Engine sounds

I got in my first good long ride today. Was great and this area is magnificent for riding. However, I became concerned about how much noise the motor makes (aside from the exhaust sound) and can't help but wonder if something is wrong. It's whirring like a dervish, very audible. Reminds me of nothing more than the noise a bit in a drill press makes as it spins into metal. Maybe it's just things spinning around but it's loud. Oil was good. My ST has a noisy motor too but it sounds more click-clacky. My VTX kinda makes a sound like the XRR, like I can almost hear the 900cc piston sliding up and down in the cylinder. But not a whirring sound. I left it in the back of my truck, will get somebody to listen to it, or go listen to the used one for sale at the Honda shop if I can get to El Paso. Maybe I'll be learning more about XRR motors than I intended at this early stage.

Anyway, be glad to hear any thoughts on how noisy the spinning insides are on these beasts.

im new to the xr650 world,thought the same thing as you.....i get lots of driveline noise from the xr in lower gears,hard to explain but funny noises,one thing i did find was the "dampner " on the cluch basket was unsurvicable,so i replaced it,it quitened down the noise but i found a fairly noisy enginestill after repair.....anyway i always cut and inspect oil filters on changout and no metal debri so im not worried about the noises,have you ever ridden a ktm?

And I've no idea what a whirring dervish sounds like :~), is that the chain is either worn out, too long, or very dry and in need of lube.

river wrote:I got in my first good ;ong ride today. Was great and this area is magnificent for riding. However, I became concerned about how much noise the motor makes (aside from the exhaust sound) and can't help but wonder if something is wrong. It's whirring like a dervish, very audible. Reminds me of nothing more than the noise a bit in a drill press makes as it spins into metal. Maybe it's just things spinning around but it's loud. Oil was good. My ST has a noisy motor too but it sounds more click-clacky. My VTX kinda makes a sound like the XRR, like I can almost hear the 900cc piston sliding up and down in the cylinder. But not a whirring sound. I left it in the back of my truck, will get somebody to listen to it, or go listen to the used one for sale at the Honda shop if I can get to El Paso. Maybe I'll be learning more about XRR motors than I intended at this early stage.

Anyway, be glad to hear any thoughts on how noisy the spinning insides are on these beasts.

Not sure about the sounds yours is making but the pig is noisy, even when running correctly, especially if you have an aluminum skid plate.

I can really hear the valve train too.

River:

It almost seems you are describing a chain/chain guide sound. Does it make the noise while not moving?

The aluminum skid plate guess is a good one, as well. All kinds of funky sounds seem to be created and/or amplified through the plate, seemingly directly to one's ears while riding.

How's about a list of BRP noises. I'll start.

-Tick, tick, tick, tick.... Valves and/or rockers.

-Clackity clack... clackity clack (sometimes intermittent).... Timing chain.

-Screeeech! Clutch bushing.

Heh, that's great. I guess I can only describe it as whirring, I imaging whirring parts inside the motor spinning, which I should not hear if it is all slipping around on oil unless there is metal against metal or something. I'll take it and let a mechanic listen and report back, but please keep the sounds coming, maybe one willl ring a bell (pun intended ).

I should get my stethoscope out and listen.

river wrote:Heh, that's great. I guess I can only describe it as whirring, I imaging whirring parts inside the motor spinning, which I should not hear if it is all slipping around on oil unless there is metal against metal or something. I'll take it and let a mechanic listen and report back, but please keep the sounds coming, maybe one willl ring a bell (pun intended).

I should get my stethoscope out and listen.

Sounds like you're whirring about nothing...Sorry couldn't resist.

Putting weather stripping between your frame and skid plate won't completely solve a noise issue but it does help. I used marine grade stripping that I found at Lowes. It's better than the regular foam type that compresses into nothing and rots fast if your piggy likes to play in the mud.

Silencing-The-Skid-Plate

Hopefully, your Pig is not the creator of the Swine Flu. Good luck, when I first got my pig, I thought it made some strange whirling noises, etc. but a year later it still makes weird noises and all is well.

OK, I'll hope for the best. If they are not fatal, I don't mind the noise, so am not worried about damping it. I just hope they don't mean the bike is about to explode when I'm 55 miles from civilization.

That's the nice thing about street bikes, get the roadside protection and it if breaks you're OK, not on dirt bikes.

Can you trace the noise to the oil filter/pump cover? On the YahooGroups XR650R forum people would occasionally report a buzzing noise after an oil change e.g. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/XR650R/message/4072.
I've done a few dozen oil changes and never experienced this noise.
If you've got a metal bashplate, take it off and see what it sounds like riding it about.

Cheers,
Phil

Thanks, I'll give that a read.

