appears they hit each other and broke the cover...

Scott said he's seen it before and the engine is likely not garbage. After I hit the kill switch on I-70 that night, the bike had not been started so hopefully I was quick enough in the heat of the moment.

Even so, I was at 6k rpm when it blew and even if it took me 1 second to hit the kill switch, that's a lot of rotations. If the engine is garbage, I'm screwed...unless I throw caution to the wind and buy an internet used motor and pray it is functional.

[Jmetz]

Hopefully it won't cost you a ton.

[Tylar]

Hopefully it won't cost you a ton.

If the motorcycle gods smile on me, I'll still be out at least a grand....for starters (no pun intended).

[Kim-n-Dean]

If the motorcycle gods smile on me, I'll still be out at least a grand....for starters (no pun intended).

A grand?!? Is that just for the cover, stator and rotor? As long as you didn't send debris through the engine or hurt anything else, this is a simple fix. $580 in parts from Ron Ayers... ..well, it could be a little more with gaskets and miscellaneous stuff...

Knowing how to do this stuff is invaluable. I've given quite a few people, over the years, the confidence to do these kind of things. It's really just reading your shop manual. I'll read mine for a couiple weeks if it's something I've never done. There isn't anything on these bikes that a fairly intelligent person, who can read, can't do! I understand it's intimidating, but even Kim does some work after reading the manuals.

Here's a good example; I dropped an exhaust valve on my boat (350 Magnum MPI in a 2000 Rinker 192) and the cheapest shop repair was $4,000 to fix the one combustion chamber on the one head!! I did it myself and completely rebuilt both heads for under $400.

When you know how to fix your own toys, you can afford more toys

[rforsythe]

So it's not the immediate killing the motor and clutching it (all good reactions) that concern me, it's the fact that you felt the vibration for a while beforehand. I was on a GSX-R 750 that did the exact same thing one day except the stator remained on; enough small metal bits made it past the pickup screen to spin a crank bearing. The stator has some powerful magnets, and occasionally the epoxy can break causing them to ride free which usually results in some level of catastrophic failure on the stator at a minimum. It's the ancillary potential for damage that would concern me here, and prompt a full engine tear down.

[Kim-n-Dean]

So it's not the immediate killing the motor and clutching it (all good reactions) that concern me, it's the fact that you felt the vibration for a while beforehand. I was on a GSX-R 750 that did the exact same thing one day except the stator remained on; enough small metal bits made it past the pickup screen to spin a crank bearing. The stator has some powerful magnets, and occasionally the epoxy can break causing them to ride free which usually results in some level of catastrophic failure on the stator at a minimum. It's the ancillary potential for damage that would concern me here, and prompt a full engine tear down.

Good point, Ralph. And, if you part your hair just right, you can't see it.

Hi-Jack: After we hung-up the other day, we made a London Broil on the smoker. Last night we did another Rib-eye. I'm convinced that higher temps are better, it renders the fat down and these babies melt in your mouth. 6 hours on a 3 1/2 lb. London Broil and 3 hours on a 1.4 lb. Rib-eye. We use only cherry wood on an indirect, side firebox smoker.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

[sprtbkbabe]

Hope it gets sorted, Tyler. Scott's done work on my CBR and I can attest to his thoroughness

[Tylar]

Hope it gets sorted, Tyler. Scott's done work on my CBR and I can attest to his thoroughness

Thanks.

Just got off the phone with Scott. #2 rod shot through the case and penetrated the stator...the crank is in multiple pieces and it's possible at least one other rod is bent. Scott characterized it as a "freak event" as he feels the OEM rods in this motor are stout and that the motor is complete trash now. Suffice to say...I'm in shock.

[Mother Goose]

I do not approve of this thread now.

[Chaos]

Not good! I was just on CL last night and there was a guy parting out an '08 R1 in the springs, the engine was part of the part out just an FYI