ON MAY 19, 2007 WHILE TRAVELING SOUTH ON US-283, 15 MILES NORTH OF BRADY TX AT ROUGHLY 70 MPH, IN 5TH GEAR ON THE 2002 BUELL X1 WHITE LIGHTNING, AND HOLDING THE THROTTLE STEADY THE MOTOR STOPPED RUNNING. *AK ALL LIGHTS WORKED INDICATING ELECTRICAL POWER WAS NOT LOST. THE ?CHECK ENGINE? LIGHT DID NOT COME ON INDICTING THAT FAILURE WAS NOT THE RESULT OF THE ON BOARD COMPUTER OR ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. THE MOTORCYCLE ROLLED TO A STOP. THE MOTOR DID NOT SEIZE AND AFTER MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO RESTART, THE BATTERY RAN OUT OF ELECTRICAL POWER AND I WAS FORCED TO FIND OTHER MEANS TO RETURN TO HOUSTON ABOUT 260 MILES AWAY. UPON RETURNING TO HOUSTON, I TOOK MY BUELL 2002, X1 WHITE LIGHTNING TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT MAJOR ENGINE DAMAGE WAS CAUSED WHEN THE OIL PUMP DRIVE GEAR, WHICH IS THE WORM GEAR ON THE DRIVE SHAFT, PART NUMBER 26318-88A, DISINTEGRATED. CHIPS FROM THE GEAR WENT INTO THE OIL PUMP DESTROYING IT. CHIPS GOT CAUGHT BETWEEN THE CAM GEARS DESTROYING THEM, WHICH IN TURN, THROUGH-OFF THE CAM TIMING, CAUSING THE VALVES TO HIT THE PISTONS. A COMPLETE REBUILD WAS ADVISED BY THE DEALER AT A COST ESTIMATED AT $4,000 WHICH INCLUDED, NEW CASES, REBUILD HEADS, NEW PISTONS, NEW CAMS, NEW PINION GEAR, NEW LIFTERS AND THIS COST COULD RISE IF THERE WAS HIDDEN DAMAGE NOT DISCOVERED IN THE INITIAL INVESTIGATION. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION IT APPEARS THAT THE SQUARE KEY, PART #11317, FAILED CAUSING THE PINION GEAR TO ROTATE ON THE DRIVE SHAFT WHICH THEN SET UP THE CHAIN REACTION FOR ALL THE OTHER FAILED PARTS AND DAMAGE. THIS MOTORCYCLE HAS ONLY BEEN SERVICE BY THE HARLEY DAVIDSON DEALER AND HAS 6,086 MILES ON THE MOTOR. I BELIEVE THIS IS A DESIGN FAILURE AND HARLEY DAVIDSON AND BUELL SHOULD TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE REPAIR. THIS IS NOT AN UNCOMMON PROBLEM AS EVIDENT BY DOING A LITTLE RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET.
- NHTSA ID
- 10193434
- Incident
- May 19, 2007
- Mileage
- 6,086 mi