I was heading to work the other day, when all of a sudden SCCRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCHH. Stopped the engine, pulled over, and anytime I cranked the engine there was a terrible howl.
Turns out it's just the front fixed-face pulley moved out far enough to contact the metal transmission cover. But it still begged the question of why? So after a little digging around I noticed that the outer pulley face wasn't fully seating on the splines, which lead me to the crankshaft ball-bearing pack, whose inner race is now poking out about 3/16".
It will not go back in with tapping, it's rock solid. It doesn't seem to want to come out without a load on the shaft, either, and the engine, without the transmission installed, is still as smooth as a single can be.
A cursory glance through the service manual reveals the necessity of a COMPLETE teardown just to remove the crankshaft, which is required to access the bearing for replacement. Wonderful design, Suzuki.
Anybody around Ohio happen to have a small scooter/motorcycle they aren't using at the moment?
