Large Metal Shavings in Oil

[ottoguy]

I took off my oil pan to install a shift kit and found some metal shavings in the oil pickup screen. They are rather large shavings. Anyone have any ideas of where they could be from? I'm guessing this may have something to do with my top end vibrations I had last year. The bike is a 1993 with 12k miles. I just got the bike last year and probably put on 600 miles at most.

Also anyone know the size of the snap ring on the detent arm? I need to find a new one tomorrow.

[katman05]

Not sure what the shavings are from, but damn that can't be good!

[kevin2502000]

Are they aluminum or steel? If aluminum check your cam caps and the head under them.

[loudnlow7484]

They look like aluminum. The conical shape makes me think of either cams or crank walking and shaving the surface next to it. But then, having the transmission in the same structure opens up a whole world of possibilities. I'd take a good look at the stuff that's easy to look at...... take the valve cover off and take a look, and pop off the oil pan and see if there is anything visible.

Any which way, it's not a good sign.

[kevin2502000]

They look like aluminum. The conical shape makes me think of either cams or crank walking and shaving the surface next to it. But then, having the transmission in the same structure opens up a whole world of possibilities. I'd take a good look at the stuff that's easy to look at...... take the valve cover off and take a look, and pop off the oil pan and see if there is anything visible.

Any which way, it's not a good sign.

Thats what I was thinking, steel cutter on aluminum billet. The conical shape would make sense just like on a lathe. I would purely guess cams first since they are easily starved for oil, the tranny shafts sit in ball bearing. The cams are just clearance bearings.

[Beenthereuk]

I owned a Hyusong Cruise II 125cc once - when I started biking. Approx 18 months from new, it broke down on me one cold winters day and when a mechanic I know opened up the engine, he found similar shavings. They had come from the crankshaft. I scrapped the bloody thing.. have you been using the right oil for your bike in the cold..?

[ottoguy]

I had the valve cover off last summer for a valve adjustment and didn't see anything wrong. However I wan't looking for anything in that department either. The valves were all good and didn't need adjustment.

I did some searching on this site and it seems I'm not the only one to find some shavings. Sounds like they are common on the initial break-in period. Might be that no one ever dropped the oil pan to clean them out after initial break-in.

[Timan]

My 2 cents; shavings that big and that amount, you would here something going on. Almost looks like shavings from manufacture.

[hardlydangerous]

Look like main bearings/caps/thrust bearings
Ive seen that before on a bike that was starved of oil.

[WildSide]

My 2 cents; shavings that big and that amount, you would here something going on. Almost looks like shavings from manufacture.

I was thinking the same thing!