GSX1250 FA OIL LEVEL GOING UP AND BIKE VERY HOT TO RIDE!

First topic message reminder :

I just bought a 2010 GSX1250FA with only 5500 KM on the clock. I thought it was a great deal but now I am not so sure.

Besides a quick test ride, I took the bike for its first run today commuting around town so running quite slow a lot of the time and stopping and starting a lot. Today it was about 25 degrees.

Two issues have popped up:

1. The OIL LEVEL was way above the F mark and covered the whole glass.

We drained the oil so it was just on F mark then one hour later it was ABOVE F again and covering the whole glass when I checked it on level ground with the bike on the centre stand.

The mechanic suggested that perhaps coolant was leaking into the sump. Is that possible?

The oil we removed did look a bit thin and it was foamy when I first stopped and looked into the oil level window.

IF that has occurred what might be the consequences for the engine? Serious damage? What else can leak into sump?

Because of this issue I only ran the bike under 60 KM per hour and at low revs (3000-4000 max). Would that have minimised any possible damage?


2. The engine seems to be running incredible hot.

I can really feel the heat coming of the engine and it was literally makING me sweat. It was like being in a mini furnace.

The main fan was cutting in a lot too. Perhaps this is a result of the oil issue but not sure.

Is that normal for this bike to get so hot?

Do others here experience the engine giving off a lot of heat to the point that it is uncomfortable to ride the bike?

Obviously I am very worried about this so I would really appreciate your comments, view, suggestions and advice!

Thank you!

UPDATE:

Thanks guys, for all the responses. Really gives me something to go on.

I checked the coolant and its empty!

How can a dealer let a bike leave their shop like that? Don't they check that before selling it?

I noticed this the morning AFTER I bought it from them at 6 pm the night before. I had ridden it a total of 8 KM max going back home. Sure took the fun out of my day, all this happening less than one day after I bought it.

As the mechanic had drained about a 1.5 litres of extra oil out of the bike, I can only assume that the coolant ended up there.

Hope you guys don't mind, but I have some follow-up questions:

1. How can that happen on a bike with only 5500 kms on the clock?

2. What do I do now? Top up the coolant and ride it back to the dealer or ring them and tell them to pick it up? I'm worried if I ride it it will get damaged. Is it safe to ride?

3. What damage to the engine do you think it has done already?

BTW, this is a major Harley dealer in Sydney who sold it as a trade-in they got. When I rang them on Saturday morning they said talk to Suzuki but surely the Harley dealer should take responsibility for the problem.

Theo,
I just saw your update. Don't reckon the Harley dealer can wash his hands of it that easily. They would have obligations under the terms of their motor vehicle dealers licence I'd imagine.

If It was me, id be be touching base with my local consumer affairs to work out the lay of the land with what you're options are. Save getting fed a line of crap from either Harley dealer you bought the thing from or Suzuki dealer .
NSW Fair Trading - first call I'd make.
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/Consumers/Motor_vehicles/Motor_vehicle_warranty_and_repair_disputes.html
Bill.

the harley dealer has done the right thing on this basis, if the bike is under manufactures warranty which on the info you have given us, then it must go to a suzuki dealer for repair no if nor buts other wise the harley dealer will have to pay why would they do that if suzuki is going honour its warranty. But if the bike is out of warranty and he has given you a form 4 three months or 5000 k warranty then he must fix it. Its one or the other thou

As i said i had the condensation in my oil i took it my local suzuki dealer he had a look and diagnosed the problem my bike had 5 days warranty left it was not a problem and i bought the my bandit in sydney

You need to take it a suzuki dealer for them to sort it for you will save your self a lot of time and effort and frustration and don't try and fix it your self, under their franchise agreement must honour warranty on any suzuki motorcycle covered under warranty whether bought from them or not you might not get a loaner but you will get it fixed

Many years in the new and used car trade had taught me much in this area, also if you can't get your local suzuki dealer to look it at go back to the harley dealer and ask them to organise a suzuki dealer to fix it for you, reciprocal rights i fix your harleys and you fix my suzuki

they'll do it or if they don't then threaten with fair trading em that usually pulls it up pretty fast

I remember in the early 80s my Yamaha XJ650 used to get all frothy in the oil level site glass and all it had was a small oil cooler. Wasa common thing with the XJ from memory.

