Engine failure

[URSUS]

So I have a 2016 XT 1200. Which has been service and maintained as per the manual has just reached 10,000 miles. I was riding for approximately four hours at around about three hours and 45 minutes I heard a very strange noise, like someone had poured a bag of ball bearings into my engine. Of course I stopped and checked it out to see what I can find, no warning lights no smoke no other problems just the noise. Got my wife to bring the truck to collect me took it to the local dealer. After four hours of work they’re now telling me the oil is completely covered in metal so much so, that it looks more like glitter than oil. They estimate 27 hours of work at $85 an hour to find out what the causes. On initial findings after they scoped from the top end, pistons valves, housing in all looks intact with no problems. My question here is do you think it would be the oil pump failing, and causing drama, even though I’m not burning smoke the oil’s in good shape apart from the metal that’s in it now. I’m just wondering if there’s a service bulletin about this issue because the mechanics at Yamaha don’t seem to know what caused the problem. And of course the bike is just 10 months out of warranty. Any help is greatly appreciated.

also if anybody knows where I can buy a reconditioned motor that would be great thank you

 

[Gerard]

My first thought is a failed big end bearing and the metal you see is the white metal of a bearing shell. As long as the crank shaft isn't too badly damaged you could just rebuild it. But why it would fail would be the big question.

 

[WJBertrand]

Are the metallic bits magnetic or not? Bearing materials will be non-magnetic whereas gears and sprockets will be magnetic.

 

[URSUS]

Are the metallic bits magnetic or not? Bearing materials will be non-magnetic whereas gears and sprockets will be magnetic.

Never thought to check that. But I will now.

 

[URSUS]

My first thought is a failed big end bearing and the metal you see is the white metal of a bearing shell. As long as the crank shaft isn't too badly damaged you could just rebuild it. But why it would fail would be the big question.

Exactly that’s what I’m trying to determine

 

[Don in Lodi]

Are the metallic bits magnetic or not? Bearing materials will be non-magnetic whereas gears and sprockets will be magnetic.

Bearings and races are steel, I use a magnet to pick up bits all the time. I've got a magnetic tray filled with a ready supply of sling shot ammo.

 

[~TABASCO~]

Sorry to hear this.....

Pull the pan off the bottom and look what is in the bottom of the pan... Then look at the oil pump pick up screen. Look at that and show a picture or tell us what you might see...
Ive seen this once before from a guy. It was a rod bearing that let go. He put a junk yard Tenere motor back into the bike after that.

You might also want to pull the clutch cover and take a peek, see if you see anything like teeth broken or metal "bits" anywhere, Etc.....


As far as a motor, GOOGLE up some motorcycle junk yards and start looking and calling folks. It will probably take a little homework and note taking. Finding a motor is one thing, working with the person who has the motor is another story. (crating / selling /shipping / Etc.) You might find a motor that is all the way across the country. FYI- the guy I mention above. After the 'new' motor was installed he then found out that the (new junk yard motor) had serious transmission issues. One or more gears were trashed and was probably caused by the accident that put the bike in the junk yard in the first place. This gentleman had to go back to where he bought the junk yard motor and hash that all out with him and work all that out. My point is make sure you like the people you might be buying a motor from, do they have a 30 day warranty, how far away are they "incase" you have an issue. So on and so forth. If you are interested I can talk with you over the phone and give you a few more pointers.

 

[Gerard]

Bearings and races are steel, I use a magnet to pick up bits all the time. I've got a magnetic tray filled with a ready supply of sling shot ammo.

The backing is steel, the lining is lead and tin (?), both non magnetic

 

[cyclemike4]

I read long haul Paul's write up on his tenere that exploded the clutch basket. It looked hopeless at first like the engine was done, but then after good cleaning and a new basket the bike ran for thousands of miles. Just trying to give out a little hope all is not as bad as it seems. Good luck to you and keep us informed.

 

[Don in Lodi]

The backing is steel, the lining is lead and tin (?), both non magnetic

What?

 

[Cycledude]

Wow the dealer charged 4 hours labor to tell you the oil doesn’t look right, my opinion you definitely need a different dealer.

