Rattling noise By Guitarman (Read 1,464 times)

[Guitarman]

Ok, I know it's not a scooter, but it's MY scooter.

I was riding today and I started hearing some kind of metallic rattling coming from the area of my shifter.  Kind of hard to tell exactly where it's coming from.  It goes away when I pull the clutch in.  Makes me wonder if I need to replace the clutch.  But even if it does, why would it rattle?  Something is broken off somewhere it sounds like. 

Checked the oil already, it's fine.

[cyborg]

Could be the clutch ,, probably is,,,, or trans ,, when was the last time you changed your oil?

[cyborg]

i believe the clutch is cable operated,,there may be a little too much freeplay on the actuation rod for the clutch,,sometimes they can rattle or the bearing may be going away,,,doubt that because the bike has low miles,,,,if you just ease the clutch in very lightly and slowly so you're not putting a load on it ,,,just enough to takeup the slack,,and the noise goes away i'd say it was the rod,,,if you need to put a load on it it may be the bearing,,,it's an easy repair and inexpensive also and can be done easily in 2 hours having a brewster

[Guitarman]

Yep. Cable clutch.
I can get rod, friction discs and springs for about $50-$60. Haven't found the bearing yet.
Doing the clutch is no problem. It just freaken me out making that sound. Sounds like a BB bouncing around in there. And I don't have a car anymore. LOL

I figure while I'm in there, I might as well do the whole thing.
I've put 3000 miles on it since December.
And the way I beat on it,....

[cyborg]

Take yer time Zeke,,, don't get sloppy,,, inspect all the thrust washers and bearing surfaces for wear

[cyborg]

It doesn't have that many miles on it for a honda,,, while in there make sure all the steels are straight and not all worn and also make sure the basket is still in good shape( I'm sure you know all this) so which is it? Very lite pull and noise goes away or do you have to load the clutch to make it stop?,,,,, ok now I'll stop the Jewish grandmother thing

[Guitarman]

Not sure on the amount of pull it takes. I'll let you know after I take it out again. Have to do some errands today and I'll check that.

Yep, went and read up on and watched a bunch of vids on clutches, so I'm now fully qualified to be rated as a beginner. LOL

As I'm going down the road, it's not too bad, but when I down shift and let the bike slow me, it gets really bad. But, I do hear it most all the time except when I've pulled the clutch.

Also, When I start it cold, it tries to jump forward even with the clutch all the way in.  I have to hold the brake also.  When it's already hot, no problem.

[cyborg]

one of the friction discs may be shedding it's material ,,,no way to tell till you get in there,,,,post a video,,,,may have had a spring fail,,,but that wouldn't account for it trying to leap forward when starting,,,i still think you have too much freeplay in the actuation rod,,and it's rattling and when you pull the clutch lever it's opening the plates but not quite enough when cold,,,,shifting notchy till warm? or hard to find neutral when cold?,,,this is a big indicator that the rod is maladjusted

[Guitarman]

Had to pull it all the way in. And finding Neutral is always an issue.

[Bashan]

The jumping forward is normal for those kinds of clutches when they're cold. Just always park it in neutral and then let the bike warm up before engaging the tranny. My Vulcan did that big time. It's due to adhesion of the oil between the plates.

[Guitarman]

I'm going to replace the rod and the throw out bearing. I'm betting the last owner (who tried to do some of his own work but was admittedly a terrible mechanic) did something in there. It's not difficult to get to, and its a fairly easy repair. But I can see him not making sure everything was seated properly.

I'm going to do an oil change on it at the same time, so I'm looking at $100 for the whole job. Not bad for this kind of work.

Once I get it done, I expect I'll be able to find Neutral without having to drive around the parking lot shifting back and forth between 1st and 2nd. LOL

[cyborg]

Yep,,, the clutch is not fully opening this is why you're having a hard time finding neutral,,,,while you're in there inspect the springs as well

[Guitarman]

For others following this thread, it turned out to be the chain. It had some cracked links and was in really bad shape.

The shifting problem is still there and I'll address that later. Gotta save up some loot first. Chains are costly.

[cyborg]

adjust the freeplay of the cable,,the clutch is not opening enough and thats whats causing the shifting problem,,,,also ease my fevered brain and really give the cable a good look over it may be fraying on the engine side and only have a few strands actually doing the work so it's stretching and not doing it's job,,,i'll still put my money on it not being adjusted correctly

[cyborg]

Hey did you ever check the Freeplay of the cable?,,