Jimcoleman wrote:the harley dealer has done the right thing on this basis, if the bike is under manufactures warranty which on the info you have given us, then it must go to a suzuki dealer for repair no if nor buts other wise the harley dealer will have to pay why would they do that if suzuki is going honour its warranty. But if the bike is out of warranty and he has given you a form 4 three months or 5000 k warranty then he must fix it. Its one or the other thou

As i said i had the condensation in my oil i took it my local suzuki dealer he had a look and diagnosed the problem my bike had 5 days warranty left it was not a problem and i bought the my bandit in sydney

You need to take it a suzuki dealer for them to sort it for you will save your self a lot of time and effort and frustration and don't try and fix it your self, under their franchise agreement must honour warranty on any suzuki motorcycle covered under warranty whether bought from them or not you might not get a loaner but you will get it fixed

Many years in the new and used car trade had taught me much in this area, also if you can't get your local suzuki dealer to look it at go back to the harley dealer and ask them to organise a suzuki dealer to fix it for you, reciprocal rights i fix your harleys and you fix my suzuki

they'll do it or if they don't then threaten with fair trading em that usually pulls it up pretty fast

+1

Jimcoleman wrote:the harley dealer has done the right thing on this basis, if the bike is under manufactures warranty which on the info you have given us, then it must go to a suzuki dealer for repair no if nor buts other wise the harley dealer will have to pay why would they do that if suzuki is going honour its warranty. But if the bike is out of warranty and he has given you a form 4 three months or 5000 k warranty then he must fix it. Its one or the other thou

Spot on, same thing happened when I bought my car. Bought from small dealer but car still had 12 months manufacturers (Ford) warranty. Warranty work was carried out without any hassles by my local Ford dealer.

NTBill wrote:Theo,
I just saw your update. Don't reckon the Harley dealer can wash his hands of it that easily. They would have obligations under the terms of their motor vehicle dealers licence I'd imagine.

If It was me, id be be touching base with my local consumer affairs to work out the lay of the land with what you're options are. Save getting fed a line of crap from either Harley dealer you bought the thing from or Suzuki dealer .
NSW Fair Trading - first call I'd make.
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/Consumers/Motor_vehicles/Motor_vehicle_warranty_and_repair_disputes.html
Bill.

Unfortunately that's what it got down to. Politely emailed them, called them all week, got lots of promises but no action.

When it was clear they had no intention of assisting me, I sent them a letter demanding a refund and suddenly they had picked up my bike in an hour.

I insisted on getting a refund and after finally convincing them it would be in their interest to co-operate, a refund is now supposedly on the way.

So much for buying from a large dealer who supposedely would value their reputation and a positive ongoing relationship with their customers.

How do these guys sleep at night?

Fingers crossed you get the result you want and the cheque isn't in the mail for weeks and weeks ...........
I may have missed a post but did you establish officially there was a fault with the bike?
If not you might be getting it back.
What's the next bike on your list?

If the extra 1.5 litres was coolant then why is the oil still a black/brown oil colour?

Oil and water don't normally mix, with that much coolant in the sump when it was drained the first part out would have been dirty water then the the oil.

Hope it hasn't colored your view of the GSX brown tho. It's a good bike generally and I think you struck something pretty unusual. Hope it all works out.

NTBill wrote:Hope it hasn't colored your view of the GSX brown tho. It's a good bike generally and I think you struck something pretty unusual. Hope it all works out.

Bill, not at all! In fact, already took two for a test ride!

Can you tell though, on your bike does it give of a lot heat from the engine to the point where you get really hot and its uncomfortable to ride? Would it be better to get a Bandit without a full fairing? Would that reduce the heat being trapped around the engine and heating up the ride?

madmax wrote:If the extra 1.5 litres was coolant then why is the oil still a black/brown oil colour?

Oil and water don't normally mix, with that much coolant in the sump when it was drained the first part out would have been dirty water then the the oil.

Good question! I don't know not being a mechanic. The mechanic drained the oil just after it was ridden so perhaps it was still mixed together. What colour should it be if there is a lot of coolant in the oil?

Als, can you ALWAYS see the coolant in the coolant indicator bottle if there is a enough coolant in the bike?

Theov39 wrote:

madmax wrote:If the extra 1.5 litres was coolant then why is the oil still a black/brown oil colour?

Oil and water don't normally mix, with that much coolant in the sump when it was drained the first part out would have been dirty water then the the oil.

