Loud whine coming from Transmission Clutch

[Steve_Reinig]

I was on my way to a rally in Oregon. I stopped in Portland and noticed a loud whine coming from tranny, clutch. It was especially noticeable in neural but was there while in gear riding.

 

Consulted with fellow rider Bill Rathbone who could hear the whine over the phone and we both concluded this was not good. Perhaps input shaft?? Being 200 miles from home on a Sunday I decided to nurse it back to Marysville. Well the whine continued and may have gotten louder but the bike shifted normally!!!!???? Any thoughts. I am going to trailer it to a private wrench tomorrow. Thanks in advance

[Boffin]

How does the rear tyre look? I had a gearbox stripped and rebuilt because of a noisy Avon Azaro that had cupped. It sounded and felt like a shot bearing, it even fooled the dealer tech.

 

Andy

[Steve_Reinig]

I wish. Brand new MEZ6s mounted yesterday. I have had 6s before but no noise Thanks

[T__]

Steve, can you pin it down any more for us? Noise while in neutral pretty well eliminates tires, final drive, drive shaft.. How about in gear with clutch pulled in.. If still there it is not trans but could be throw out bearing, or alternator, or alternator belt, etc..

 

Twisty

[Steve_Reinig]

So I just went out there and did what you suggested and when in gear the whine is there, when I pull in clutch whild in gear it's gone and it does appear to be noisy up front. ???? Thanks

[Steve_Reinig]

I justed checked the alternator belt it is fine. My wife says is sounds more like marbles rolling a a box. This only happens when clutch is pulled in.

[T__]

Steve, that sounds like maybe a throw-out bearing.. What happens if you just pull the clutch lever in about 1/2", or until it just starts to feel resistance to the pull.. If noisy there then that definitely sounds like throw-out bearing or input shaft bearing.. If only noisy with the clutch pulled all the way in then maybe clutch related or ?.. If it makes noise if in gear (rear wheel not spinning) with clutch pulled in, then the trans input shaft isn't spinning so probably not a trans input bearing problem..

 

Twisty

[ninermatt]

Sounds like the throwout bearing.

[Jerry Johnston]

Steve, your bio says you have a 96 R100. If they still made the airhead in 96 then it's much easier to do the clutch work yourself.

[MotoMoose]

Steve, from what I can make out by your explanation, I believe it is an imput shaft bearing. Here is why. You stated that in neutral (I assume with the clutch out) it is noisy. When the clutch is out and tranny in N the input shaft is turning. If the clutch is in and it quiets down, it is because the input shaft has slowed or stopped. The throw out bearing won't make noise unless the clutch is in, or adjusted too tight (Not possible on most Hyd clutches. There is a possibility that a severly worn clutch will allow the presure plate diaghram to take up any free play that you had, thus causing the throw out brg to spin constanly. If this is the case, which I doubt, it won't take long to trash the TO brg. Sorry for the bad news, if you can verify the symptoms, I'll refine my opinion. By the way you contradict your self on posts 5 & 6.

[Steve_Reinig]

An Update:

 

First some background on the bike. 96 R1100 RT; 147,000 miles. I have put 121,000 of those miles on the bike. Final drive blew out and replaced at 62,000 miles (I was on my way to UN1 in Gunnison). Replaced clutch at about 88,000 and replaced transmission at 100,000 miles. So as you can see the second transmission has only 47,000 miles.

 

The diagnosis as of this afternoon is a "blown/worn out/shredded" input shaft bearing. The wrench is still researching but there appears to have been some type of pin that holds it in place missing. He thanks it could have happened during the reconditioning process. He is researching.

 

To say that I am angry would be an understatement. This brings up all the old anxieties about the realiability of the brand (after my final drive left me high and dry in Dubois Wyoming) especially as I get ready to replace it in the next couple of years. I was supposed to riding in the Northwest Passage rally this past week. Instead the vacation time was spent getting bike in, worrying about diagnosis, money etc. Not a good week.

 

So the lesson. The rattle box of marbles loud noise from the transmission area, while you can still shift is the bearing. I was able to get it home but what I recall is the noise getting louder over the 200 mile ride home. Only a matter of miles and I would have been left high and dry again by a BMW part that had low mileage by everyone's standards. So in the mean time to deal with my stuff I think I will start inquiring about the realiabity of ST 1300 and FJR 1300s. The high perponderance of BMW failures in last years IBR gives me great pause.....