"The Whine" - What's Yamaha's response?

[george_park]

Don,

 

I have to say that when I talked to the service folks at dealers and the people at Yamaha they all said "every bike is different" - different tolerances, etc. They are all so different that a whole lot of them seem to have the same issue.

 

I know mass production is a new concept but it always strikes me as a little odd. If these bikes are all so different it must be a nightmare to service them, all of those hand massaged parts...

 

I'm just kidding about the hand massaged parts bit but I also study language as well. When people are careful to use "characteristic" and "attribute" and "not a flaw" (in the same sentence "we can try to move the sound around") there is a strong message in there.

 

Harley went with Helical cut gears in all models in '06, there is something to be said with that.

 

I'm an IT consultant and if I ever told someone "that blue screen/smoking power supply and lack of access is a "characteristic" of your computer" I would get the old tomato shower and a big hook.

 

I put a set of Baron's bag slash pipes on and it's taken away some of the whine (plus all of my hearing below a certain range)!

 

gp

[slick]

My 2007 RSTD has a heck of whine and has since it was new. I was told it would quiten once every thing was broke in. Well I have now tripped 25,000 miles and am still waiting for it to break in. I am going for my 26,000 mile service soon and may try to insist on replacing the clutch basket. The noise is only there under a load but people I ride with cannot hear it when riding beside me. it drives me crazy ecspecially when I put the windshield on.

[Guest paventure]

Slick,

I think you should insist on a clutch basket replacment, you gave Yahmaha a lot of money for thier product, you deserve to have it right , end of story...

[footsie]

My 2000 is so loud at 65 mph you can't hear the pipes or the radio.

At 50 or 80 mph its silent, depends on rpm's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

freedom of the road:Venture:

[FreezyRider]

I have it on good authority that Yamaha has released an official statement regarding the Whine or the Chirp (2 different sounds, BTW). Here is a copy of their statement:

 

"Loud transmission noises save lives! Yamaha Motors is concerned about the safety and well being of it's customers, therefore we include at no charge this advanced safety feature."

 

There's more, but you get the drift.....

 

:big-grin-emoticon:

[Guest paventure]

well folks, the dealer called today to let me know the parts are in, I will post the results of attempt to fix # 2, here next week.

[Guest kennewick58]

The Poll should have had:

 

There is little or no whine.

 

I have a 99 and there is very little evidence of a whine and only when up around 120 K/hr.

 

I have a 07 Midnight Venture and it makes it's noises but so does my 06 C90 which I think is louder. Friends have Harley Ultras and they are way louder. Are you guys talking about the Supercharger sound?

 

Anyway Mine is awesome but Yamaha needs to make right with this.

[bikenut]

My 06 venture had the "I" basket installed back in spring and it did help the sound go away but after 12000 milkes the sound was starting to come back so I asked the dealer and he contacted the Yamaha and they said they would put in a new "I" basket and see if it helps. Every "I" backet acts different and this new one after 300 miles was worse then the first so back to the dealer and he contacted Yamaha and they said they would put the first one back in and that is all they could do at this time. That is OK by me. The new basket is supper loud when you let off the gas at all speeds. The first was just louder below 50 other then that it was ok.

So next week it goes back to get the first "I" Basket re-installed and a key switch.

My 1986 Trike has the same sound but you can just hear it.

Wish the 06 was like the 86.

But I lve the bike and that is what counts., Every bike has it's problems.

BIKENUT:confused24:

[RSTDinPA]

My Dealer, Yamaha of Camp Hill, here in Central PA gave me no hassle at all when I inquired bout the I basket. They were familiar with the issue. they did tell me that the results they had seen were all over the map, ranging from completely gone, the whine moves to a new "less objectionable" rpm, to worse than the original. They installed my I basket at 1500 miles. In my case, it reduced the whine significantly (80%) and moved it to a slightly higher RPM range for each gear. I have been pleased with my results. I do not hear the whine at all unless I am listening for it. I have found that using a 15-40 weight oil has further reduced the sound. After about 4500 mi., I start to hear the whine again and change the oil and it quiets right up. I am using Shell Rotella T 15-40 dino oil. I have heard some RS's that are just amazingly loud. I am very happy that I am one of the lucky ones. The I basket really helped me. I love my '06 RSTD. Best bike I have ever owned.

