Some new thoughts on clutch basket whine

[RandyR]

I'd also like to see the Yamaha tech Tips that describe the whine from having incorrect rear drive alignment and the resolution.

[Freebird]

I agree with Joe on the clutch basket. I think it is really just hit and miss. Very slim chance that it would correct the issue.

[Condor]

I agree with Joe on the clutch basket. I think it is really just hit and miss. Very slim chance that it would correct the issue.

 

We'll never know by me. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones as the '99 (47,000) has very little 'turbo' whine, and only in 1st and 2nd at low RPM's. Not much different than what I've experienced on a couple of 1stGens from time to time. I have been thinking about going to the MkI basket when the clutch needs servicing. I already have the basket.....somewhere???

[rlyons]

You call these ugly?

 

 

http://www.motorcycle.com/gallery/gallery.php/d/252638-2/BJN26584.jpg?g2_GALLERYSID=TMP_SESSION_ID_DI_NOISSES_PMT

 

http://www.motorcycle.com/gallery/gallery.php/d/252683-2/BJN88990.jpg?g2_GALLERYSID=TMP_SESSION_ID_DI_NOISSES_PMT

 

Yep! Top one very ugly,bottm one not as bad but still ugly to me.

[wizard]

Don't like either of them. Wait, I just don't like any of the Victorys.

[Eugene]

Hey were discussing how to fix the 'whine'...and a new bike fixes the whine....right?

 

 

In my opinion - that's the only "sure" fix!

[rlyons]

Who cares if it whines. I mean really it could be worse, it could sound like a bucket of bolts like my old Harley or it could break down all the time like a lot of others. It whines, so what, get over it, turn up the radio, put on louder pipes, or just enjoy a great bike and ride. My turbo on my truck sings so loud and piercing that the Venture soumd quiet to me. I love the bike, love the way it rides and handles, love how I can depend on it so let it talk to me, who cares?

[jer878]

Just finished a 4347 mile trip (keeping up with MidRSV) from SE MI to Sturgis, Yellowstone, Beartooth and the entire area. I'm ready to find something else to ride next year. The seat sucks even with the Butler mod. It was OK for the first couple of g's but the last 1500, man was my a$$ hurting. The whine (yep had the basket switch) killed my ears. The engine noise, well what can I say, very loud, sounds very loose. The passenger seat is 6" higher than the operator so as my lovely lady said on more than one occasion " I'm getting my A$$ kicked back here" by the wind.

 

Two positives for the RSV on this trip.

1. No mechanical trouble.

2. Plenty of power for the hills. (Went with 3 HD Ultras, 2 with trailers as was I, they either were down shifting or loosing a lot of ground when I wasn't)

 

I don't know what I'll do. I'll have to do some research. Wing? Ultra? Or wait to see what Yamaha does with the RSV.

 

[Kirby]

Just finished a 4347 mile trip (keeping up with MidRSV) from SE MI to Sturgis, Yellowstone, Beartooth and the entire area. I'm ready to find something else to ride next year. The seat sucks even with the Butler mod. It was OK for the first couple of g's but the last 1500, man was my a$$ hurting. The whine (yep had the basket switch) killed my ears. The engine noise, well what can I say, very loud, sounds very loose. The passenger seat is 6" higher than the operator so as my lovely lady said on more than one occasion " I'm getting my A$$ kicked back here" by the wind.

 

Two positives for the RSV on this trip.

1. No mechanical trouble.

2. Plenty of power for the hills. (Went with 3 HD Ultras, 2 with trailers as was I, they either were down shifting or loosing a lot of ground when I wasn't)

 

I don't know what I'll do. I'll have to do some research. Wing? Ultra? Or wait to see what Yamaha does with the RSV.

 

 

 

 

Two options you may want to consider:

1. Get a pillow top seat off a 09.

2. Get a different A$$!!!

[cecdoo]

Just finished a 4347 mile trip (keeping up with MidRSV) from SE MI to Sturgis, Yellowstone, Beartooth and the entire area. I'm ready to find something else to ride next year. The seat sucks even with the Butler mod. It was OK for the first couple of g's but the last 1500, man was my a$$ hurting. The whine (yep had the basket switch) killed my ears. The engine noise, well what can I say, very loud, sounds very loose. The passenger seat is 6" higher than the operator so as my lovely lady said on more than one occasion " I'm getting my A$$ kicked back here" by the wind.

