Has anyone worn out a Voyager?

[Mike W]

I bought my 2000 Voyager 4 years ago off of EBay with 17k. Several items showed up within the first couple of months that suggest I may have gotten a high mileage bike.

* Front wheel bearings were totally shot. The tire would actually flop over in a slow left turn and the rotor would lay up against to brake pads (maybe a 1/4" of play at the top of the tire).
* Plugs had been changed and the wires were loose in the boots (one had just been jammed back in).
* Paint was mostly worn off the handlebar weights (no clue how long this takes, but I'd guess more than 17k miles).
* Screw to take the chrome piece off to add oil was worn out, striped and cross-threaded. Had to drill out and retap.
* Trip meter knob was snapped off. This isn't that abnormal, but the trip is exactly 500.0 miles offset from the odometer. The combination makes me wonder if someone had been tinkering.
* Gas mileage is down about 8+mpg compared to a friends '02 when on the same trip. I've had the carb's synced, but it didn't help.
* The engine just seems tired compared to a different Voyager I test rode. If I have a strong head wind, I'm lucky to hold 70mph on the freeway full throttle and my mileage drops to the mid 20's.
* From about 40k, I've picked up a pretty loud lifter noise and also some engine rattles (more noticeable under load). I tried the backlash adjustment a couple of years ago, but no difference.


Four years later I have 118k miles on the bike plus the possibility of additional hidden miles. The engine and/or tranny whine is bad enough that my ears normally ring for several hours after a long ride.

I ran down to Madison, Wi yesterday (618 miles round trip). Despite all my own "whining", the bike still runs pretty good for a Sr. Citizen (better I think because I finally decided to wear ear plugs). I could still hear the whine for part of the trip, but the ear plugs really cut out the worst of it.

I hate sales and tend to run my vehicles into the ground so I don't have to deal with trade-ins or selling. I've been kind of hoping that my bike will hold out for about 2 more years and then have a nice quiet meltdown or something so I can justify getting a new bike. My only concern is that despite all the rattles and problems, this thing just might keep going, and going and going........

Anyone out there actually heard of a Voyager getting worn out to the point it had to be retired?

[bikerking.biz]

While there was one guy who had around 325,000 or something miles on his Voyager until the engine finally gave up, he just put another in, and kept going. But if your looking for a reason to get another bike, I think you have it, sounds like the one you got was whipped and not taken care of very well at all before you got it. No way would a bike be that worn out with only 17K miles.

[Dan Desjardins]

I have a 2000 Voyager with only 30,000 Kilometers which is about 21,000 miles on it.
It runs and sounds like a brand new bike. Although I have some play in the steering and sometimes the front end will go into a little wobble,( I know I have to tighten the steering head nut). And I noticed that the front tire has a bit of cupping so I will need to replace the front tire soon. It sounds to me that you have gotten a bike that was not very well taken care of.
Dan

[Rhinestone Kawboy]

Dan,

If your tire is cupping, there is a good chance that either you are not running enough air in it, or your wheel bearings are worn. I had that same problem, and after keeping at least 36lbs in front Dunlop and fixing the bad bearing, no more cupping. Your loose steering head bearing may have a effect with the cupping too.

[Mike W]

I had 179,000 miles on my 1991 Voyager VXII and I have 96,000 on my 2002 Voyager VXII. There is a gentleman who used to be the service manager at Mac's Cycle in Clarkston, WA that had 300,000+ on his before he had to rebuild it.

Duane,
How would you compare your '91 that had 179k vs. the '02 with 96k miles? Could you tell any difference in performance or possibly things seeming to be more worn out on the '91 with twice the miles?