Good question! I don't know not being a mechanic. The mechanic drained the oil just after it was ridden so perhaps it was still mixed together. What colour should it be if there is a lot of coolant in the oil?

Als, can you ALWAYS see the coolant in the coolant indicator bottle if there is a enough coolant in the bike?

Normally a weak chocolate milkshake colour.

I haven't had my GSX1250 long enough to know for sure but with most engines the low level on the coolant bottle is enough to keep the radiator full.

I've ridden mine on hot days and although you can feel the heat coming off the fans when your stopped its not enough to make it uncomfortable to ride, its barely noticeable when moving.

Are you sure you won't be getting this bike back with a "sorry we should have checked it over before selling it"?
I mean no disrespect but this whole thread raises many questions for me and many are related to your bike and mechanical experience.
When do you expect the cheque?

4wheelsagain wrote:"sorry we should have checked it over before selling it"?

You can see it happening can't you

Or "we can't find anything wrong with it"

Theov39 wrote:

NTBill wrote:Hope it hasn't colored your view of the GSX brown tho. It's a good bike generally and I think you struck something pretty unusual. Hope it all works out.

Bill, not at all! In fact, already took two for a test ride!

Can you tell though, on your bike does it give of a lot heat from the engine to the point where you get really hot and its uncomfortable to ride? Would it be better to get a Bandit without a full fairing? Would that reduce the heat being trapped around the engine and heating up the ride?

It gives off a bit of heat on the right hand side and I guess if riding wearing shorts, that could get uncomfortable. But it's not as bad as my boys Buell and it's only a bit more noticeable than my Beemer F800. I rode pauld's baby bandit (650) and noticed that was quite a bit cooler in that area then the 1250 tho. Having said that, we're lucky that we have comparatively low traffic congestion so I've yet to have that 2nd fan kick in.

madmax wrote:

4wheelsagain wrote:"sorry we should have checked it over before selling it"?

You can see it happening can't you

Or "we can't find anything wrong with it"

Yes mate I can and it would be so rare for a fault like this.

4wheelsagain wrote:

madmax wrote:

4wheelsagain wrote:"sorry we should have checked it over before selling it"?

You can see it happening can't you

Or "we can't find anything wrong with it"

Yes mate I can and it would be so rare for a fault like this.

I'll be the first to admit that my experience with modern bikes is very limited and I haven't rode regularly for more than 10 years so that's why I am trying to learn as much as possible about my problem and about the Bandits in particular from this forum before getting another one.

I agree that the problem is super rare but the fact remains that the bike was way overfilled in the sump and pumping out massive amount of heat to the point that it felt like a mini-furnace. The fans were running all the time.

It may have just been bad maintenance and a minor problem but it sure takes the fun out of riding the bike the day after you buy it. In fact, I did initially ask them just the fix it and only ressed for a refund when they didn't bother returning my calls or emails or made any attempt to fix up the situation UNTILL I asked for my money back one week later. This is a large major dealer, not a corner shop, so they have the staff and resources to deal with such a situation.

They did already claim that there was nothing wrong with the bike but have agreed to refund the money, Yes, you are right. Lets see if they come through. Had there customer service been a bit more responsive then outcome might have been different.

Theov39 wrote:

4wheelsagain wrote:

madmax wrote:

4wheelsagain wrote:"sorry we should have checked it over before selling it"?

You can see it happening can't you

Or "we can't find anything wrong with it"

Yes mate I can and it would be so rare for a fault like this.

I'll be the first to admit that my experience with modern bikes is very limited and I haven't rode regularly for more than 10 years so that's why I am trying to learn as much as possible about my problem and about the Bandits in particular from this forum before getting another one.

I agree that the problem is super rare but the fact remains that the bike was way overfilled in the sump and pumping out massive amount of heat to the point that it felt like a mini-furnace. The fans were running all the time.

It may have just been bad maintenance and a minor problem but it sure takes the fun out of riding the bike the day after you buy it. In fact, I did initially ask them just the fix it and only ressed for a refund when they didn't bother returning my calls or emails or made any attempt to fix up the situation UNTILL I asked for my money back one week later. This is a large major dealer, not a corner shop, so they have the staff and resources to deal with such a situation.

They did already claim that there was nothing wrong with the bike but have agreed to refund the money, Yes, you are right. Lets see if they come through. Had there customer service been a bit more responsive then outcome might have been different.

Well we do wish you luck cause that other GSX your looking at is a bargain with givi panniers thrown in as well