[roadwarrior]

My dealer was pretty up front with me.He stated it would take care of about 60 to 70% of the whine and where there was a whine it would be at very low RPM which has been the case.I still here it from time to time but it does not annoy me like it once did.No 100% fix.

[bikenut]

Well I got the first "I" basket installed back into the bike because Yamaha said it might take a long time to find the right basket to help my problem so I agreed to have the first "I" backet they installed put back in. The noise is not much on that one compared to the second "I" basket.

Anyway I had the old basket and I started to look at it before they installed it back into the bike and I noticed that the two bushings in the center of the basket looked a little different to each other so I got the light out and looked at them better and I found that the outer bushing had a shiny spot going around the bushing but not all the way across the bushing and the inner bushing di not hhave this mark on it or any other marks. The inner still looked new but the outer had this shiny spot. I sould it to my dealer and he said I might be on something here so he was going to contact Yamaha on this and see if the problem might be the bushings that the clutch basket rides on and over time the outer wears in a little and the noise starts. The reason I say this is because after they installed the first New "I" backet my bike did not have any noise in it at any speed or RPM but after about 1000 miles it started to come back. Maybe the bushings. If the bushings wears the basket can wobble a little and that can make the whine noise we all have in the bikes.

I will keep you all informed if and when I get somemore info on this matter

Bikenut:doh:

[brokespur]

I have a 2001 venture and the basket was changed at about 8000 mi. It now has about 21000 on it and the noise is twice what it was before the change. At the time of the change the dealer told me it was the loudest he had heard. He should hear it now. love the bike, just not the ear plugs that i go through a lot of.

[roadwarrior]

Well I got the first "I" basket installed back into the bike because Yamaha said it might take a long time to find the right basket to help my problem so I agreed to have the first "I" backet they installed put back in. The noise is not much on that one compared to the second "I" basket.

Anyway I had the old basket and I started to look at it before they installed it back into the bike and I noticed that the two bushings in the center of the basket looked a little different to each other so I got the light out and looked at them better and I found that the outer bushing had a shiny spot going around the bushing but not all the way across the bushing and the inner bushing di not hhave this mark on it or any other marks. The inner still looked new but the outer had this shiny spot. I sould it to my dealer and he said I might be on something here so he was going to contact Yamaha on this and see if the problem might be the bushings that the clutch basket rides on and over time the outer wears in a little and the noise starts. The reason I say this is because after they installed the first New "I" backet my bike did not have any noise in it at any speed or RPM but after about 1000 miles it started to come back. Maybe the bushings. If the bushings wears the basket can wobble a little and that can make the whine noise we all have in the bikes.

I will keep you all informed if and when I get somemore info on this matter

Bikenut:doh:

 

Well that makes sense if the whine comes back.I have not had my I basket in that long.

[timmy13]

I just purchased an '07 Venture Midnight,B-E-A-UTIFUL.What comfort,whata ride,music and storage.I have been riding a Honda VTX1300c and it was time to graduate.I found this bike brand new 1 mile on it.I bought it sight unseen from Wisconsin and had it shipped to Georgia.The expectation was almost unbearable.They unloaded it,I inspected it and fired it off.Not expecting it to sound great with stock exhaust compaired to the Hard Chrome Classic Americans on the VTX I cruised home in the rain so excited about the prospects of the next days ride if it had any issues I did not know.

The next day I went out and admired the vision parked in my garage and thanked God for a wife who without any prompting authorised the purchase of this beauty.I put in the key,pulled out the choke,flipped the kill switch and pressed the starter switch......I cut the thing off so fast I thought that it must be out of oil or tranny fluid or something.It was so different from anything I have ever heard-Honda,Harley you name it.I went into an instant buyers remorse depressionary state.I took it out on the road after checking it out and could not believe that a bike this nice would be allowed to leave the manufacture in this condition.The more I ride it ,the more I seem to be able to put the sound out of my mind and that shouldn't be.I ride for the total experience,not to tune out an important part of it.

If I had it to do over I would not purchase this bike again.I can only hope that my first visit to a dealer takes care of the problem.If not Craigslist/Ebay here I come!!!!

 

Thanks for listening.........could you hear me whine over the whining????????????