 

[Sierra1]

Well, they did put a scope in there too, but four hours should have been enough time to take parts off, and find a more definitive answer.

 

[URSUS]

Wow the dealer charged 4 hours labor to tell you the oil doesn’t look right, my opinion you definitely need a different dealer.

I have several bikes, and I can honestly say this dealer is always genuine. I may have missed communicated the 4 hours. That was to take apart and scope, then reassemble.

 

[URSUS]

Never thought to check that. But I will now.

Unfortunately for me, it’s all magnetic

 

[WJBertrand]

Bearings and races are steel, I use a magnet to pick up bits all the time. I've got a magnetic tray filled with a ready supply of sling shot ammo.

Plain crankshaft and big end rod bearing surfaces are steel? The shell/backing might be steel, but not the wear surfaces. Those surfaces are made of softer non-magnetic materials. Also those plain bearings run against the crank and rod journals directly, there are no races per se. Maybe you are thinking about the ball/roller bearings in the transmission?

 

[Sierra1]

I have several bikes, and I can honestly say this dealer is always genuine. I may have missed communicated the 4 hours. That was to take apart and scope, then reassemble.

Reassemble? Put the parts in a box, not like I would be riding it home anyway.

 

[Clawdog60]

I would have looked at the magnet on the drain plug for starters. I’m going with clutch hub bearing failure. Clutch on mine is as noisy as my old husabergs.

 

[URSUS]

Sorry to hear this.....

Pull the pan off the bottom and look what is in the bottom of the pan... Then look at the oil pump pick up screen. Look at that and show a picture or tell us what you might see...
Ive seen this once before from a guy. It was a rod bearing that let go. He put a junk yard Tenere motor back into the bike after that.

You might also want to pull the clutch cover and take a peek, see if you see anything like teeth broken or metal "bits" anywhere, Etc.....


As far as a motor, GOOGLE up some motorcycle junk yards and start looking and calling folks. It will probably take a little homework and note taking. Finding a motor is one thing, working with the person who has the motor is another story. (crating / selling /shipping / Etc.) You might find a motor that is all the way across the country. FYI- the guy I mention above. After the 'new' motor was installed he then found out that the (new junk yard motor) had serious transmission issues. One or more gears were trashed and was probably caused by the accident that put the bike in the junk yard in the first place. This gentleman had to go back to where he bought the junk yard motor and hash that all out with him and work all that out. My point is make sure you like the people you might be buying a motor from, do they have a 30 day warranty, how far away are they "incase" you have an issue. So on and so forth. If you are interested I can talk with you over the phone and give you a few more pointers.

Clutch is clean as can be

 

[URSUS]

I would have looked at the magnet on the drain plug for starters. I’m going with clutch hub bearing failure. Clutch on mine is as noisy as my old husabergs.

No issues with the clutch.

 

[URSUS]

So I have a 2016 XT 1200. Which has been service and maintained as per the manual has just reached 10,000 miles. I was riding for approximately four hours at around about three hours and 45 minutes I heard a very strange noise, like someone had poured a bag of ball bearings into my engine. Of course I stopped and checked it out to see what I can find, no warning lights no smoke no other problems just the noise. Got my wife to bring the truck to collect me took it to the local dealer. After four hours of work they’re now telling me the oil is completely covered in metal so much so, that it looks more like glitter than oil. They estimate 27 hours of work at $85 an hour to find out what the causes. On initial findings after they scoped from the top end, pistons valves, housing in all looks intact with no problems. My question here is do you think it would be the oil pump failing, and causing drama, even though I’m not burning smoke the oil’s in good shape apart from the metal that’s in it now. I’m just wondering if there’s a service bulletin about this issue because the mechanics at Yamaha don’t seem to know what caused the problem. And of course the bike is just 10 months out of warranty. Any help is greatly appreciated.

also if anybody knows where I can buy a reconditioned motor that would be great thank you

Update.
So it appears to be the Elephant ears on the crank shaft. Both sides on each cylinder have 1 broken crank rod.