[clarkgriswold]

So, I had my motorcycle stored over the winter at a dealer. Asked for the bike to be prepped for pickup on 3/25. Also asked for an oil change. I get a call back from the dealer saying they found metal on the crankcase plug. See image. Dealer says all of the shrapnel was from the oil rings. Bike was running fine when I dropped it off for storage. Dealership rode bike into their service bay, noted no issues. If this was an issue when they brought it in the storage facility I imagine it would have been smoking and had other issues.... thoughts are appreciated.

 

[esq'z me]

If that is shrapnel from oil rings your engine would be smoking like a freight train and making ugly noises.
Compression and leak down test in order. Then start it up with the fresh oil and see what happens.
How many miles on this bike?
And where are you located? Who is the dealer?

 

[clarkgriswold]

Agree it would be smoking and making ugly noises. Not sure turning it over in any manner would be a good idea. If the oil rings are in that many pieces, I would imagine the piston(s) would be in similar state. Bike has 22,7## miles. Timing chain was changed at 21,6## miles. (All recommended maintenance has been done at correct intervals. And only premium fluids/parts have been used.) I am a little obsessive about maintenance. It was running great after the timing chain change. I am located in Iowa. Holding off on naming the dealer until we speak further. So far it was just one phone call. Will be asking more questions when I visit in person.

 

[mv2envy]

Did you record mileage when you dropped it off? People will be people, MV dealer or not. If it was perfectly fine when you dropped it off and it looks like that now, something happened while it was in their care. That much shrapnel is never a good thing.

 

[esq'z me]

I can imagine an oil ring getting folded over during the timing chain replacement. It might have made 1000 miles with no evidence of a problem. With only the bottom oil rail folded the edge could have snapped off dropping into the sump, and other parts may not have been badly damaged. It may not have smoked excessively either as the top oil rail would still be intact.
Unfortunately, it is not difficult to fold modern very thin oil ring rails during piston installation. I've seen it...
Hell, I've done it... on a Yamaha R1 engine....but I knew it and had to start over with another set of rings.

Did this same dealer do the timing chain??? If so then you need to have a conversation about this possibility, since it would never have made 21+k miles if the rings were installed wrong at manufacture. Oil rings (any rings) don't generally break without other bad things going on (piston breakage).
This sounds like mechanic error at the servicing dealer.