Ticking, tocking, rattling...

[SimonSays]

Evening, all

Fresh back from an hour out in the afternoon sunshine, I'm wondering about trying to get the my 2008 sounding a little less agricultural. Here are my two sound effects:

1. The age-old idler ratlle - goes away as soon as you pull the clutch. It's done it for as long as I've owned it (10yrs, 49K mi on the Odo) but it's slowly but surely getting louder. I'm assuming this is beyond my own skills and patience to sort out but is it worth finding someone to fix? Anyone know a good place in East Surrey/West Kent to tackle it?

2. Very 'tappety' ticking noise from the RH cylinder that seems to kick in at 3K RPM and stays but gets drowned out by other engine, road and wind noise. The cadence of it makes me think it's valve/rocker related but I guess it could also be throttle body? I noticed it when the engine was up to temp but it seemed quieter later in the ride.

The valves clearances have just been done and it's going very nicely so neither racket seems to be having any performance effect.

 

[Santa-2512]

Evening, all

Fresh back from an hour out in the afternoon sunshine, I'm wondering about trying to get the my 2008 sounding a little less agricultural. Here are my two sound effects:

1. The age-old idler ratlle - goes away as soon as you pull the clutch. It's done it for as long as I've owned it (10yrs, 49K mi on the Odo) but it's slowly but surely getting louder. I'm assuming this is beyond my own skills and patience to sort out but is it worth finding someone to fix? Anyone know a good place in East Surrey/West Kent to tackle it?

2. Very 'tappety' ticking noise from the RH cylinder that seems to kick in at 3K RPM and stays but gets drowned out by other engine, road and wind noise. The cadence of it makes me think it's valve/rocker related but I guess it could also be throttle body? I noticed it when the engine was up to temp but it seemed quieter later in the ride.

The valves clearances have just been done and it's going very nicely so neither racket seems to be having any performance effect.

Start with the basics

What viscosity oil?

When was the last valve clearance check / reset done?

Did you do endfloat as well ?

Throttle bodys balanced

Throttle freeplay set correctly ?

All of the above can make a tracktor sound a bit closer to a swiz watch

 

[botus]

which engine ?

if the early one - tweaking the end float of the rockers makes more difference to the clatter than doing the valve clearances

 

[mikeyboy]

I doubt it’s anything to do with throttle bodies as the cables will be under tension.
Definitely worth checking and adjusting rocker end float

 

[SimonSays]

Answers: 15/50 Motul oil, clearances done last week, haven’t adjusted throttle free play or balance recently so that’s an easy list item even if not likely to be the issue at 3K RPM.

Showing my ignorance:

Which engine? Don’t know. How do I identify the options?

End float - not come across that before. I’ve found a guide on the site for adjustment so that’s the main job for me!

I’ll report back… thanks!

 

[R1200JK]

I had a rattling gearbox noise on my 2009 GS which disappeared when the clutch was pulled in. At 46K miles is rattled like an air-cooled Ducati clutch. It turned out to be the cush drive on the input shaft breaking up. I didn't even know there was one. I was concerned that it would completely fail and destroy the gearbox so I had it replaced. They're not available separately, so a new input shaft was needed at £600. Sounds so quiet now.

 

[SimonSays]

End float adjustment complete. There was noticable play but the specs seem to allow for enough space to get a finger tip in, never mind a feeler gauge… which is good as I couldn’t find my gauges. Found a loose 0.1mm and set to that.

Much quieter now so I think the culprit has been found. More gauges ordered and I’ll set them down to 0.05 when I’ve next got 30mins.

Thanks for the input

 

[siwilson]

I had a rattling gearbox noise on my 2009 GS which disappeared when the clutch was pulled in. At 46K miles is rattled like an air-cooled Ducati clutch. It turned out to be the cush drive on the input shaft breaking up. I didn't even know there was one. I was concerned that it would completely fail and destroy the gearbox so I had it replaced. They're not available separately, so a new input shaft was needed at £600. Sounds so quiet now.

My 2009 has a similar death rattle in neutral with the clutch out. Circa 75K miles. I managed to get a 30K mile gearbox for not much money and am planning to swap it out this winter. I've checked the cush drive on the replacement and it looks good.

