douglasp.burdick

Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. I do believe the whine is related to the gears and that somehow I will have to learn to live with it but shame on Yamaha for not fixing such a problem after so many years! I'm old and retired and living on a fixed income so another/replacement bike isn't an option. I do appreciate all the helpful advice I have received here. Hope to meet you folks down the road so we can compare notes. In the mean time, I'm gonna name my bike "Rosie", as in Rosie O'Donnell, 'cause the way it shrieks and whines, it sounds like an episode of "The View"!

Lash adjustment for the gears?

Scary thought but your right I think. I am not gonna blow a fortune on getting rid of this noise. I'll probably try different oils to cushion the blow between teeth and use ear plugs.

Well my wife and I went for a ride and shot some video. Unfortunately all you can hear is wind noise. But I'm now convinced that it must be gear noise from the primary. You can hear when you unload the throttle and get back on it and you can feel the excess lash between the gear teeth. So I hear that Yamaha used straight cut racing style gears instead of helically cut gears? Guess there is no solution for that? Are the straight cut gears from the v-max? That would make sense because the v-max is a power cruiser and you would want really tough gears to handle that kind of power.

Tell 'ya what Joe, I don't have a gopro, but maybe I can get some video with my camera phone that will give you an idea of what I have here. I'll be back with the video in an hour or two if I can get any that's any good. Thanks to you and everyone on this forum for all the advice, maybe this can be fixed.

Nah, the height is ok.

Nah, it's not too bad as far as the height goes. Its a big tourer so it's gonna have some weight up top.

Cool video! "another car lost his wheel!" I love it! Yeah, that's about the same noise I'm hearing. I almost think a main bearing is going bad. There isn't any knocking so I don't think it's rods. The noise is only there under load, so i'm not sure a main bearing failure would do that. So am I to understand that a luxo-tourer is gonna be this load on purpose? That's like buying a loud, brand new Cadillac. Why did Yamaha bother putting a stereo on this thing, if you have to wear ear plugs to ride it? Look, I dont mean to complain. I have owned some of the best and mostly the worst cars and bikes over the years and this is my very first touring bike, and to my way of thinking a loud touring bike is kind of defeating the purpose of a touring bike. Do you think I should bother with a dealer or will they just try to sell me parts and labor I might not need?

i'm gonna take it to a Yamaha dealer tomorrow and see what they think. I have to ride it over thirty miles to get there and I hope it will make it. It is hands down the noisest thing I have ever owned, and I'm really concerned that something is about to let go inside of the thing. I wont let my wife on it again untill someone can check it out for me. I will call the service department first and quiz them to see if they really know these bikes. If I dont like the answer they give me then Ill see if ETCSJOE will make the trip here from Goose creek to check it out. I hate to ask anyone to ride so far to help but I dont want to ride it in this condition. This racket on a "touring machine" is ridiculous! How are you supposed to enjoy the ride or even try to use the stereo with all that noise? I don't think my particular machine is making the same sort of noise you folks are accustomed to.

Me, I would LOVE to camp out, but my wife's idea of ruffing it is staying at a Hampton Inn instead of the Marriott. Yeah, just PM me, I can maybe meet you half way some where. Maybe Orangeburg? That way I can take hwy 601 and stay off I-26. This bike sounds like it's gonna blow at any speed north of 60. Thanks for the offer just let me know when it's convenient for you. I'm retired so I'm pretty flexible. Doug

Thanks! Any help I can get will be appreciated! we may have to cancel our mountain ride in Ga. next month if I can't solve this. No way would I trust this on the interstate, it's really loud!

Yeah, I am going to take it to the local Yamaha dealer today and try to find out which end is making all the racket, as I'm just not sure. Hope I can find a back way to the dealer as I don't believe it's safe to operate at highway speed the way it is.

Yeah. Silver. Here is a couple of pictures of it.and here is the bike it replaced. not real happy with my choice right now.

Oh, it's just a stock,silver venture. Ill have some pics tomorrow and post them here. Thanks for all the help! it's reassuring to know the whine isn't detrimental, as my wife and I are taking it on a long ride in the ga mountains next month. it's a ride called the gauntlet.

Sounds good. I already changed the oil the day I bought it. It now has Mobil -1 syn, and syn 85-90 hypoid gear oil in the rearend. Maybe the noise will get better over time. Thanks for the advise! Seems like im always the only one who thinks the top gear isnt high enough, and the RPM's are too high. I thought that about my Roadstar and my Kawasaki Drifter 1500. Everyone said I was nuts!. It must be from years of driving high reving Fiats and Lancia's. Now I just want lots of low end torque and low RPM's at speed, as in Relaxed touring, but I ain't gonna get it from this bike. oh well, I'll crank up the stereo!

Thanks! Yes, I know about clutch baskets. the issue about the diff came up when I did a search on this site using the word Whine. Some owners have had issues with the pinon gear wearing out and producing a lot of noise. I don't believe this is the case with mine, but I'm not 100% sure. The whine is most pronounced at speeds near or above 60, and especially when going uphill or accelerating hard. Does any of that sound like the clutch basket might be at fault? My hearing isn't the best anymore so it might be from the rear but I tend to think it's coming from the right side of the engine, where the clutch lives.

Thanks! I'll look at changing the clutches too, while I'm at it. Are there any problems in there I need to worry about? Weak clutch springs or anything like that? Weak clutch springs were an issue on early Kawasaki Vulcan 1500s, which was my last bike.

Lower? as in, the engine will rev even higher in 5th than it already does? Guess that's the way to go if you live in the mountains. I haven't had a chance to ride it in the mountains yet but soon, very soon!

Thanks! where do I get this I basket and about how much is it?

Hello, my name is Doug. I live in Winnsboro,SC. My wife recently talked me into buying a '05 RSV so we can do long distance touring. This bike has 48000 miles on it. It whines. My Kawasaki Drifter, a '99 model with 37000 miles was quite, no whine from the transmission or rear end( mine was the 1500 which is shaft drive). From what I'm seeing here, the rear ends go out alot, and i'll need something called an "I" basket to replace the clutch basket. Is the I basket a permanent fix? How often will I have to tear apart the rear end???? I really think I may have made a terrible mistake buying this bike. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.