 

Two positives for the RSV on this trip.

1. No mechanical trouble.

2. Plenty of power for the hills. (Went with 3 HD Ultras, 2 with trailers as was I, they either were down shifting or loosing a lot of ground when I wasn't)

 

I don't know what I'll do. I'll have to do some research. Wing? Ultra? Or wait to see what Yamaha does with the RSV.

 

 

 

Get the Clearveiw xl shield with the vent, your wife will love it:thumbsup: Craig

[rlyons]

Well good luck. I have owned the Wing and the Harley and the Venture wins hands down. The wing had a great engine,smooth and quiet but the seating position and the foot position sucked and the tupperware squeeked like crazy. The Harley sounded like it was coming apart, shook the fillings out of my teeth at idle and low speeds and needs the upper end rebuilt on average at 35 to 50,000 miles. Both of those bikes on the road by the hundreds every time you go out and who wants to ride a bike just like everyone else? I can live with a little noise.

[wizard]

Wow! Sounds like some people are only meant to ride in a cage. On most (all) bikes I've had, you straddle a motor exposing your legs to the heat and your ears to the noise, your exposed to to all of the elements, wind, rain, heat and cold, you must pay attention to your surroundings, the road and cages with someone just daydreaming while driving. What some complain about are the very reasons I ride.

[Yammy]

Does anyone with an 09 have a whine or chirp noise?

[pickinfred]

I put an "I" basket in my scoot which quieted it down really well. Until I dragged (or is it drug?) my trailer 400 miles and then it got progressively louder, to the point where it may be louder than it was before the "I" basket.

 

So, now I'm going to look at this from a different angle.

Has anyone considered some type of sound deadening coating on the clutch cover to maybe lower the amount of transmitted whine?

I'm still researching this, but I do know that what ever coating used would have to take a bit of heat as the side cover gets fairly warm. Maybe some of that pick up bed liner.

I figured that I'd pick up a spare cover to play with from Ebay.

 

Yesterday I was experimenting with sound deadening foam. I taped a large piece to the lower fairing area as there seems to be a lot of sound bouncing from that area with no luck. No matter how much foam I taped or wrapped around the right side of the bike, it stayed just as whiney.

 

Now to the next idea.

I have my old "G" basket and I'm toying with the thought of having the teeth on this basket "machined" slightly.

Maybe a small grove cut in the center of the teeth of the primary driver gear would change things enough to lower the whine.

Or possibly a slight radius to the top of the teeth.

 

Anybody with a metal working background have any thoughts on any of this? I'm going to stop and talk to the local high performance engine builder on Thursday to see what they say.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

Thinking about this post this weekend while riding WV VA MD areas for about 680 miles. The whine on my 07 RSV was somewhat annoying. I did however notice the whine was 75% gone by placing my legs snug to the fuel tank. There must be a bouncing, echoing effect of the windshield and flairing of some type going on to amplify the actual whine??? Also the Bluegrass Music and Scenery made the other 25% seem so small, I'm looking forward to being punished again....so RSV deliver!! and:big-grin-emoticon:

[midnight maddog]

The mechanic at my local Yamaha dealer rode my '06 RSV with 25k on it today to listen to my chirp-screamer. I told them about all I had read on this forum about it. They said "never had a complaint before". After the ride, mechanic said "you definately got a screaming bird thats not supposed to be there". SM called Yamaha. He called me back and said Yamaha did not think it was the clutch basket, but to tear it down and they would fix it. So I guess I'll see what they come up with. My worry here is that this dealer only took on Yamahas 2-3 years ago for the area. Probably why they hadn't heard of this before.

[TonyLudwick]

Has anyone tried oil additives to solve this? One that comes to mind is the Lucas Oil Stabilizer that is commonly sold in auto parts stores. It is supposed to make the oil stick to the gears and other moving parts more. The only question I would have is would the product be compatible with a wet clutch? The gears involved are spinning at a high rate of speed constantly throwing oil off of them. If you could come up with a way to get more oil to stick to the gears, this may deaden some of the sound. I have not tried this, but has anyone else?

