New to NTV: drive train noise

I don't think there's anything you can do with oil to reduce the noise of those gears, short of packing the final drive full of grease, which isn't recommended.
In theory, I like a little molybdenum in applications like that - transmissions, differentials, etc. When I get around to it, I'm going to switch to 75W90 w/ moly.

Markez, when you say that full synth made your Miata quieter, I presume you mean it reduced the valve noise? I think removing all the oil from a Miata engine would make it quieter, too. After a few days, anyway.
 
I got an NT 700 about six weeks ago.

First gear was noisy. Sounded almost like a siren as it changes pitch with speed. All the other gears were smooth and quiet.

I've put about 1500kms on it now and my last ride it started making a whining noise. I rode it about 180kms the week before at highway speeds with no noise, then out of nowhere a whining gear noise in every gear. don't know if it's the gearbox or final drive but it's loud and annoying.

Does this happen after a while? It was basically silent when I bought it with 50,000kms on the clock.

I'm worried there'll be a catastrophic failure cos it suddenly sounds like the gearbox is shot.
 
Sometimes your ears play tricks on you. Comparing this engine to others can get your idea of noise of engine seems different. It's a noisy engine. Somebody in 2012 thought his cam chains were going bad with just 9,000 miles. Turned out was just his ears!! That was a resurrection old post just recently
 
Jackdan Blake said:
I got an NT 700 about six weeks ago.

First gear was noisy. Sounded almost like a siren as it changes pitch with speed. All the other gears were smooth and quiet.

I've put about 1500kms on it now and my last ride it started making a whining noise. I rode it about 180kms the week before at highway speeds with no noise, then out of nowhere a whining gear noise in every gear. don't know if it's the gearbox or final drive but it's loud and annoying.

Does this happen after a while? It was basically silent when I bought it with 50,000kms on the clock.

I'm worried there'll be a catastrophic failure cos it suddenly sounds like the gearbox is shot.
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If memory serves, the NT700 has a straight cut first gear which is inherently whiny. The rest of the gears are helically cut and are quieter. As Woodaddict mentioned, the engine is a wee bit noisy but you will get used to it. If you find another NT down under, you will likely find that it sounds just like yours. The engine/trans combo is pretty much bulletproof. The plastics <sigh> not so much.

Mike
 
Chucksklrst said:
Wear good ear plugs that will quite the noise. ;)
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Getting a Bluetooth helmet set up today!

It’s not the engine noise that bothers me. It’s just that it changed dramatically. It went from engine noise to gear whine. I just don’t want to ride it if there’s a bad bearing or some sort of misalignment. The noise is new after 1500kms.

I changed out the final drive oil and it was Pretty dirty. God knows how old it was. I think it’s a bit quieter with new oil? Hard to tell.

Some say these bikes are noisy but I can’t tell if they mean the engine or this whining gear noise.
 
Hard to diagnose without witnessing the actual noise and source/location/condition/situation...

a hum/howling could as well originate from (worn) tires; some thread patterns are prone for it, some start due to 'cupping' (angled wear of the protruding segments by brake and acceleration forces), especially audible while leaned...

the (drilled) rotors can also emit a 'buzz' under particular conditions; pads dragging, wear surface impaired, aftermarket pads, etc...

the final drive itself is normally not noticeable (hypoid gears and that...)...

what I instantly noticed on my GF's NT700VA is the side gear (like the f/drive actually originating from the PC800...), which gears add quite some slack in the driveline, emitting a 'growl' audible while leaned to left, and starts hunting/clacking with no/minimal load present/while coasting...
 
ST1100Y said:
Hard to diagnose without witnessing the actual noise and source/location/condition/situation...

a hum/howling could as well originate from (worn) tires; some thread patterns are prone for it, some start due to 'cupping' (angled wear of the protruding segments by brake and acceleration forces), especially audible while leaned...

the (drilled) rotors can also emit a 'buzz' under particular conditions; pads dragging, wear surface impaired, aftermarket pads, etc...

the final drive itself is normally not noticeable (hypoid gears and that...)...

what I instantly noticed on my GF's NT700VA is the side gear (like the f/drive actually originating from the PC800...), which gears add quite some slack in the driveline, emitting a 'growl' audible while leaned to left, and starts hunting/clacking with no/minimal load present/while coasting...
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It’s definitely a gear noise. Maybe from the gearbox. Usually you can notice a gear noise when gearing down. It’s the same noise but when under acceleration.
 
Take the bike out on a deserted road with a long hill. Get the bike up to speed. Shut down the throttle and listen while you coast.... now disengage the clutch... does the noise change? While still coasting with the clutch disengaged, weave back and forth within your lane, does the noise change?

If the noise changes significantly with the clutch disengaged the noise could be coming from the final drive since coasting with the clutch disengaged eliminates the gearbox to a great dregree. If the noise changes while coasting and weaving back and forth, the noise could likely be a result of unusual tire wear patterns, cupping, etc.

