Geez ... that doesn't sound very good!

[DuMar]

Happy TG all.

So I let my insurance expire on the 11th and sadly put my baby away in the shop for the winter. While thinking about how to best winterize her, I start her up on the centre stand the other day and let her fully warm up. Never having actually owned a bike with a centre stand before, I decide for the first time to put it in 1st gear and let the rear tire spin. To my surprise, I'm hearing a terrible metallic sound emanating from the engine somewhere. Its not cyclic, but just kind of comes and goes. The rear wheel is happy spinning away at about 14kph to 15kph, as it should be, but the noise is disturbing so I shut her down. ???

What's going on here? Is this some kind of backlash sound I'm hearing, or what? Anyone out there have the same experience? :question:

Thanks,
Mike

 

[rem]

That's a tough one, Mike. My first thought would be that there is something loose and just rattling a bit when a specific rpm is attained. Might be something as simple as that, I hope. It's amazing how some little tiny metal thingy can make a racket like that. R

 

[fredz43]

I read about this either here or on ADV quite a while ago. Consensus was that this is not unusual for a shaft drive bike when on the center stand.

 

[Firefight911]

Though it is difficult to diagnose like this (there's the disclaimer) I would put all my money in on the idea that it is just fine. Shaft drive bikes do not like to idle along in gear. They make all kinds of backlash noises while doing this. The noise probably goes away as you steadily increase the rpms. This is because you have loaded the mating surfaces from the motor to the wheel. Same thing happens when you close the throttle. Once back at idle things start to get noisy again.

Now, on to the whole store it and starting it up thing. IMO, and many others out there, you are doing nothing other than creating an issue by starting a bike and letting it idle until it's warm. In this scenario you can not remove all the condensation that is created within the motor and the motor really never fully warms up in this state. You wash the cylinder walls which increase wear, the oil pressure remains adequate but low in this state, increasing wear, the condensation is mixed throughout the oil creating corrosion opportunity, and the by products of combustion build up in the crankcase as they can't be eliminated due to not being warmed up enough, etc. Letting it run until the fan comes on is not warmed up either.

Your best bet is to put some stabilizer in the tank, top it off, go for one last ride to get the stabilizer throughout the fuel system, park it, put it on a Battery Tender and kiss it good winter. Of course, having it all cleaned up is a prudent move as is filling the tires to max sidewall pressure and getting the weight off them.

Just my two cents but you are hurting way more than helping by doing what you are doing, IMO.

 

[~TABASCO~]

As Firefight said... Its more than likely just fine... The Yamaha seem to have a loud backlash on the mechanism that is on the pinion of the out put shaft. Its similar the FJR. I found when I was off road and on little chatter bumps, the tire would load an unload really quick when I was accelerating hard.. I thought something was broken because it was so loud. I think its the same thing your hearing. But the bike is 100% fine and nothing wrong.
Do the normal winter prep....... You could also just think about getting the four year extended warranty like many of of have... It could easily pay off in spades the fourth or fifth year. If i'm out in the middle of the desert and a gear breaks that will be taken care of.... It payed off big time on a road star years ago...

 

[colorider]

I read about this either here or on ADV quite a while ago. Consensus was that this is not unusual for a shaft drive bike when on the center stand.

::026:: Some more than others, but not uncommon.

 

[markjenn]

It doesn't matter whether shaft, belt, chain, whatever, bikes don't like idling in gear on stands with rear tire spinning and no load on the drivetrain. It is a completely unnatural thing for the bike, thus, you get all sorts of odd harmonic interactions with the power pulses of the engine, the backlash in the drive train, and the rotational intertia of the rear wheel. Singles generally make the most racket, twins generally not good either. A four-cyl might be smooth or might not. In any event, not something to do or be worried about.

Running the bike up to temp idling is not a great idea either. Do your winterization and leave the bike undisturbed until spring. Periodic startups without riding the bike do more harm than good.

- Mark

 

[DuMar]

Thanks guys.

I felt like it was a drive train loading issue, but just needed to read your comforting words.

I also thought I might catch shit for starting her up, but it was just that one last time and won't happen again until March ... I promise ::005::

Firefight911:
You made some very good points about moisture issues in the crankcase etc. Does it make sense to pull the plugs and drain the oil and what ever contaminates might be in there over winter? I just changed the oil about a 1000km ago, but would certainly change it in the spring again anyway. My shop is unheated at the present time, but stays nice and dry year round.

Thanks again,
Mike

 

[Firefight911]

When winter storage was an issue for me I would always do a complete oil and filter swap, wash and clean and lube thoroughly, go run the bike until it was up to complete running temp, aka., the last ride of the year, stop and fill up at a gas station after adding a stabilizer, ride home, park it, wipe down. Come spring time, wipe down, air check, move all the controls several times to make sure everything worked, check all the fluid levels, ensure a fully charged battery, and start her up. A close ear and eye on all things to make sure the oil pressure came up, etc., go ride. I would run the tank of fuel down as far as I could and then refill and ride some more. Oil change would happen at the next normal oil change interval.

This routine always worked fine for me and there were never any issues. I have heard of others who change the oil in the spring time as well but can't figure out why when they swapped it out when they put her to bed.

For you and your 1000km old oil, go run her and put her away. Just add in the 1000km to your next oil change next spring. I think you'd be fine. 1000km isn't much on oil nowadays.

 

[DuMar]

When winter storage was an issue for me I would always do a complete oil and filter swap, wash and clean and lube thoroughly, go run the bike until it was up to complete running temp, aka., the last ride of the year, stop and fill up at a gas station after adding a stabilizer, ride home, park it, wipe down. Come spring time, wipe down, air check, move all the controls several times to make sure everything worked, check all the fluid levels, ensure a fully charged battery, and start her up. A close ear and eye on all things to make sure the oil pressure came up, etc., go ride. I would run the tank of fuel down as far as I could and then refill and ride some more. Oil change would happen at the next normal oil change interval.

This routine always worked fine for me and there were never any issues. I have heard of others who change the oil in the spring time as well but can't figure out why when they swapped it out when they put her to bed.

For you and your 1000km old oil, go run her and put her away. Just add in the 1000km to your next oil change next spring. I think you'd be fine. 1000km isn't much on oil nowadays.

Thanks, Phil.

By the way, I noticed the great T shirt the little one is wearing in your avatar some time ago and had one made for my 1 year old grand daughter.

Mike