Strange noise from 1100GS

[MarkShelley]

I have a noise which I reckon started about 2K miles ago, but has got progressively worse. As it has been gradual I didn`t realise just how loud it had become until I got on it again after having ridden my recently acquired 1100RT quite a lot the last couple of weeks.
The symptoms are;-
Bike starts fine, and ticks over beautifully.
The noise is evident, although fairly quiet at tickover but disappears completely when clutch is pulled in.
No sign of any clutch slip when gassed in 4th or 5th.
Noise is most obvious under a constant throttle at low speed in low gear and sound like a sort of grinding but will disappear if I grab the clutch. Noise is accentuated when shutting throttle suddenly under engine breaking.
Tonight I purposely tried different things and I even managed to get a rattle and a little screech for a second when accelerating moderately from 30mph in 5th gear.
There does not appear to be any loss of performance as such. She goes really well!
Any ideas gratefully received.

 

[MarkShelley]

On a forum for RT`s somebody had similar issues and his splines were shot. He metioned difficiulty in downshifting just before. I have had this same problem particularly 5 to 4 and 4 to 3.
Is this likely toi be the problem?
Is this a split gearbox repair?

 

[(RIP) Mark H]

Could be several things going on here not connected,

The little screech you describe may be the alternator belt slipping.

The 1100 have a knock at low speed which most seem to do and no-one has really pinned down the source of it, both my 1100 have done it and a few others I,ve listened to, can only say its a characteristic and harmless.

The 1100 gearboxes are a bit noisy in 2nd & 3rd particularly on and off the throttle, again more of a characteristic than harmful.

The timing chain tensioner nearside will rattle on start-up if not upgraded to a 1200 one.

Recommend you change the gearbox oil and see what's in the old oil for a start.

 

[MarkShelley]

Could be several things going on here not connected,

The little screech you describe may be the alternator belt slipping.

The 1100 have a knock at low speed which most seem to do and no-one has really pinned down the source of it, both my 1100 have done it and a few others I,ve listened to, can only say its a characteristic and harmless.

The 1100 gearboxes are a bit noisy in 2nd & 3rd particularly on and off the throttle, again more of a characteristic than harmful.

The timing chain tensioner nearside will rattle on start-up if not upgraded to a 1200 one.

Recommend you change the gearbox oil and see what's in the old oil for a start.

I checked the belt tension when I adjusted the valves about 1500 miles ago and was ok.
It is not a knocking noise, more a sort of raspy grinding noise.
It does it in all gears
Chain tensioner mod has been done. It is definately not that.
Changed gearbox and final drive oil a week or so ago. No lumps/swarf of metal anywhere, just the metallic sludge/paste on the magnetic gearbox bolt.

 

[(RIP) Mark H]

I checked the belt tension when I adjusted the valves about 1500 miles ago and was ok.
It is not a knocking noise, more a sort of raspy grinding noise.
It does it in all gears
Chain tensioner mod has been done. It is definately not that.
Changed gearbox and final drive oil a week or so ago. No lumps/swarf of metal anywhere, just the metallic sludge/paste on the magnetic gearbox bolt.

Re the screech, There is not much else I know of that will screech other than the belt, imminent clutch spline failure may screech but a few yards later you would have no drive!
Although the belt tension may be ok it the belt could just old, and past its change date, do you know when it was last changed?

It could be just a noisy box, if your switching between an RT and a GS the RT may quieter because of a degree of masking of gearbox noise by all the fairing etc.

 

[MarkShelley]

Re the screech, There is not much else I know of that will screech other than the belt, imminent clutch spline failure may screech but a few yards later you would have no drive!
Although the belt tension may be ok it the belt could just old, and past its change date, do you know when it was last changed?

It could be just a noisy box, if your switching between an RT and a GS the RT may quieter because of a degree of masking of gearbox noise by all the fairing etc.

Ok, forget the screech. The main noise is definately not just a noisy box. It has gradually got worse over time.

 

[(RIP) Mark H]

Ok, forget the screech. The main noise is definately not just a noisy box. It has gradually got worse over time.

The box on my 1100 was noisy as you describe, there was no significant debris in the oil when changing, a rear seal failed letting oil onto the clutch plate via pushrod tunnel, the box had to come out and be stripped to change the seal, I removed the box myself and gave it to Scriminger engineering to do the work, he stripped and inspected the box , changed 2 selector forks and rebuilt box to his high standard with all new seals and bearings (Some were rough) now it is much slicker changing gear and the noise is much diminished but still there in 2nd & 3rd, it is normal with these boxes to be noisy to a degree.
Steve at Scriminger told me that as the bearings are sealed they don't deposit debris in the oil unless really bad and breaking up, he spoke of the layshaft being "low" in the box on mine causing noise, along with the rough bearings he corrected all this when rebuilding the box.
Maybe you could contact him and take the bike over to his workshop for an opinion, he is only about an hour from you.


http://scriminger.co.uk/

Another problem I found with my 1100 was the driveshaft was seized, Steve at Scriminger says this is not unusual, and has seen quite few seized from new because the factory have not cleaned off a protective film before assembling, clean this off and all is well, seized shaft causes premature bearing failure in the box and Final drive because of shock being transmitted to box and F/D








.

 

[MarkShelley]

Looking at old posts on here I feel I could happily tackle swapping a driveshaft over if that proved to be the problem but not sure that I would want to delve deeper i.e. removing gearbox etc.
Any guesses on the likelyhood of this being the problem?
I would rather give it somebody who knows what they are doing than end up with a pile of bits on the garage floor and no way of delivering the bike!
I am thinking a trip to Wimbledon may be happening soon!

 

[MarkShelley]

You might say things came to a head today. I had the day of to take the wife for a free ride on the `Get On` scheme so first thing this morning I popped into Cambridge Motorcycles to let their BMW expert Christian take a look. He is fairly confident that it is just the clutch. He though I should be OK to ride home and get it back to them as long as I take it easy as I am only 10 miles away. Literally as I pulled onto my drive it stalled. I pushed it into the garage. When I popped into the garage a bit later you could smell the clutch and the clutch lever pulls to the bars without any resistance. Clearly it has gone pop completely now! Is this usual when a clutch is ridden to distruction or has something else happened?
I am awaiting their price for the job.

 

[MattW]

Assuming your clutch cable is intact, it sounds like the clutch release bearing has failed (which is consistent with some of the other symptoms).

Getting to the clutch takes a fair bit of dismantling but isn't in itself a difficult job - the biggest job is removing the gearbox - once you can see the clutch is pretty easy. Depending on your confidence with spanners it might be worth having a go yourself?

In your position with the gearbox off the bike, I'd think hard about getting Scriminger or Steptoe to take a look at the box (depends to some extent on the year of your bike).

When my '94 is due a clutch I'll probably bite the bullet and send the box away for a precautionary rebuild and m97 upgrade.

 

[MarkShelley]

My wallet will be taking a massive hit with this one. The gearbox is also toast and the cost of replacement parts is more than an exchange unit from Motorworks.
I am trying to placate myself with the thoughts that it will hopefully not need to be touched for another 90K at least!
Looks like my bill will be 12 to 1400

 

[Mac]

eeek thats gonna hurt, but you know it'll be worth it