Gearbox wear?

[RUSS M8]

Hi guys, just a quick question.  I have a 96 B12 with about 48,000km's on it now.  I noticed a slight whine while riding, so I had the mechanic from the local Suzuki dealer ride the bike (he is a great mechanic too).  He says the whine is most probably the case hardening coming off 3rd gear.  It makes the gearbox whine - but he says it won't hurt to keep riding it.
Just wondering if anybody else has had experiance with this, I don't want to do more damage by keeping riding it...

[Red01]

I haven't heard of any gears in the B12 box having a problem with loss of hardening.

If this is the case with your bike, I'd probably just monitor my oil changes for signs of metal and keep listening to see if the sound gets worse and keep riding unless signs tell me different.

By any chance to you do a lot of your riding in 3rd gear? If so, that may be the cause of the noise - it's just suffered more wear.
(Typically, in the B12 and other torquey motors, it's top gear that suffers from noise from riders using the broad torque band to reduce shifting.)

[RUSS M8]

I thought Suzi had a lot of case hardening issues with a whole range of the GSXR based oil/air cooled engines???
I think in OZ the older GSXR's, then GSXF 750 had noisey 6th gears for this problem.
Yes, I do spend a fair bit of time in 3rd, on 2 counts.  Commuting to work and back, in city streets is all done at about 50 to 80 KPH.  3rd or 4th.
And on sporting rides on the weekend most of the roads round here are either tight, so 2nd to 3rd to 2nd to 3rd ect.  Or real fast, 4th and 5th only.
It doesn't sound so bad at the moment.  But I am just worried about it getting worse..

[pmackie]

If the case hardening is coming off, I WOULD be concerned. The extra metal floating around in the oil would be a concern for other tranny parts and could be a major issue for bearings, including mains and rods.

So... as Red01 said, look at your oil and your oil filter. The newer Bandits have a magnet on the oil drain plug, but you can also drag a magnet through the drained oil. Cut open the filter and look for metal parts.

Are you sure the whine is from the engine? Based on most users, the engine and trans are pretty reliable. Chains/sprockets and rear wheel bearings would be where I looked first.

[roogazza]

I'm on my second 1200 and yes both have had noisy thirds gears.      I just figured it was a Suzuki thing ?   No metal shows in the oil changes but I notice it is quieter after a change ( for a while ) of oil and from synthetic to 15/40 .. Gaz.

[aussiebandit]

I've owned nothing but Suzuki's since 1996 (4 of them) and I've only ever experienced the usual Suzuki problem of the dreaded CLUNK in to 1st - plus the dodgy electronics of the mid '80s

Granted the first to bikes were only a GN250 and a GR650, but both of them had fairly high k's on them, the GR was half round the clock for the second time.  The GSX600F had well over 100,000km on it when I sold it.  Granted it did have a bottom end rebuild at 80,000km (before I bought it).

I've know got 31,000km on the 02B12 and the only thing that is starting to shyte me is the damn vibration between 3500-5000rpm.  I must remember to tighten the number plate up - that's what's rattling the loudest.

But never a problem with a whine from the engine or gearbox......

However, I would have to suggest that, unless you trust this mechanic with your life, you get a second opinion.

[RUSS M8]

Well, as a matter of fact, I would trust this bloke with my life.
But, my bike!  That is much more important!!!  I am making a few phone calls, I will post up what I find.

[Bazza]

Hi guys, just a quick question.  I have a 96 B12 with about 48,000km's on it now.  I noticed a slight whine while riding, so I had the mechanic from the local Suzuki dealer ride the bike (he is a great mechanic too).  He says the whine is most probably the case hardening coming off 3rd gear.  It makes the gearbox whine - but he says it won't hurt to keep riding it.
Just wondering if anybody else has had experiance with this, I don't want to do more damage by keeping riding it...

I think if you do a survey here, you will find many B-12 owners with 3rd gear whine. I have had it in mine since 10,000 km.

[CWO4GUNNER]

Case harden particles can be harsh on main bearings, as a precaution you should purchase a magnetic drain plug which will keep floating metal particles under control and give you an idea at each oil change if its a real problem or not. Dont forget to clean the particles off before replacing the plug each time.

[RUSS M8]

OK, it is for sure 2nd and 3rd gears wearing.  But I'm told, as far as gearbox wear goes, this one is not bad yet.  So, I will just keep fresh oil and filters up to it, and see how I feel when it gets bad, either sell it or rebiuld it....
Oh, the sump plug came standard with a magnet...  Maybe some models were different?  Mine is an original Australian delivery.