 

 

Here is one testimonial.

http://www.lucasoil.com/articles1-2585/TonyGardmenusesLucasHeavyDutyOilStabilizerin

 

They make motorcycle oil as well.

http://www.lucasoil.com/pages3-19/CycleDivision

 

 

Regards,

Tony

[Condor]

It happens a lot when a bike sits. I just put it in gear, pull in on the clutch lever, and rock the bike back and forth. That generally breaks the plates free.....

[Seaking]

Has anyone tried oil additives to solve this? One that comes to mind is the Lucas Oil Stabilizer that is commonly sold in auto parts stores. It is supposed to make the oil stick to the gears and other moving parts more. The only question I would have is would the product be compatible with a wet clutch? The gears involved are spinning at a high rate of speed constantly throwing oil off of them. If you could come up with a way to get more oil to stick to the gears, this may deaden some of the sound. I have not tried this, but has anyone else?

Tony

 

I had tried some other product that was quoted of doing the same thing and I strongly believe it contributed to my burning out the clutch.. Those products are meant to make things more 'slippery' which is great for motor parts but though a wet clutch is meant to be bathed in oil for lubrication, how much more 'slippery' do you wanna make it?

 

Just my opinion based on experience.. other's opinions and experience will most likely differ..

[jimmyglenn]

Just wondering, has anyone taken the clutch basket out. Closed the motor back up and started it to see for sure if it is the clutch?

[bikenut]

I run the lucus syn oil stabilizer in my 06 and have for about 4 years now. I still have the whin but not bad. Bike has 48000 miles on it with no problems

I have had no problems running it as long as you run the amount they say, I run 7 1/2 oz in my bike.

[Kirby]

Does anyone with an 09 have a whine or chirp noise?

 

 

I have a small amount of whine on mine. It's an '09. Usually it's just at a certain rpm. That rpm is usually somewhere in the "around town" speeds in 3rd or 4th gears!

[RideTime]

davecb

I have noticed the same thing. I have only had my 08 RSTD for about 6k miles. Got it w 4k on it and immediately did the service and oil change w Castrol synthetic. My bike did not like that oil but I stuck with it not knowing as much about this issue as I do now. As I got to about 7k the chirp/whine got REALLY loud. The weather also started to get 90+ here in Texas so it was hard to say which had a bigger part. At 8k service and oil change I went with Rotella 15W-40. Within about 200-300 miles the whine was gone, but the chirp remained.

After 3 trips to my local dealership to see about an I-basket swap, the dealership felt it was a final drive (rear end) issue and not a clutch issue. Two trips and a call to Yamaha yielded that there was a "message" out about improperly installed spacers in the final drive housing. Mine was found to have this issue. The tech pulled mine apart, found the grommets that hold the spacers were not seated correctly, liberally lubed everything and put it all back together. I have only been riding it for about 150 miles since the "fix", but so far all the whine and chirp is gone. Also the temperature has peaked here at 100+ .

I will admit to being very skeptical about this having been a final drive issue as I would have bet real money the sound was coming from right under me and not behind me, but am both humbled and happy with the outcome...............so far.

Maybe I missed it, but is this still working as well, and has anyone else had good results from having work or adjustments done in the final drive? And, has anyone made changes in the final drive fluid that caused a chirp to either go away, or get worse?

Edited October 25, 2010 by RideTime

[Chiro]

Does anyone with an 09 have a whine or chirp noise?

 

 

I have a 2009 with 39000 miles on her. I have a MILD whine but no chirp. The whine is no louder than the whine I had on my 2003 Goldwing or the 1996 and 1999 Voyagers. Appears to me that all multi cylinder Jap bikes have a whine to some degree.

[nbowersock]

Ridetime, I have not had any issues with the chirp since the final drive was "adjusted". I've put almost 4k on her since. The dealer has not got back to me on the "letter" about this issue with the spacers. I've called and left messages twice and talked to the Service Manager also twice, he is very nice but never seems to have it in front of him. This is a bit frustrating as I was hoping to better put out some info on this topic.

[RideTime]

NBOWERSOCK,

I appreciate your reply. After taking an 08 RSTD out for a short spin saturday, I've been scouring all the posts looking for answers, and yours looks promising. Thanks for the update......

Edited October 26, 2010 by RideTime