Ran the hills this weekend- now drive line noise

[starford]

I ran with a group of guys thru Yosemite this weekend on my '14 C1400 Touring. The bike has 3k miles on it now. Two issues cropped up during this trip that I'm hoping to get some more owner's perspective on.

The most concerning is the noise coming from the drive line. Best I can do to describe this is, in low gears (1-3, some 4th), the transmission line makes a mechanical noise that follows RPM, a sort of rrrRrrRrrRrr!! as you speed up and put torque on the real wheel. If I stay in low gear, say 2nd, to negotiate corners, the sound is alway there as I put on power. It's easily loud enough to be heard thru a closed helmet.

If I had to guess I'd say it sounds like there's little to no oil in there to damp the vibrations. There is not an oily mess on the rear rim to signal a blown final drive, however. Any thoughts?

Next one is fast idle when hot. After climbing the mountain to Lick Observatory, a really steep, technical, 1st gear hairpin turn affair, I get to the top and the bike wants to idle at 2,000 RPM, slowly settling to 1,500 RPM but never back to 'normal' at about 1,200 RPM. I wonder if this is an altitude thing or just a hot system working differently than normal. Any thoughts?

Thanks, guys.

 

[roadventure]

I had my rear wheel off this weekend to get a new tire mounted (5100 miles on the OEM Dunlop D251). I found that the gear on the rear wheel was ABSOLUTELY DRY. There was never any grease on it. I applied some waterproof gear grease during re-assembly. I have not ridden it yet, but hope that this will help settle a little of the noise.

NOTE: The gear on the wheel and the mating spline on the rear drive are straight cut gear teeth. They will NEVER be silent, but I was really surprised to find that they had no grease on them from the factory.

 

[abbienormal]

If you are speaking of the drive splines they only mate. They are not gears. You see no gears with the wheel removed. Mine was also bone dry with rust holding it together so tight I had to pound it off. I used Honda Moly 60 lube which is what Honda recommends on their drive splines. At least I think it was that or 40 but I had the 60. I have replaced the tire twice since then and it slid right off.
This winter I will probably pull the swing arm and maybe the steering stem to see if they bothered to grease them at the factory. It is really a sign of not caring about quality when they don't bother greasing components that will fail without it.

 

[Guzzi_Lou]

I had a noise that sounded mechanical and kinda rattley and it ended up being the heat shield vibrating against either the exhaust pipe or the end of the adjacent heat shield ... posted it on here somewhere but basically check and see where it may touch and bend it back with a long screwdriver or similar.

Don't forget that the exhaust pipe will actually increase in length (assume diameter too) when it's hot (noticed this on my old Pontiac many times where the tip would be poking out a good inch after a long drive).

 

[mgmike]

Quite frankly Guzzi 1400 has way to many problems!!! I would have though by now they would have ironed
out the wrinkles.......

 

[starford]

Oh, yeah, it's had that problem too, which was really minor the first time- just back the screws out and re-LockTite them into place. On this trip I actually lost the screw from the right side front bit of britework, so took it off at a gas station to kill the rattle. It's in the side case now with the surviving screw while I look for a replacement M6x10.

This driveline noise very much is _not_ the ringing rattle, but a much more transmission/driveshaft gear mesh kinda sound. Everyone else's bike is quiet in this department? Only engine & exhaust noise?

 

[john zibell]

Oh, yeah, it's had that problem too, which was really minor the first time- just back the screws out and re-LockTite them into place. On this trip I actually lost the screw from the right side front bit of britework, so took it off at a gas station to kill the rattle. It's in the side case now with the surviving screw while I look for a replacement M6x10.

This driveline noise very much is _not_ the ringing rattle, but a much more transmission/driveshaft gear mesh kinda sound. Everyone else's bike is quiet in this department? Only engine & exhaust noise?

If still under warranty, get thee to a dealer!! Get this documented (in writing) even if they take no action. It may take a bit of tear down to find the cause. Keep pestering them and hopefully a service rep may be brought in to diagnose.

 

[sir fred]

I hear gear whine..but I heard gear whine on my Valkyrie also.
I know there is tire noise from the Dunlops.

 

[Touringman]

I hear gear whine..but I heard gear whine on my Valkyrie also.Noticible

I hear it too. Chalked it up to straight cut "industrial" gears in the transmission. Just one of the little noises a Guzzi makes that you won't hear on most other bikes of any make. Can be heard in second, and VERY noticeable in third. Even with the full face and ear plugs. Not so much past that.
Seems like a quirk of the gears, not a problem, unless you can feel it too.
My .02

 

[Little Don]

I ran with a group of guys thru Yosemite this weekend on my '14 C1400 Touring. The bike has 3k miles on it now. Two issues cropped up during this trip that I'm hoping to get some more owner's perspective on.

The most concerning is the noise coming from the drive line. Best I can do to describe this is, in low gears (1-3, some 4th), the transmission line makes a mechanical noise that follows RPM, a sort of rrrRrrRrrRrr!! as you speed up and put torque on the real wheel. If I stay in low gear, say 2nd, to negotiate corners, the sound is alway there as I put on power. It's easily loud enough to be heard thru a closed helmet.

If I had to guess I'd say it sounds like there's little to no oil in there to damp the vibrations. There is not an oily mess on the rear rim to signal a blown final drive, however. Any thoughts?

Next one is fast idle when hot. After climbing the mountain to Lick Observatory, a really steep, technical, 1st gear hairpin turn affair, I get to the top and the bike wants to idle at 2,000 RPM, slowly settling to 1,500 RPM but never back to 'normal' at about 1,200 RPM. I wonder if this is an altitude thing or just a hot system working differently than normal. Any thoughts?

Thanks, guys.

My Touring made a lot of "driveline" noise. After a few thousand miles, I thought it quieted down somewhat. Later I was driving on the freeway and decided that some of the "driveline" noise I was hearing was really the Dunlap tire making noise with any lean however slight. I replaced the rear tire with a Metzler and the bike seems to run much more quietly now.

 

[roadventure]

My Touring made a lot of "driveline" noise. After a few thousand miles, I thought it quieted down somewhat. Later I was driving on the freeway and decided that some of the "driveline" noise I was hearing was really the Dunlap tire making noise with any lean however slight. I replaced the rear tire with a Metzler and the bike seems to run much more quietly now.

I agree. I have had different model Dunlop tires on different bikes (D404, D251) and they always seem to "growl", especially when cornering. I have Dunlop E3 tires on my Raider now and they seem to be quiet though.

 

[Dan Dicker]

Just adding that I have similar noises, slightly worse as bike gets hot. Glad to hear I'm not alone and yes, I'll chalk it up to straight cut gears and Guzzi character.

Bike is truly marvelous. Going to be another guzzi classic that won't sell but be beloved by a few nuts. Count me among them. My brand new BMW sits in the garage as I always choose the Guzzi. It's slower, handles worse, heavier and has worse brakes. Runs hotter, more buffeting at speed......yet I almost always reach for it first. Magic.

 

[Quattroa4m]

Just adding that I have similar noises, slightly worse as bike gets hot. Glad to hear I'm not alone and yes, I'll chalk it up to straight cut gears and Guzzi character.

Bike is truly marvelous. Going to be another guzzi classic that won't sell but be beloved by a few nuts. Count me among them. My brand new BMW sits in the garage as I always choose the Guzzi. It's slower, handles worse, heavier and has worse brakes. Runs hotter, more buffeting at speed......yet I almost always reach for it first. Magic.

Well said!