 

[SimonSays]

My 2009 has a similar death rattle in neutral with the clutch out. Circa 75K miles. I managed to get a 30K mile gearbox for not much money and am planning to swap it out this winter. I've checked the cush drive on the replacement and it looks good.

Out of interest, what did you pay for the gearbox?

I’d spend the money on the input/gearbox - my other question is whether I’m up to doing the job myself or if I need to get a pro to do it and bear the expense (albeit at a benefit) or that, too…

 

[siwilson]

Out of interest, what did you pay for the gearbox?

I’d spend the money on the input/gearbox - my other question is whether I’m up to doing the job myself or if I need to get a pro to do it and bear the expense (albeit at a benefit) or that, too…

£200

 

[botus]

pretty sure this broken damper can be felt engine off - put on the centre stand, place in gear and move the rear wheel - normal backlash slop should be a few inches of wheel rotational movement - when the damper is defective you get more like half a turn - mines been wrong for 8 years - rides just fine on the public road - sounds like death running in gear on the centre stand

in the old days each part was available - then they realised the whole input shaft was a mess up and you buy the whole thing these days for silly money

odd about 2009 I thought the issue was solely around 2006 / 2007 MY


this is the bit I need

RealOEM.com - Online BMW Parts Catalog

BMW parts K25 (R 1200 GS) R 1200 GS 04 (0307,0317) Drive shaft

www.realoem.com

 

[SimonSays]

pretty sure this broken damper can be felt engine off - put on the centre stand, place in gear and move the rear wheel - normal backlash slop should be a few inches of wheel rotational movement - when the damper is defective you get more like half a turn - mines been wrong for 8 years - rides just fine on the public road - sounds like death running in gear on the centre stand

Ah - good tip. I just measured the backlash on the centre stand in 1st and it's about 5deg of rotation, I would say. Perhaps 3" of tyre movement...

Couple of videos linked below demonstrating the noise. Hard to be objective with a phone camera/from a video, I know, but here it is:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P_NJ_6GpN1qqMgdtH2_3IEeTuYnLMYWP/view?usp=drive_link, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sgp4aMnR1Wqx3U-zfL9Y6__uigxbWy61/view?usp=drive_link

Exactly as you say, @botus , it sounds like crap running under no load on the centre stand and in neutral, but under normal riding and load there's no noise. If I could make it go away for £200 and some workshop effort, I would - but Motorworks and eBay want more like £500 for a used gearbox and I don't know what's required to swap them out.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being a total strip-down/engine out of the frame, where is this job on the scale?

The deepest dive I've done so far is probably an alternator replacement which I would put at about a 4 on the scale for subjective comparison!

 

[botus]

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being a total strip-down/engine out of the frame, where is this job on the scale?

depending upon space, tools and amount of get up and go to do it .... 11 out of 10
if you need a clutch do it - if you don't yet wait

everyone here likes to suggest you should be treated worse than a Palestinian for running it up on the stand in gear.... seems harsh, but that's what they have in store for all of us (but everyone is asleep)

 

[Pukmeister]

I had a rattling gearbox noise on my 2009 GS which disappeared when the clutch was pulled in. At 46K miles is rattled like an air-cooled Ducati clutch. It turned out to be the cush drive on the input shaft breaking up. I didn't even know there was one. I was concerned that it would completely fail and destroy the gearbox so I had it replaced. They're not available separately, so a new input shaft was needed at £600. Sounds so quiet now.

I had the same, rebuilt it myself. Input shaft was £500 alone, plus bearings and seals and I threw a new friction plate in it for good measure.

Then about 2000 miles later I traded it against a newer bike, a decision I regret as my 1250 rattles even louder.

 

[SimonSays]

depending upon space, tools and amount of get up and go to do it .... 11 out of 10
if you need a clutch do it - if you don't yet wait

11 out of 10?! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. OK - I'll laugh

Get up and go is a bit light, but I've got a dry, well-stocked workshop so I don't expect any sympathy. I don't need a clutch yet so I'll cling on to that life raft until the Spring. In the meantime I may get lucky and find a less pricey replacement.

 

[TLSgazza]

Wear earplugs. On the rare occasion I ride mine without earplugs I'm astounded the amount of noise it makes.