[farfromnoise]

So I rode my SV from Oakland down to Camarillo (in Ventura County). Beautiful ride along Hwy-1 and then across 166 and down the 33. Absolutely wonderful.
The bummer news is that my bike broke down 30 minutes from my destination. I was able to get a pickup truck and make it the rest of the way, but now I need to get it fixed and ideally head back to Oakland on Monday. I doubt that is going to happen, but I was wondering if anyone could recommend a local mechanic? Or if they know the local Suzuki dealerships. There is one in Ventura, Thousand Oaks, and Simi Valley. Does anyone have any experience with any of them?

Or if there are any really amazing Samaritan-Mechanics out there that might be able to help out on a weekend?
I don't know what's wrong with it. As I came off a freeway ramp it dropped into neutral and died. When I went to grab the clutch there was no resistance in the lever. Almost like the cable had been cut. And within a short amount of time there was a pool of oil under the bike. It doesn't look good. :'(

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[xnoahx]

I live in Ventura and Im sorry to hear you are having trouble. Any Idea where the oil is coming from? I have only delt with Cal Coast in ventura and that was only for parts and getting a tire mounted. I have never delt with the TO or Simi Valley dealers or any independent shops around here. Cal Coast doesnt seem to bad and they are open 7 days a week so they might be your best bet for getting fixed by monday.

 

[BRShooter]

The TO service shop is excellent. Ask for Eric. Simi is OK, but between Simi and TO, I'd go with TO. I've not heard good things about Cal Coast. (I bought a low mile (like 150 mi) Ninja 250 from a woman who bought it from Cal Coast and took it back several times because it was not running right. I spent a couple hundred bucks getting the carbs synced and a new diaphram from the Kawi shop in Simi. The bike runs like a champ now, so I can't recommend Cal Coast). Good luck.

Almost forgot. There is a guy, Robert, aka, Racinteach, on the socalsvrider.org site that works on SVs. I think he's in Sunland. He's not done any work on my bike, but gets good comments on the board. Here's a post with his number. http://www.socalsvriders.org/forums/showthread.php?t=28922

 

[farfromnoise]

Thanks so much for the replies. Really appreciate it.
Guess I'll try the Thousand Oaks shop.

 

[CoryUT]

Bummer man. I'd offer to help if I didn't have to go into work this weekend. :/ Good luck getting it back up and running.

 

[Demous]

is the bike able to shift at all.

so there is no grab in the clutch at all>>??
have you taken off the front sprocket cover and seen if the oil is coming from there.

if it is. there is a horizontal metal rod coming out of the bike. there is a rubber flush washer holding it in place. see if it is there or cracked. if every thing looks fine move to the other side of the bike.
remove the right side cover the will expose the clutch/clutch basket.

remove the brass bolts that hold the basket cove in place. you will see a large black nut. with a ca laps washer holding it in place. if this nut is loose this could be your problem. if not remove it with a 26 mm socket. and take the whole basket out under this you will find a black flush washer. if this washer is cracked or has been sucked in to your engine. this is where the oil is coming from. and why you lost your clutch grab.

 

[farfromnoise]

Took the bike to the Suzuki dealer in Thousand Oaks. The chain came off the sprocket and broke the clutch pin. The oil came out of the seal where the pin was.
Seems like my previous shop installed my rear wheel improperly and left the chain too loose.
Hopefully I'll be back on the road Tuesday.
Thanks again for the replies.

 

[cirsory]

a chain will stretch and loosen up over time. depending on how long ago you had the other dealership put on your wheel, you might have to go back and get some money back for that service or the cost of repair

 

[SoozQ650]

Robert does great work for a reasonable price. He's in Sylmar.


Edit: Ah, you already got it looked at. Nvm.

 

[farfromnoise]

Correction, I should have been more aware about how loose the chain was and done something about it.

 

[cirsory]

^^^ that too, but if your not mechanically inclined yet, and you put your machine into the hands of others, they should be competent in their job

 

[farfromnoise]

Thanks cirsory. I've been getting a brow beating on another forum. It was early February when they did the work so I now understand that was a little too much time to not check the chain.

 

[zackman722]

Cal Coast Motorsports in Ventura 805 642 0900. Theyre pretty reasonable.

 

[NTJordan]

True, you should have checked the chain, but the tech that did the work should have done it right the first time, and I am guessing they did not. I check my chain quite a bit, but I almost never find it needing adjustment. Maybe I have just been lucky with my bike, but I get way more use out of the chain before it needs adjusting.

Good thing the problems are so minimal. Chain problems of any kind tend to have really bad outcomes in my experiance. Good luck getting home, it's always scary to have mechanical problems when you are that far away, but things can be fixed so don't stress too much.