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ATTENTION ALL M50 OWNERS! My issue resolved! FIX YOURS NOW B4 IT'S TO LATE!

176K views 427 replies 102 participants last post by  Aussie Steve 
#1 · (Edited)
Then please call this number 714-572-1490 (SUZUKI HQ) ,and complain like I did to make the report,but be sure your stuff is rusted before you complain.

I HIGHLY suggest everyone lubes the rear drive of their 50.Do it now in 20 minutes ,or do it later ,and wait for weeks for parts.
Remove the final drive,(via my video)set your drive on the ground...shaft facing up..then take your hand and smack the end of the shaft compressing the spring somewhat fast..If rust comes out your in trouble,cut that boot off and lube that %%%% up or you will be like me ,and Spikes.
My issues is not an internal transmission issue,when in fact it was the rear drive.
I took it off,but I didnt take it apart to look inside I didn't want to cut that rubber seal off (This lesson cost me $83.14:eek:oops:) The propeller shaft,and gear were mush inside...seems odd no metal came out on the magnet when I drained the oil.But anyways....1 more week for parts,and $175.00 (overnight shipping),and I'll be on my M again.
I told my wife I can make it to the strip next Saturday!...If looks could kill lol.
SPIKES!!! DOUBLE CHECK YOUR FINAL DRIVES BRO!!!
I'm a happy camper today.:mrgreen:
Here is a parts list of what I need.
CS

MFG ITEM QTY PRICE TOTAL
SUZUKI WASHER, DRIVE SHAFT for 2005 SUZUKI VZ800
09160-16029 1 $2.42 $2.42
SUZUKI SEAL, FINAL DRIVEN GEAR OIL L for 2005 SUZUKI VZ800
09283-38009 1 $6.89 $6.89
SUZUKI NUT for 2005 SUZUKI VZ800
09159-10026 1 $2.87 $2.87
SUZUKI O RING (D:2.4,ID:17.8) for 2005 SUZUKI VZ800
09280-18004 1 $2.39 $2.39
SUZUKI .COUPLING, PROPELLER SHAFT for 2005 SUZUKI VZ800
27172-38A00 1 $25.89 $25.89
SUZUKI SHAFT, PROPELLER for 2005 SUZUKI VZ800
27151-41F00 1 $91.38 $91.38
SUZUKI SPRING for 2005 SUZUKI VZ800
09440-18019 1 $1.25 $1.25
SUZUKI OIL SEAL (28.4X48X15) for 2005 SUZUKI VZ800
09283-30051 1 $4.90 $4.90
SUZUKI .CIRCLIP for 2005 SUZUKI VZ800
09381-40003 1 $2.15 $2.15
Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $15.00
Total: $155.14
 
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#338 · (Edited)
:lol4:i told you personally there is no rhyme or reason to getting the seal off..just get it off by any means necessary.....cut it, grind it, flip it, beat it, slide it ,or blow it up ...its mostly plastic ,and needs to be replaced anyways ...under it is steel and you cant damage it.
oh well must be nice to have cash to throw around! I didn't film me cutting mine off ...because it wasn't pretty ,and it took me awhile. I didnt have any words of wisdom to go by.
IF you have any damage..you will need your bikes VIN number to report it.
-CS
 
#339 ·
lol well I got that, plus it's gonna be cheap, helps when your mom went to school with the shop owner ;) I was afraid of cutting something else. my bike is family,I don't want to hurt it. knowing my clumsy self I would cut the drive shaft in half too. That's my luck

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
 
#340 ·
Even though the drive shaft may rust, it is hard as a rock. Mine was not dusty dry like yours and burns but more a soupy rust and I had a lot more wet rust on the toothed bearing plate next to the seal. My seal just slid right off with my bare hands because it was so slimy with rust,water, and gear lube. Heading out on a 1500 mile trip in a few weeks so I guess I'll see how it holds up and how much water gets in because it never fails to rain everyday when I take a week off to go riding.
 
#344 ·
unknown, I was told it was a red cloud. so I assume dry dust. When I hit it with the hammer it shot dust everywhere. so it must be dry. my guy also checked all the teeth and stuff and said that it was all good, I caught it early. He's filling a report to let suzuki know about it. whether he does of not is up to him.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
 
#346 ·
everything is back together now! Man The bike shifts differently. like not a placebo effect, but when I shift, it grabs the gears MUCH MUCH QUICKER. no more clunk or waiting. big big difference. I changed all the fluids over to royal purple and put in a k&n oil filter. I love it!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
 
#347 ·
Hello all :D New to the forum, just finished reading the entire thread!

First off, thank you to Burn for posting this, you saved me some pain brother! :bluethum:

Long story short, I have more than one bike, bought my 2009 M50 brand new in '09, put 548 kms on it and stored it, October of 2009, till last Friday - August 10, 2012. Took bike outta storage, woke her up and got her ready for the road & gave her a good wash - (did not go for a ride, dried her off, and parked her). That evening, I was surfing around and came across this thread. Innitially, thought it wouldn't apply to me, since I have a 2009, but that thought was shot down with more reading.

Did the inspection today August 14, 2012.

