Q: For many years now I’ve owned and enjoyed my Suzuki 650 Burgman. 

It’s been serviced at the correct intervals and never given me any trouble, and it still hasn’t, but recently it’s developed a curious problem, so I thought I’d run it past your guys.

When I pull away it suddenly has a big ‘clunk’ type noise, which is quite loud and seems to be getting worse by the day. But once the big Burgman is on the move everything seems to be OK and it shifts through all of its gears in the normal fashion.

I’ve been all over the bike and tightened everything I can, and all the wheel bearings are nice and tight as well. So for me, at the present, it seems to big one big pig of a puzzle, but I do understand that this problem needs to be found and fixed. I know you’ve worked on Suzuki motorbikes for a long time so hopefully you’ll be able to tell me what this fault is?

Peter Waterhouse

A: I think you’ll need to sit down and make a cup of tea, or something, because I know exactly what this problem is Peter.

We had a Burgman in our workshop about a year ago with the same symptoms and it took a while for us to find out what it was.

The primary drive shaft, where the belt sits between the two pulley halves and moves the belt up and down when you accelerate, is the problem. The two parts that hold the belt in the ‘V’ have to move apart for the belt to do its thing and they slide upon a special keyway that has groves in it, and it’s most certainly like no other I’ve seen. These will have worn away over time and ‘chewed’ up the keyway they sit in as well, and cannot be repaired. Your only option is to buy the complete assembly, which costs over R10,000 just for the parts, then you’ll have labour charges on top of that! If you don’t replace it the bike will just stop driving, eventually, sorry for the bad news.

So if any of you are thinking of buying a used Burgman, make sure you check this out first folks?

Q: I’m only 25 years old, and for some reason the only bike I get to ride is my dad’s old 1968 (I think), Triumph T-120 Bonneville.

It’s not a bad old thing, besides the vibration that numbs everything after only 20 minutes in the saddle. That doesn’t worry me though because it is a cool thing to be seen on.

But the reason I’m sending this mail to Noddy is that it recently died on me while I was out riding. As I was riding along, at about 100km/h, it just petered out and stopped. I thought it might be a fuel problem but it wasn’t. However, once I switched off all the electrics I could, and pushed the bike, it fired up. It eventually got me home but never felt quite right.

So could you please shed any light on this because my dad will beat me up if I don’t get it fixed?

Oscar Stainworth

A: This is an old and quite common problem with Triumph bikes from around this era. And you’ll be pleased to know that it’s not too serious.

Basically the stator assembly, which charges the battery, has failed. 

This will cause the battery to run flat, and that’s why you could push start the bike when the lights were turned off, because there was enough power to fire the bike up again, just. You were lucky to get home.

But the only option now is to buy a new stator assembly, because they cannot be rewound, well not as far as I know. Lucas makes them, so go to your local Triumph dealer and they should be able to help you for around R1,800 for the part. You’ll also need the transmission cover gasket; otherwise it’ll leak oil once you’ve changed the stator over.

Q: I’ve owned my beautiful Suzuki SV1000 V-Twin since new and it’s never given me any trouble, at all. The bike has covered 67,000km and its last major service was done at 40,000km. However I do change the oil myself, every 10,000km, so it’ll soon be ready for another oil change.

But over the last few thousand kilometers the bike has started to make a worrying sort of rattle sound from around the engine, but I can’t detect where from. If I just lift the bike off idle, using the throttle, things do become a little quieter.

So, I’m asking for your advice and hopefully you’ve had a similar problem with other SVs you’ve repaired over the past, then you can tell me what the noise is, hopefully?

Daniel Norton    Durban

A: It sounds like you have a cam-chain problem here, especially if the bike has never had them replaced and it’s now on quite a high mileage?

So I would say your twin cam-chains are now coming to the end of the life cycle. You’ll need to go to a Suzuki dealer or competent mechanic and have them replaced, and you’ll probably also need to replace the tensioners and cam-chain guides while you’re inside the motor, just to be safe.

The whole job should cost around R6,000, but shop around for quotes first. But I would do it ASAP because if a cam-chain breaks it can do very expensive internal damage that will end up costing you a lot more than 6K.

Q: Good evening guys. I’ve just bought myself an immaculate Triumph

800 Adventure. I’ve always wanted one since they were released but decided to wait for a ‘used’ one instead of taking the inevitable depreciation knock associated with buying a new machine. I know, some say it’s wise, some say I’m a tight old fart.

Anyway, I have my pristine 800 and everything is perfect except for, what I think, is an excessive rattle that seems to come from the top end. When I rev the bike it does become a little less noticeable, but it is still there.

So I was wondering if you have some valuable information on what this could be and should I be concerned, because I know that Noddy has the same bike? It has only covered 14,000km and it’s a 2011 model.

Thanks for your time and effort.

Warren Davies

A: There was a cam chain tensioner update on this model, which you obviously don’t know about?

Take the bike to your local Triumph dealer who will gladly replace this item, but only if you have a full service history and therefore stamped by the Triumph dealer it was service with. If not, you’ll have to buy the parts and get them fitted by the dealer. But either way I’d get it checked out before it gets any worse and might cause internal engine damage if the cam chain ‘jumps a tooth’, for example.