The dreaded 'Chirp'

[bobbyduck]

Please let me know how the oil change affects the chirp. I will need an oil change real soon and I would like to know if I should change oil weights.

 

My 2006 RSTD was LOUD. At 70 mph with BUBs and no windshield, I could hear the chirp above everything else.

 

6 months of screaming matches with the regional Yamaha Canada rep later, they finally squirted out an 'I' code clutch basket. It stopped about 80% of the noise. Amsoil 10w40 knocked out about half of what was left. Now it's no problem

[silverdeer0454]

I got the oil/filter changed today. I now have Lucas oil synthetic on board and have noticed no change in the chirp. I will just have to get used to that noise. One thing for sure the rest of the motor is quiet now and it shifts without the big "clunk" as it goes into first from neutral.

 

[SilvrT]

I got the oil/filter changed today. I now have Lucas oil synthetic on board and have noticed no change in the chirp. I will just have to get used to that noise. One thing for sure the rest of the motor is quiet now and it shifts without the big "clunk" as it goes into first from neutral.

 

 

I don't get that on mine but sometimes do when I go into 3rd ... haven't determined exactly the condition yet but I think maybe it's when I'm shifting too soon (haven't wound it out enuf in 2nd).

[frogmaster]

Just reporting my facts and no opinions...

 

Last Fall bought 2008 RSV came with Yamalube in it and I have the CHIRP from Mileage 000001. 600 miles later replaced Oil & Filter with Shell Rotella-T 5w-40. Now from mileage 0000600 thru 0004500-ish I have the EXACT SAME CHIRP not worse not better.

 

Also changed the Final Drive Hub at 600 miles with Mobil-1 Syn 75-90. Again EXACT SAME CHIRP not worse or better.

 

Suspected conclusion the CHIRP is not Lube related...

[BJB]

OK folks, just an update. I must stress that my problem has been a 'Chirp' and not a whine. I do hear a whine, but when the dreaded steroid twin cricket brothers get going there is nothing that will cover it up. A full faced helmet almost eliminates it, but a half or 3/4 was impossible without ear plugs. Of course, with ear plugs the stereo system had to be set wide open to hear anything of music or CB. It damn near took my ears right off when I left the settings as they were for the last ride, and went to show someone my stereo system in the garage and hit the speaker 'on' switch.

 

Now to get down to brass tacks. I had my clutch basket replaced today. This is in Canada, and they would only replace it once. If I did not like it...too bad or pay them to put the old clutch basket back in. Yamaha Canada also says this is not a warrenty, but seems to treat it as a good will jesture and says they really don't have to do this. I have no idea if it was replaced by an 'I' basket or 'Z' basket...it was what Yamaha Canada sent them.

 

Whatever! All I know is it worked. Mind you I only put on about 5 miles driving home today, but what a beautiful ride with a 3/4 helmet and listen to the motor and wind. NOT them @*&$ crickets that would somehow harmonize in both ears and drive straight into my brain! I just hope this lasts for a lot of kilometers. Looking forward to a big motorcycle trip in Sept now, and not dreading having to bring along two helmets and all the ear plugs I could find.

 

Let me be clear here. I can still hear some sort of whine and I suppose it could bother a concert pianist or violin player. But it sounds sweet to me because the cricket chirp is NOT there. With my bike I was at the point where I figured it could not get any worse...and if it did I would not hear it because of the ear plugs anyway. So bottom line is it is great. I will go back to yamaha dealer tomorrow and speak to the repair/mechanic person. I want to speak with them, and look at old clutch basket etc. Do not know if I will ever find anything out, but I can recommend it for any bike that sounds like mine. I have read many posts here from others, and even personally talked to them. I feel that what one person thinks is a bad whine is really not all that bad. Gosh now I sound a dealer! I wish that we could ride each others bikes and compare sounds....guess I should have made the Kooteny ride heh?

 

Hope this helps someone.