I guess if I wait long enough, I should have 150k of my own miles in a couple more years and I can see if anything seems to change over time.

thanks,
Mike

[Dan Desjardins]

Gary, thanks for the heads up,
when I change my tire, I will order some new wheel bearings as well.
Dan

[The Masked Rider]

HAAAAAaaaaaaaa!!! Mike, if you looking for a reason to buy a new bike, you better pick a better reason than your Voyager wearing out. Maybe if you just STOP putting oil in it. The Voyager Xll motor is one of the toughest ones out there. The odometer could have turned over once or it could have been a very badly kept bike. There are a lot of high mileage Voyagers out there that you would find a very hard time proving so. Mostly because Voyager owner take pride it their ride and take care of them. I finally spun a bearing after over 324,000 miles. I had gone for a short day ride when I heard it start knocking pretty loud. I was 100 miles from home but it still got me back. When I drained the oil, it was full of pretty silver and copper stuff. I know why the rod bearing went. I opened it up on a back stretch of road on the way home. I had it well of 100mph for around 8 miles. I know this road. No side roads coming into it and usually no traffic. I just felt the need. BUT, with a motor that has that many miles on it,,, BAD MOVE.

My point is, if you take care of it,,, good luck wearing it out any time soon. Even if you do, Carl has the parts to fix it. I do believe Carl Leo also has over 300,000 miles on his bike.

[DaveofHutto]

For that clatter in your valves, the carbon builds up. Try MMO (mavel mystrey oil) in your fuel and oil. Another thing is ATF in your oil about 500 miles before a change. Removes carbon build up. Over filling the oil also causes air bubbles which get into the lifters and this causes a tapping.
Bearings that are subjected to pressure washes go bad quickly. Clogged air filters rob you of power too.

[mjwolf]

Probably had 117k on it when you bought it.

[Mike W]

For that clatter in your valves, the carbon builds up. Try MMO (mavel mystrey oil) in your fuel and oil. Another thing is ATF in your oil about 500 miles before a change. Removes carbon build up. Over filling the oil also causes air bubbles which get into the lifters and this causes a tapping.
Bearings that are subjected to pressure washes go bad quickly. Clogged air filters rob you of power too.

I seriously doubt there is much carbon in the engine. I'm running the 100k mile Irridium plugs which run a bit hotter and 95% of the riding I do is on the freeway at about 75mph. I did the ATF thing this summer - actually ran it for about 4k miles, no change. Someone told me that there is a spring on the lifter that may have broken. In addition to the whine, I get a strange buzzing from the engine that could easily be from a broken spring. At times, it almost sounds like it's running normally - other times, I've been convinced the bike wouldn't make it home.

I have no way to know if the bike was pressure washed before I got it. I do the sponge and bucket method a couple of times a year. The bearings I have in now have real close to 100k miles, so we'll see how long these last.

Probably had 117k on it when you bought it.

I became convinced of this within 2 months of owning the bike - just no way to prove it. Still, I've put on a bit over 100k miles on a bike I paid $6,000 for, so the return on investment isn't too bad.

[TaiwanJohn]

I changed my plugs this summer, and did a compression check at the same time. I had 180 pounds of compression across all four cylinders. No too bad for a bike with 90,000 on the clock. I don't know what stock was, however.

[KZQuixote]

Hi Dan Desjardins,

I've fought with a Voyager XII steering head more than a few times. I finally figured out the solution. For me it was that Ma Kaw puts an O ring under the top nut to stop the front end from dropping out if you remove the nut. I was absolutely unable to get my steering stem tight enough until I removed that rubber O ring.

I also learned that you'll never get enough torque on the stem nut by using a drift. I ended up supporting the bars and top triple clamp from above and using one of these to get it tight enough.



I eventually decided that I was satisfied if my XII wouldn't go into a head wobble, by itself, on deceleration with my hands off the bars.

Even properly adjusted a XII will wobble if on deceleration at about 30 MPH you take your hands off the bars and slap one grip. It's not a big deal, it's just the nature of the beast.

KZQuixote

[Charlie from Illinois]

That is a neat tool. How did you end up making it?

