Clutch gemlins?

[Scotty and his Scooter]

Hi guys!  Haven't been on here for a while.  Been riding the '86 Venture.  What an awesome bike!  I have a question about the clutch.  it works great except that if I start the bike with the clutch engaged in gear I get a weird grinding noise.  The PO instrusted me not to do this so I haven't done it ( did once because I forgot).  When the bike is hot, sometimes I hear a little wine when I'm decelerating with the clutch engaged at slow speeds.  Any thoughts about what this could be?  Clutch does not slip.

[RDawson]

Sounds like the starter clutch is coming apart. Common issue.  Here’s a link. 

 

[saddlebum]

17 hours ago, Scotty and his Scooter said:

Hi guys!  Haven't been on here for a while.  Been riding the '86 Venture.  What an awesome bike!  I have a question about the clutch.  it works great except that if I start the bike with the clutch engaged in gear I get a weird grinding noise.  The PO instrusted me not to do this so I haven't done it ( did once because I forgot).  When the bike is hot, sometimes I hear a little wine when I'm decelerating with the clutch engaged at slow speeds.  Any thoughts about what this could be?  Clutch does not slip.

Other than a possible sprague clutch failure. If the bike has the original 2 brush starter it can give these types of symptoms or if it has a weak battery and/or dirty connections. My symptoms went away once I installed a four brush starter.

The whine upon decelerating in gear is most likely coming from the drive pumpkin and is not all that uncommon nor is it always something to worry about. The sound is caused during deceleration because at this point the crown gear is placing thrust on the pinion gear, versus acceleration when the  pinion is place thrust on the crown gear. The intensity of this whine is based on the  backlash between the two gears which can based on how the backlash was set up during a rebuild to  worn bearings. Drain the oil into a clean container check for a metallic appearance and/or fish around in the oil and the diff through the fill and drain holes looking for an abnormal amount of metal pieces or fillings. Don't be alarmed if you come with a small dusting amount of metal this is normal. What you are looking for is an unusual large amount or size. If nothing worrisome is found refill with clean oil, forget it , just ride and learn to ignore the noise.

[Scotty and his Scooter]

That works for me.  Just changed the oil on Sunday.  Tiny amount of metal shavings on the magnet.  Otherwise all looks good.  I won't worry about the noise and just ride it!  As long as I start it in neutral without the clutch engaged there's no noise.  It is pretty loud when I start it in gear with the clutch engaged, but I just won't do that!

Thank you Saddlebum!

[Scotty and his Scooter]

On 8/14/2023 at 9:23 PM, RDawson said:

Sounds like the starter clutch is coming apart. Common issue.  Here’s a link. 

 

Thank you!