If any one out there is planning on buying a pro, don't let this topic put you off. The virus that hit my pro is I hope a rare one.

Section six of this years Wainwright and the motor dumps all its oil and develops a rattle. We get the bike home and this is what we found.

As yet we still do not know the cause and are assuming a foreign object got between the chain and sprocket as there is no apparent damage in the gear box.

The pro is a 2003 250 and this was the first illness in nearly 5 years. Motor all rebuilt and running better than ever.

S what caused the damage???

You didn't ride it in the Western Beach race when the tide came in did you?

By the look of it you got it home & left it for a good while full of water before stripping it.

Not been funny or anything but what are we looking at ? is it all the bits of metal or something or that it looks rather wet?

have a look at first picture,crack in casing !

You didn't ride it in the Western Beach race when the tide came in did you?

you saying i missed it coming in,i was told it was'nt due in until next year.

Edited October 31, 200718 yr by bilco

Oh right i havnt really studied the inside of them thought that might have been there already i see now

Edited November 7, 200718 yr by Lewis_GasGas

Pictures are of both sides but the real damage was done to the casing where the final drive shaft tried to split the casing. The internals are, on inspection perfect and have re-used some of the parts on a rebuild. Our best guess is that some foreign object got between the chain and sprocket and something had to give. The only damage to the motor was the casing.

I think the reason you couldn't find what caused the problem, you kept going until it had ground it to ******* bits.

Those pics look a bit familiar.

One day changing the oil on my (then brand new) '05 280... LOTS of metal filings. A second round of oil only flushed out more metal. Then a piece of washer came out.

My dealer, Jack Heminway, meticulously pulled the cases apart and investigated. Found a chewed up washer about the size of a quarter (but thinner). Nothing else was loose or missing. What's more, no washers were missing!

After a lot of checking and double checking, Jack ultimately deduced that it was simply an extra washer. It could have only entered when the cases were split (at the factory). I was lucky to notice before it damaged my case.

Did you find any chunks ? Can you tell what the loose piece was?

PS. I too love my Gasser and have had zero problems since then. Hats off to dealer Jack Heminway too. He really went out of his way to keep me happy.