I took it to the Honda shop. For as much as I dislike the sales guys there, the service dept seems OK. I had their main moto wrench look at it. He has been wrenching for moto teams for a couple decades and does for the CRF250 moto rider they sponsor. He said my motor sounds fine, normal. Did suggest checking my oil after a couple more rides though for metal. So I hope I'm good to go, til my next paranoid crises.

I flew from Las Cruces to West Palm Beach to buy my ST1300, w/ 1800 miles on it. During the four day ride home I was convinced \it had been in a big wreck, but once I got it home, it's been a love affair since. Just paranoid I guess when buying vehicles.

Dude, you're paying close attention to you bike. That's great! Reminds me of a book my English teacher handed me in about 1975 or so. It was Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. He was always listening for odd sounds from the bike too.

river wrote:Thanks, I'll give that a read.

I took it to the Honda shop. For as much as I dislike the sales guys there, the service dept seems OK. I had their main moto wrench look at it. He has been wrenching for moto teams for a couple decades and does for the CRF250 moto rider they sponsor. He said my motor sounds fine, normal. Did suggest checking my oil after a couple more rides though for metal. So I hope I'm good to go, til my next paranoid crises.

I flew from Las Cruces to West Palm Beach to buy my ST1300, w/ 1800 miles on it. During the four day ride home I was convinced \it had been in a big wreck, but once I got it home, it's been a love affair since. Just paranoid I guess when buying vehicles.

Bump wrote:Dude, you're paying close attention to you bike. That's great!

I bought my first thumper (an XT600Z with 24k miles) after 16 years of riding 2-strokes. Well into my first 200 mile outing all the noises it was making had me thinking it needed a bottom-end rebuild, new piston and rebore etc. Rode the 200 miles back gingerly below 50mph, the noises never got any worse and I eventually put another 41k on the engine before getting around to taking it apart.
4 years later I had a Cagiva Elefant 900ie, which developed a loud ticking only at 4000rpm. So for a couple of weeks I rode around without cruising at 4000 if possible. I decided to lift the rocker covers and found a broken exhaust valve spring! The Desmodromic valve system had kept working all this time, the spring was important to hold the valve shut if the closing rocker clearance got too big. If I'd left it much longer the valve seating could've burnt out.
So I had a benign noise and malignant one. The first came with the bike ("They all do that, sir") and the other came on while riding. If I'd bought that Cagiva with the ticking noise would've I just lived with it? Probably not, because I'd be curious to what it was.

For the next few oil changes check the screen in the bottom of the frame downtube. Thats where the bigger bits get trapped, and if the previous owner(s) have never done this there could still be swarf there from the production line. Mine had golden shavings and blue cloth fibres in it. After the 2nd oil change and downtube screen check it stayed clean.

Cheers,
Phil

countjocular wrote:


For the next few oil changes check the screen in the bottom of the frame downtube. Thats where the bigger bits get trapped, and if the previous owner(s) have never done this there could still be swarf there from the production line. Mine had golden shavings and blue cloth fibres in it. After the 2nd oil change and downtube screen check it stayed clean.

Cheers,
Phil

Thanks Phil, the mechanic did not mention that, but now that I know it exists thanks to you, I will check it.

I wonder if I will have time to actually read service manuals when I retire?

big i here my xr just got noisey after 2 hundred miles , after a new pistion , hot cam, new haeders . Pulled it down....found nothing put back to gether still there.Has lost no power still goes hard,are they just noisey motors

One thing I have noticed. Cam chain tensioner. I have owned the bike since day one and it has three hard seasons of sheer abuse with maintenance. Yes it is noisey but I replaced the cam chain tensioner for the hell of it and some noise went away. This noise appears when you are running the bike at about 3000rpm and holding. Sounds like a rattle or whirring noise, what was happening at that rpm was the cam chain tensioner was slipping back not allowing the tension to hold. These tensioners if you have ever had one apart are spring loaded and self locking and tend to wear out. My bro has the same bike and we just did his to quiet it up some, best way to tell if yours needs a tensioner is to remove the socket head bolt with a 8mm wrench and insert a small "blade" screwdriver into the tensioner you will find that if you turn the screw inside there it will snap back. Start the engine and hold onto the screwdriver - rev it up and see if the screwdriver starts to turn as rpm's raise. (this will tell you if your tensioner is backing off) Do not force the screwdriver any direction - just hold it. You can also hear the noise change if you add some tension to the cam chain at 3000 rpm. Just some ideas. Clutch basket makes noise too but is not any trouble to the beast.

honda650dsp wrote:One thing I have noticed. Cam chain tensioner.

Sounds like my corolla, had very similar issue, til I replaced it. Will check it out, thanks.