[davecb]

The dealer will swap it out under warranty. On my bike the chirp was so loud at 55 that I couldn;t drive at that speed. Change it out, it will make a great difference. If it does not, they will put your old one back in. This is a one shot deal...you do not get a second I-basket...

[Hotrod]

I have a 2007 Blue/Black RSV.When I bought it , the chirp wasn't too bad.After about

4,000 miles it would be screaming between 55 to 60 mph.I usually wear a half helmet

because it is so hot in Fla.It was so bad I couldn't hardly hear my radio.I called my

dealer and had them order the "I" basket. I now have about 9,000 miles on it , and

the noise has been reduced by,I would say, 80%.I run Mobil 1 20W50 synthetic oil. It

made it seem like a whole new bike. I do have a little gear whine,but I kinda like it.

I also changed out the rear differential oil to a synthetic. I still need to pull the drive

shaft and lube with moly 60,but I can live with it the way it is. I can't speak for every

one,but the basket change was a life saver for me.

[Cougar]

It all depends on the rep and that/your dealer.

 

I was able to try (two) (I) baskets.

And then we went back-wards per the

Yamaha Rep to try 3 more (letters)

then final result was back to the (I)

I had a (G) in there to start with.

 

All it did was change the sound to

a different RPM range. I can use

my tach and make it go away though.

(above 32K in any gear)

 

I did also find out when these dealers

are doing these swaps that they only

get paid half there shop rate for doing

warranty work.

 

Jeff

[SilvrT]

OK folks, just an update. I must stress that my problem has been a 'Chirp' and not a whine. I do hear a whine, but when the dreaded steroid twin cricket brothers get going there is nothing that will cover it up. A full faced helmet almost eliminates it, but a half or 3/4 was impossible without ear plugs. Of course, with ear plugs the stereo system had to be set wide open to hear anything of music or CB. It damn near took my ears right off when I left the settings as they were for the last ride, and went to show someone my stereo system in the garage and hit the speaker 'on' switch.

 

Now to get down to brass tacks. I had my clutch basket replaced today. This is in Canada, and they would only replace it once. If I did not like it...too bad or pay them to put the old clutch basket back in. Yamaha Canada also says this is not a warrenty, but seems to treat it as a good will jesture and says they really don't have to do this. I have no idea if it was replaced by an 'I' basket or 'Z' basket...it was what Yamaha Canada sent them.

 

Whatever! All I know is it worked. Mind you I only put on about 5 miles driving home today, but what a beautiful ride with a 3/4 helmet and listen to the motor and wind. NOT them @*&$ crickets that would somehow harmonize in both ears and drive straight into my brain! I just hope this lasts for a lot of kilometers. Looking forward to a big motorcycle trip in Sept now, and not dreading having to bring along two helmets and all the ear plugs I could find.

 

Let me be clear here. I can still hear some sort of whine and I suppose it could bother a concert pianist or violin player. But it sounds sweet to me because the cricket chirp is NOT there. With my bike I was at the point where I figured it could not get any worse...and if it did I would not hear it because of the ear plugs anyway. So bottom line is it is great. I will go back to yamaha dealer tomorrow and speak to the repair/mechanic person. I want to speak with them, and look at old clutch basket etc. Do not know if I will ever find anything out, but I can recommend it for any bike that sounds like mine. I have read many posts here from others, and even personally talked to them. I feel that what one person thinks is a bad whine is really not all that bad. Gosh now I sound a dealer! I wish that we could ride each others bikes and compare sounds....guess I should have made the Kooteny ride heh?

 

Hope this helps someone.

 

Hey BJ ... how about an update on this after you've put a couple thousand Km on it. Hope it's still as good.

[BJB]

Sure thing. I went out for a better test ride today, about 60 miles. I can still hear the whine, and occassionally I can hear the crickets. However, it is quite faint. I am wondering if they won't come back in a few thousand K's? Who knows, but at least I tried. Am off to the dealer now to try and see what basket I had, and what was put in. He didn't seem to know much about 'I' baskets.

