official k5/k6 1k frame recall thread

I had the cowling off my K6 and took the opportunity to clean the underside of accumulated grime & gunk. While reinstalling I noticed that a spacer was missing from the right side. The spacer was part of the frame brace kit and is shown in red here:

The kit's installation instructions list the components but, unlike the master cylinder recall, do not provide individual part numbers. I called Suzuki to get a part number so I could buy a replacement spacer and was told that it was only available as part of the frame brace kit, which was not for sale. After some go-around it was decided that they would ship a complete new kit to my local dealer who would inspect the bike to determine that the brace was properly installed. They then would take whatever parts were needed from the new kit and use them to "fix" mine. This seemed silly but it got me the spacer. Without it there is no positive stop for the undercowling screw, i.e. it will just compress the rubber cushion that the spacer sits in. Suzuki's underlying concern was that there was some sort of defect in the kit that was only now coming to light.

Several days later I managed to find the lost spacer in some ground cover outside my garage (a large, powerful magnet did the trick). What I notice is that the ID of the cushion is 8.55 mm and the OD of the bracket is 8.44 mm. So it just falls off when the cowling is held with its inside facing down. This contrasts with a similar spacer/cushion that mounts the front of the tank. There the spacer presses into the cushion and it doesn't fall off when the tank is raised.

In my opinion the kit has a design defect that can easily lead to a lost spacer. The simplest solution is to glue the spacer to the cushion with RTV. Beware that if you lose yours, it's a big deal to get a replacement.

P.S. I spoke to a Suzuki tech rep at the recent Laguna Seca races about this. He was unaware that there were no part numbers listed for the individual kit components and said that he would get that fixed and into the fiche listings. We'll see.

Sometimes, even the frame brace won't prevent breakage. :lol

^Yes. The cover won't fit with the brace installed unless it's modified, which is not part of the recall procedure. Instead the procedure calls for it to be removed and that's what is being done. See posts #893 to #901. The brace modification allows air to bypass the radiator, which lowers the cooling capability. It's normally not a problem but in extreme cases can lead to the bike running hot. I bought a cover to modify and install but have never done anything with it. In my case it's only being done to minimize airflow into the upper engine area.

If you're just now getting your brace installed, I suggest that you ask for the removed cover.

P.S. In my #901 post I mention the under inner cowls and their not being replaced. I was confused about this, in part because the brace installation procedure hardly mentions it. The procedure actually involves replacing the under cowls, not the under inner cowls. I'm still searching for the video mentioned in #893 but Suzuki has blocked it. Perhaps someone in another country could use that as leverage to get a copy.

^"The whole purpose of the spacer is to stop the cushion from getting compressed so shouldn't the spacer shaft go inside the cushion? Either the spacer is backwards or in the wrong order (i.e. frame, spacer, cushion, washer, screw)."

I wonder if you're misinterpreting the drawing. The order shown is frame-brace-spacer-cushion (not shown)-washer-screw. I concede that the drawing could be clearer.

A better design would be to either have the washer captive on the screw or to use a special screw with a large head as they did in the pre-recall design. But Suzuki was probably in a rush to get the frame brace done (people were getting injured and lawsuits were being filed) and they just used an ordinary screw/washer and didn't get the OD of the spacer right. On my K6, I've replaced the screw/washer with a titanium screw that has a captive aluminum washer.

IMO opinion a bigger issue is that cowling removal is a fairly standard owner operation. Yet the drawing showing how things go together is only available in the frame brace installation instructions, which are nominally only for the dealership mechanics. They need to issue an addendum to the service manual or something - with part numbers for the components.