[leos109r]

Just putting it out there, has anybody had any issues with major mechanical breakdowns due to gearbox problems, apparently, the m109r has an issue with second gear which suzuki has been replacing at random. My issue with my bike specifically is that it has been crunching in second gear since new. When i asked suzuki about this issue, they said it was normal for them to do this in second gear, so i didn't worry about it,
The issue is two weeks ago i was riding along a highway towards Woolongong along the coast road with my girlfriend on the back at about 110km and the bike just decided to just totally lock up which caused us to skid uncontrollably luckily the road was a straight road and there were no other cars around.
Apparently something broke in the gearbox which cracked the top and bottom housings of the engine... so it appears that i am up for $7000-$8000 in repairs and a majority of that is in parts...... now my bike is a C109R which has only 17000 klm and i mainly only ride it on weekends... the bike is only 12 months out of warranty, there are no engine modifications that have been done apart from the Cobra pipes and hyper charges all of which were fitted at Suzuki.
I would just like to know has anybody had any issues with their boulevards or is this something that might be an issue after the bikes reach a certain amount of km.

 

[Pheonix]

I've heard of gearbox issues in the M109...but I thought it was isolated to earlier models.

 

[DrBob]

Sorry to hear about your problem, and really glad to hear that you are OK.

I do not own either bike, but have read about these issues. A quick google search turned up this report from a Detroit news website from last year:

Watch out for that motorcycle in front of you: bikers claim design flaw puts drivers at risk

It claims two guys reported the problem to them, psted something on an M109r forum, and got 46 owners responding that they had lost second gear while riding. None reported that it locked up the ountput shaft like yours did, but if a gear on one shaft fails I can easily see it locking up both shafts. These all seem to have been M109r owners, but the C109r was sold in very small numbers, and made for only two years, so the sample size for the C model is much, much smaller and thus failures would be harder to find on the C model if they occured at the same rate as on the M.

 

[ace4aday]

Head over to the m109riders.com forum and you will find a ton of information about this topic. I have not heard of this issue with the C. It has a different gearing than the M.

 

[DrBob]

I'm afraid that is not true. Both the M and the C models have a primary reduction of 1.647; gear ratios of 2.18, 1.400, 1.038, .828, and .686 in gears 1-5; and a final drive pumpkin with a ratio of 2.824. The only drive train differences between the two models are that the C109r has a heavier crankshaft to increase inertia, and the intake camshaft is a milder grind to bring peak torque down in the RPM range, both to make up for the C being 70 pounds heavier than its semi-sister M, and the C109T model being 125 pounds heavier than the M109r.

 

[ace4aday]

You're almost correct, Doc. There are 2 versions of the C out there. The US and non-US versions of the C have different primary reductions. 1.647 and 1.757 respectively. I thought I read that the M was different than both of these, but I'm too lazy to go look again.

 

[DrBob]

The primary reduction on the M is 1.647, the same as his Australian C. Well, I have to admit I am only assuming he is from Australia; he may be from the US and have just taken one hell of a wrong turn and ended up in Woolongong.

 

[old codger]

I ride with a couple of friends who have 109R bikes. Both have had clutch problems and transmission problems and the earlier year models are well known for having problems according to both of them, as I understand it the problems are with 2nd gear. Dealers (several) have been little help with their situation.

 

[Blueleader1111]

I have a 2008 C109R. The clutch is shot...Can't find a clutch kit for it...anybody have any ideas???

 

[Noah Katz]

Did Suzuki ever fix this transmission issue?

If so, what was first year with it?

 

[Aussie Steve]

You would be advised to try and find a specific forum or ask people with these models.... the OP was in 2012

good luck