[SilvrT]

I've been wondering....since the swap out of the baskets is such a "hit and miss" situation and under warranty it apparently can only be done once ... if there is an opportunity here for those interested to have a "clutch basket swap" whereby we swap clutch baskets back and forth and maybe eventually we'll all wind up with one that works. It's just a thought I had....no idea on the logistics/process of it, but I figgured if I had access to, let's say 10 clutch baskets and the odds were 1 in 5 that I'd get one that didn't whine, then I'd almost be willing to tackle the job on my own.

 

The way I see it, any given clutch basket that whines on one bike might well mate better with the primary gear on a different bike and...problem solved!

 

"Bob" might get it on the first swap wheras "Bill" might have to swap out 4 or 5 before getting a match.

[Cougar]

The warranty baskets have to go back to Yamaha God's though.

that is a great idea for the folks buying them outright though!

Jeff

[Cougar]

At one point in time in the day. I almost

bought another engine with no

known whine.

 

Jeff

[FreezyRider]

I've been wondering....since the swap out of the baskets is such a "hit and miss" situation and under warranty it apparently can only be done once ... if there is an opportunity here for those interested to have a "clutch basket swap" whereby we swap clutch baskets back and forth and maybe eventually we'll all wind up with one that works. It's just a thought I had....no idea on the logistics/process of it, but I figgured if I had access to, let's say 10 clutch baskets and the odds were 1 in 5 that I'd get one that didn't whine, then I'd almost be willing to tackle the job on my own.

 

The way I see it, any given clutch basket that whines on one bike might well mate better with the primary gear on a different bike and...problem solved!

 

"Bob" might get it on the first swap wheras "Bill" might have to swap out 4 or 5 before getting a match.

 

 

I've wondered the same thing. Before ordering my I basket yesterday I had been watching flea bay for a different basket. Let one get away that I should have bought, it went for $131 for the basket and all the clutch plates too.

If my I basket doesn't work for me I might be willing to start swapping....

 

Joe

[SilvrT]

I've wondered the same thing. Before ordering my I basket yesterday I had been watching flea bay for a different basket. Let one get away that I should have bought, it went for $131 for the basket and all the clutch plates too.

If my I basket doesn't work for me I might be willing to start swapping....

 

Joe

 

To expand upon the idea ... one guy has a "spare" basket .... he sends it to "Bob" .. "Bob" tries it ... it either works or it doesn't, regardless, his original whined so he sends his (now a spare) to "Fred" ... "Fred swaps it out and send his on to whoever...maybe back to "Bob" if his is still whining. Not sure how payment for baskets would work but I'm still "imagining" this ... something like the "Ride Like a Pro" DVD swap idea I suppose although I haven't really delved into how that is done.

[lawman255]

I'm taking my 05 venture into Niehaus cycle on friday to see what they will do with the noise, and if they will not fix it, the bike is gone, I can't stand the noise any longer. That is the only thing that is wrong with this bike, I love everything else about it.

[SilvrT]

I'm taking my 05 venture into Niehaus cycle on friday to see what they will do with the noise, and if they will not fix it, the bike is gone, I can't stand the noise any longer. That is the only thing that is wrong with this bike, I love everything else about it.

 

In most cases where the things you love about something/someone are far greater than the things you hate, one learns to focus on the former and the latter tends to "go away". I too find that the only thing I dislike about my RSMV is the clutch basket "whine", but I am learning to ignore it, focusing on all it's other great aspects, the enjoyment of the ride, the scenery, etc, etc ... in so doing, I am not noticing that "downside" so much anymore. I experimented with this concept a few times and found that if I focused on the whine...it got worse and worse to the point I just wanted to get off the bike ... then I woud shift my focus to those many other things ... and voila`.... it was as if the whine "went away". (in reality, it didn't)

 

Granted, this won't work for everyone but maybe it's something you could try before you make that decision.