Transmission noise

[Junglejim75686]

There is a noise coming from the transmission on my 89 when running. I noticed it at an idle but when I pull the clutch in it goes away the I put it on the center stand and put it in gear and it does it until I pull the clutch in but doesn't seem to really be that way after it gets hot. Any ideas?

[Condor]

When I first bought my '83 the engine was on the noisy side. When I did an oil change I went with Valvoline 20-50 MC specific wet clutch oil and was amazed at how quite she got. I suspect you may want to change your oil.....

[Junglejim75686]

Thanks for the info

[MiCarl]

Engines don't run perfectly smooth, they speed up and slow down depending on what strokes all the cylinders are in. It's more pronounced at idle.

 

There is some play in the way the gears lock together in the transmission. When you idle in gear on the stand all that speeding up and slowing down makes the gears rattle. Perfectly normal.

 

Hard to say in neutral without hearing it - some clatter is normal. My wife's Shadow had what sounded like a rod knock in neutral, but it'd go away if she put a bit of pressure on the shift lever. I attributed it to a slightly bent or worn shift fork and chose not to worry about it. Never gave us a problem.

 

If your idling in neutral noise sounds random and faint it's probably normal. If it's a regular knock, knock, knock it'll be similar to what her Shadow was doing.

[Chaharly]

I've also heard that having the carbs out of sync can make the engine quite a bit noisier. Maybe something to look into?

[MiCarl]

I've also heard that having the carbs out of sync can make the engine quite a bit noisier. Maybe something to look into?

 

An excellent suggestion.

 

Anything that causes the engine to run rough will make the noises I described worse.

[Condor]

I've never heard of an engine in need a sync causing engine noise. What I have heard, and experienced, is a lot of vibration in the grips when it's slightly out of sync. Way out of sync and the motor will have a hard time staying lit...

[Chaharly]

I've never heard of an engine in need a sync causing engine noise. What I have heard, and experienced, is a lot of vibration in the grips when it's slightly out of sync. Way out of sync and the motor will have a hard time staying lit...

 

I actually remember when I was still a 16 year old living with dad and we decided to turn the idle up, well basically he turned the carb synch screw up on the right side to raise the idle and I remember it being a much louder ride at idle, and also I remember it chugging really hard if I lugged it. Like I said that's been almost 7 years ago now, so my memory might be a little fudged but I certainly do remember him turning the carb synch screw to adjust the idle...

 

[Condor]

That happens a lot. The idle will increase by turning in that sync screw in the right front off #4 carb, and it can be mistaken for an idle screw by someone that is unfamiliar with syncing the carbs on a 1stGen. What happens is #4 overrides the idle setting on #2 , but it also screws up the sync. I've seen that happen a lot on second owner Ventures...