[boominup]

Nonexistant whine! Do I still have to vote?

Brian

[george_park]

Well, you don't have to vote but with zero whine you are certainly in the minority of the people who have!

 

My bike started out whine free but developed it about 2K miles in so I hope all of the quiet bikes stay that way.

 

Now if someone would only make h cut gears for the RS models out there, I think I'll wait until 2010...

 

Regards,

gp

[Cougar]

3200 RPM and above on the tach the whine will go away in any gear..

 

I have been through ALL the Alphbet of the clutch baskets (5 or 6 now)

 

on my 2000 MM RSV. 10,700 miles on her.

Going to be interesting to hear what it sounds like

when I get the bike triked this next year.

Jeff

[Hotrod]

I had the I Basket installed yesterday and it eliminated about 80 to 85% of the whine in

my 2007 RSV.You can barely hear it now.I don't know if it will come back, but it's good

right now.I also had new Dunlop Elite III's put on front and rear in the stock sizes and it

made a big difference in low speed handling.The front end no longer feels heavy in slow

parking lot turns.Needless to say, I'm very happy with the results.My dealer also said that the bushing that the basket rides on is part of the problem with the whine.It wears

enough to give the basket a small amount of play,which increases the whine.Supposedly

this has been improved with the new baskets.I don't know if this is true or not,I guess

time will tell.I'm happy for now.

[OutKast]

Purchased my neglected 04 last Nov. with 14k miles on the ODO. Now has over 28k. No whine. Did have the "water pump knock" that ceased after Carb Synch.

[Langley Rider]

Hi all I have a RSTD 2009 the whine started with a few hundred miles, and is contantly getting louder. If there are this many of us with this problem and Yamaha is not will to work with us......isn't this what they call a class action case in the courts. maybe we need to band together. I am suppose to meet with Yamaha in a couple of week to discuss my issues.

[Cougar]

Do what I did and go to another dealer, you are still under 5 years and they will change the basket out. sorry to say though that it most likely will come back.

Good Luck!

Jeff

[BuddyRich]

My whine is not tame at all and I can live with it. But the cost of replacing badly designed rear shocks is what boils my blood.

[jrsain]

I have been looking for a while for a non-Goldwing touring bike. Started looking at 1600 Kawasaki Nomads and really liked the features and look of the bike. So this week I drive my VTX 1800 C over to the dealer and drive an 05 Nomad, what a pooch.

Then after talking with owners and several dealers I'm convinced a RSTD/Venture is the bike for me. My problem is I have had problems even seen one of the bikes to set on. I found a leftover 09 RSTD in Naples FL and drove down there this morning and sat on it. Now I know it is the bike for me, but when I look at many adds of bikes for sale they state they have had new clutches installed. This concerned me due to the bikes having less than 30k on them. Putting a new clutch in a VTX is almost unheard of, so I joined this site to find out about clutch issues. Guess what I come across, this thread, and what I'm hearing is if the owners knew about the whine issue they wouldn't have bought the bike and now I'm I have now clew what to start looking at in a used touring bike.

[Whistler]

No whine on my 08 but I do have a chirp with the brakes Ron:cool10:

[Stache]

I have been looking for a while for a non-Goldwing touring bike. Started looking at 1600 Kawasaki Nomads and really liked the features and look of the bike. So this week I drive my VTX 1800 C over to the dealer and drive an 05 Nomad, what a pooch.

Then after talking with owners and several dealers I'm convinced a RSTD/Venture is the bike for me. My problem is I have had problems even seen one of the bikes to set on. I found a leftover 09 RSTD in Naples FL and drove down there this morning and sat on it. Now I know it is the bike for me, but when I look at many adds of bikes for sale they state they have had new clutches installed. This concerned me due to the bikes having less than 30k on them. Putting a new clutch in a VTX is almost unheard of, so I joined this site to find out about clutch issues. Guess what I come across, this thread, and what I'm hearing is if the owners knew about the whine issue they wouldn't have bought the bike and now I'm I have now clew what to start looking at in a used touring bike.

 

I bought a new 09 (leftover) RSTD in april. Been riding it every opportunity (7000 km so far) Absolutely zero issues and extremely satisfied.

 

Based on my experience I have no hesitation reccomending the RSTD.