pretty little gold flakes in my oil filter!!!!!

[intruder]

Hi Guys, just done an oil and filter change ready for the riding season, I then noticed tiny gold flex in the filter, I was hoping that this might be from the starter clutch or somewhere else and not the big end bearings, the bike is sounding a little rough when the throttle is cracked open, has anyone had the same issue and did it turn out to be a rod bearing and how long did it last from a little noise to totally screwed, I am not really wanting to pull out the engine and have a new crank rebuild etc and it costs millions of pieces of silver to have a shop do it, thinking it may be time to put it on ebay for a bargain start price.

Let me know your thoughts please.
Cheers.

 

[redbaron13]

Blackstone laboratories oil analysis, check them out on the net.

 

[user 16790]

are you sure it's gold coloured and not just silver discoloured by oil

 

[Fire-medic]

Alchemy! You have a machine to turn steel into gold!

Sounds like time to get off it if you aren't wanting to rebuild it. You could swap the engine for a known good one. Cheaper than a rebuild.

 

[intruder]

Hi , thanks for the replies,
Definitely gold/brass as they look like that on oil filter and dried out a bit.
The noise is only at certain revs so I am wondering if the shells are just worn and it hasnt damaged the crank and if so does anyone think I will or wont get away with just replacing the shell bearings , this is I think an easy job of removing front headers, removing sump pan, removing oil pump pipes,removing big end clamps and removing the shells then fit new shells and put back together. IS THEIR SOMETHING I HAVE MISSED!! please let me know.
To get to the bottom of motor I will be carefully laying the bike on its side ontop of 2 thick mattresses as the space is a bit cramped on centre stand and I dont have a bench lift.
If the bits were gold I would just dump it in a bin and go buy a 1700 and be done.
Thanks guys.

 

[one2dmax]

If it's got gold flakes from worn bearings then the crank and rod damage is already done. The block MIGHT save but the thrust surface tends to get damaged and that is not easily repairable. We've done it for a few customers but it's cheaper for us to sell them a new good used shortblock.

Your check of the bearing shells but removing the pan and checking to see what that looks like is a good idea.

 

[intruder]

Thanks again chaps,
I have had a quote of £92 for the full shell set (big end bearings) ( not sure what that is in us dollars but it was $2 canadian to £1 when I lived in Ontario back in the 90s) so it might seem a bit steep for you guys, anyhow I figured it is worth the money to try it after I get under there and see what damage looks like, if it is an obvious screw up job then I will close it up and pull the motor out and then fling in another one , they go for around £1000 for a 20- 30 000 mile job with a 30 day guarantee if you buy from a reputable breaker, funnily they are usually american imports as mine is. I guess I should put in a new pump if the job is worth doing as that might be the reason it went in the first place and don't fancy a second go.

Yes I agree that the damage is probably too far gone but it cost nothing to lay it down, undo a few bolts, and take a look.
Hopefully I can sort this but if a good motor cant be found I will ebay it with a caution of noisy motor/ crank damage and see what I can get for it, a real shame as the bike is looking very nice now after all the work I put in, but hey that's what you risk with old bikes!

Thanks Guys

I

 

[one2dmax]

Before you buy anything you need to pull it apart to see what you have in there.