[The Masked Rider]

A similar tool pictured above was used at the factory to set the required 95 in. lbs. on the bearings. Normally this would be great and there would be NO wobble. However, as with a lot of factory work and workers, sometimes they will get in a rush OR it will be Monday morning OR Friday afternoon and things just don't get done like they should. If you have ever worked in a factory, you know this happens. Thus the reason for the periodic maintenance checks.
On top of the bearing torque, you sometimes have the problem that the bearing races were NOT seated completely at the factory. If the races were not COMPLETELY seated with the special tool they use, the 95 in lb. torque on the bearings doesn't really mean much. Thus, if the races were not completely seated, the normal pounding on the stearing bearings and races with everyday riding will soon do that for you and when this happens, your stearing bearings will become loose. Hopefully a re-torque of the bearing will do the job. That is if the races have completely seated themselves. If not, you will need to re-torque the bearing again down the road. The only sure way to know if the races are seated correctly is to do the job youself with the tools listed on page 13-3 of your shop manual. (driver press shaft and the two drivers) Unfortunately this would mean removing the stearing shaft. :O( Not fun for some of you I'm sure.
Fritz

[Mailman Joe]

Unfortunately this would mean removing the stearing shaft. :O( Not fun for some of you I'm sure.
Fritz[/quote]

Might have something to do with that tool...looks like a similar tool I had to take apart the 4 wheel drive hub on my pick-up, that wasn't much fun either.

[BDLindberg]

I have a 1996 Voyager XII and I have about 96,000 miles on it. I too have some valve noise and knocking when the bike is cold. I did have some tapping when I would get on the gas at highway speed and ran SeaFoam in the gas and the oil for about 200 miles. I use Amsoil 10W40 synthetic oil and after the oil change I don't notice the high speed engine noise. My only problem has been hoses and seals this year and last, but I think I have a handle on this now.

This summer I put a used water pump with a new seal on the to keep out the oil. I also put new hoses on the top of the engine from the thermostat to the radiator. I just replaced the o-ring on my thermostat housing. I replaced the other hoses about 1.5 years ago. I also replaced the fork seals within the past two years.

Bruce from MN

[KZQuixote]

A similar tool pictured above was used at the factory to set the required 95 in. lbs. on the bearings. Normally this would be great and there would be NO wobble. However, as with a lot of factory work and workers, sometimes they will get in a rush OR it will be Monday morning OR Friday afternoon and things just don't get done like they should. If you have ever worked in a factory, you know this happens. Thus the reason for the periodic maintenance checks.
On top of the bearing torque, you sometimes have the problem that the bearing races were NOT seated completely at the factory. If the races were not COMPLETELY seated with the special tool they use, the 95 in lb. torque on the bearings doesn't really mean much. Thus, if the races were not completely seated, the normal pounding on the stearing bearings and races with everyday riding will soon do that for you and when this happens, your stearing bearings will become loose. Hopefully a re-torque of the bearing will do the job. That is if the races have completely seated themselves. If not, you will need to re-torque the bearing again down the road. The only sure way to know if the races are seated correctly is to do the job youself with the tools listed on page 13-3 of your shop manual. (driver press shaft and the two drivers) Unfortunately this would mean removing the stearing shaft. :O( Not fun for some of you I'm sure.
Fritz

Hi Fritz,

I don't think it's that big a deal. First of all if they failed to seat the bearing cups properly at the factory, several thousand miles of riding will. Of course that's why the steering heads of most bikes loosen in the first fifteen or twenty thousand miles. Like I said I loosened the top triple clamp and lifted it, complete with the bars a few inches by using a few ropes connected to eyebolts in the ceiling. The whole job can be done in fifteen minutes.

KZQuixote

[KorenK]

I was reading this post and thinking maybe instead of wondering who will buy a new Voyager as many of us do not like it, we should consider who will keep their current Voyager and who can put the most miles on one until it dies.

Koren

[John Luttrell]

Well, I personally would love to get a new Voyager, but as I'm retiring this winter and don't want any payments, My '92 Voyager will have to do me just fine.