Findings were:

Drive shaft had very small amounts of surface rust nearing the diff. end.
There was a tiny amount of grease in the final drive coupling.
The drive shaft end that went into the coupling had small amounts of surface rust on it. No damage to either the drive shaft or the final drive coupling.
Poured out about a table spoon worth of water from the final drive coupling.
The oil seal does a really great job of keeping water in there. Speaking of water, my bike had not been washed since October of 2009, always garage kept, never rode once in the rain with this bike. The water was clearly fresh, and clearly, it came from washing it this past Friday.
The mating surface between the driveshaft housing and diff. housing requires a sealant upon reassembly. I used one made by permatex - automotive application, you can make head gaskets outta this stuff. Sealant is oil resistant, and rated for high engine temps, more than enough for what we need it to do.
The grease I used in the final drive coupling, driveshaft and driveshaft splines, was - Honda marine multipurpose extreme pressure gease, the one in the grey tube.
For the splines and mating surfaces where the wheel hooks up, I used - Honda Moly 60 paste.

The Snap Ring: To get the snap ring out, be sure to compress the driveshaft first (push it downward), giving the snap ring room.
I used snap ring plyers

The oil seal: To call this an "oil seal" would be incorrect! - IMO, it is more of a cap. I could put a small flat head pocket screwdriver tip about 1/4 of the way in, between the driveshaft and "oil seal". This gap, between seal and driveshaft is only half the problem. The other half being, the above mentioned mating surface between driveshaft housing and diff. housing - my washing of the bike this past Friday proves this. I didn't have a problem removing the "oil seal", used a large flat head, and nudged it off. Nothing wrong with it, came off like brand new, re-used it, installed perfectly fine.

Bike simply just glides down the road, smooth like water flowing over glass :mrgreen:
For those of you out there, STILL with your heads in the sand, WAKE UP!! :fight2: This inpsection APPLIES TO YOU!!

Personally, I'm making this a part of my regular maintenance.

All and all, job was enjoyable, and educational.

Thanks to all posters, your information was appreciated.

P.s, Burn, I hope you are enjoying your new bike! Looks like a beauty :bluethum:
 
#348 ·
Glad you caught it ,and you're very welcome!
HOWEVER... I would not reuse the oil seal..if it comes off easy it's bad....there was NO gap in mine I had to cut,and chisel mine off.
I love my new bike ..it's like a 50 on steroids! :)
-CS
 
#349 ·
There was no gap in my seal either but mine just slid off due to the amount of water/slime/grease that mine had in it. I do ride in the rain (not by choice but on week long bike trips it is unavoidable). Going to be a January project every year I own the bike.
 
#351 ·
@ burn: glad you're enjoying your new ride!

I'm not worried about the seal, the driveshaft cannot extend past the snap ring, therefore it cannot unseat the seal, they should change the name from "oil seal" to "final drive coupling cap", it installed perfectly, tapping it on via a hammer. Btw it didn't come off that easy, but, compared to having to chisel it off... IMO, sealing the mating surfaces was the most important part, why Suzuki chose not to use some type of sealant is beyond me. For those of us who ride by choice or not, in the rain, this is a serious oversight, and in my case, from washing the bike.

@TNM50: ya I totally agree, yearly maintenance for sure.
 
#352 ·
Burn, the new oil seal went on tight. As you can see in the pictures I posted earlier in the thread I had a slimy,rusty mess and that is why I think it came off rather easy. After I cleaned everything up the new seal went on snug and had to tap it into place with a rubber hammer. I didn't put on any sealant at the housing mating section but I plan on it this coming winter. Heading down to the SC,GA, NC mountains in a couple of weeks for a week or so and I am sure I'll have a rainy day or two!
 
#353 ·
I had this happen to my 09 m50 and it ended up spending close to a month in the shop because the idiot mechanics chose not to inspect the rear drive until after they removed and tore down the motor. Luckily for me i had the warranty on it still because i dont wanna know how much it would have costed me......should i still call that number?
 
#355 ·
Normally I wouldn't comment on a 4 year old thread, but seeing as this one is still alive and thriving I figured it couldn't hurt. I am currently shopping for my first bike, and was considering Shadows, V-Stars, Boulevards, and the like, until I saw the M50, then decided I gottahavit. So my research led me here, and it is great to see that there is a good solution and prevention for this problem. I am a little hesitant about buying a bike knowing I'm going to want to open up the rear end right away to check it out, but it doesn't seem too hard, so I'll get past it. My problem is, and this is probably because I haven't actually done it, but does anyone suspect that opening the shaft up and dinking around with it might cause a leak where there wasn't one previously?
 
#356 ·
Having experienced a failure on the road (see post # 248 on Pg 17), I have to say the risk of causing a new leak pales in comparison to discovering an existing problem.

Doing a competent job of sealing the parts when reassembling should reduce the chance of causing a leak, and the peace of mind from knowing it's been taken care of, well, that's priceless.
 
#357 ·
Agreed. It's just a thought that popped into my head. Now another question, the two bikes I'm looking at purchasing are both low mileage. One is a 2007 with only 1,300 miles, the other is a 2008 with 4,100 miles. What is a good mileage to let them get to before checking for this problem? I imagine if I check it too early, I haven't given it enough time to manifest, giving me a false sense of security. But I don't want to let it go too long either. So at how many miles should we check for this?
 
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