If it's been a while since you have changed the engine oil, try a fresh oil change and see if anything changes. On bikes that use the same oil for engine and transmisson the oil molecules are subject to shear. As the molecules shear they lose some of their cushioning/silencing effect. You will also notice this when shifting. The trans will shift a lot smoother with fresh oil. The trans gears slice and dice the oil molecules into smaller molecules. Interestingly, synthetic oils are much more likely to shear than conventional oils since the synthetic molecules are much smaller and more uniform than conventional oils. The smaller uniform molecules are one of the properties that make synthetics superior to conventional oils with respect to lubricity.

Hope this helps! The NT's are so bulletproof however that I'm not convinced that there is a problem with your bike yet. I wish you could ride another one for comparison.

Mike
 
mikesim said:
Take the bike out on a deserted road with a long hill. Get the bike up to speed. Shut down the throttle and listen while you coast.... now disengage the clutch... does the noise change? While still coasting with the clutch disengaged, weave back and forth within your lane, does the noise change?

If the noise changes significantly with the clutch disengaged the noise could be coming from the final drive since coasting with the clutch disengaged eliminates the gearbox to a great dregree. If the noise changes while coasting and weaving back and forth, the noise could likely be a result of unusual tire wear patterns, cupping, etc.

If it's been a while since you have changed the engine oil, try a fresh oil change and see if anything changes. On bikes that use the same oil for engine and transmisson the oil molecules are subject to shear. As the molecules shear they lose some of their cushioning/silencing effect. You will also notice this when shifting. The trans will shift a lot smoother with fresh oil. The trans gears slice and dice the oil molecules into smaller molecules. Interestingly, synthetic oils are much more likely to shear than conventional oils since the synthetic molecules are much smaller and more uniform than conventional oils. The smaller uniform molecules are one of the properties that make synthetics superior to conventional oils with respect to lubricity.

Hope this helps! The NT's are so bulletproof however that I'm not convinced that there is a problem with your bike yet. I wish you could ride another one for comparison.

Mike
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Thanks legend,

No noise when clutched and coasting. Tyres are all good. I assumed gearbox noise but considered the final drive because only noisy under acceleration and deceleration. When cruising (not under acceleration or deceleration pressures) there is no noise. So there was a chance it could be final drive as no pressure on it when coasting.

I actually think you’re on to something maybe with the fresh oil suggestion. Seller told me new oil 500kms ago, but now I’m thinking it might really be 5,000 kms ago.

Quick search tells me synthetic or semi synthetic to avoid clutch slip. Assuming that’s correct.

Time for an oil change!

Thanks again for the info and reassurance that it’s not likely to just excrement itself on the highway.

Thx
JD.
 
mikesim said:
Take the bike out on a deserted road with a long hill. Get the bike up to speed. Shut down the throttle and listen while you coast.... now disengage the clutch... does the noise change? While still coasting with the clutch disengaged, weave back and forth within your lane, does the noise change?

If the noise changes significantly with the clutch disengaged the noise could be coming from the final drive since coasting with the clutch disengaged eliminates the gearbox to a great dregree. If the noise changes while coasting and weaving back and forth, the noise could likely be a result of unusual tire wear patterns, cupping, etc.

If it's been a while since you have changed the engine oil, try a fresh oil change and see if anything changes. On bikes that use the same oil for engine and transmisson the oil molecules are subject to shear. As the molecules shear they lose some of their cushioning/silencing effect. You will also notice this when shifting. The trans will shift a lot smoother with fresh oil. The trans gears slice and dice the oil molecules into smaller molecules. Interestingly, synthetic oils are much more likely to shear than conventional oils since the synthetic molecules are much smaller and more uniform than conventional oils. The smaller uniform molecules are one of the properties that make synthetics superior to conventional oils with respect to lubricity.

Hope this helps! The NT's are so bulletproof however that I'm not convinced that there is a problem with your bike yet. I wish you could ride another one for comparison.

Mike
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Changed the oil. Marginally better. But happy to get the dirty old oil out of it.

That oil was doing no one any favours.

Note to self. Change all oils ASAP when buying a used bike.
 

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Jackdan Blake said:
Thanks legend,

No noise when clutched and coasting. Tyres are all good. I assumed gearbox noise but considered the final drive because only noisy under acceleration and deceleration. When cruising (not under acceleration or deceleration pressures) there is no noise. So there was a chance it could be final drive as no pressure on it when coasting.

I actually think you’re on to something maybe with the fresh oil suggestion. Seller told me new oil 500kms ago, but now I’m thinking it might really be 5,000 kms ago.

Quick search tells me synthetic or semi synthetic to avoid clutch slip. Assuming that’s correct.

Time for an oil change!

Thanks again for the info and reassurance that it’s not likely to just excrement itself on the highway.

Thx
JD.
Click to expand...
When selecting an oil for your bike, synthetic or conventional is OK. What you want to make sure of is that the oil is rated for the JASO spec MA or MA2. Those oils are designed for wet clutch applications. Modern oils without those specs can have friction modifiers included in their recipe which plays hell with the wet clutch.

Mike
 
mikesim said:
When selecting an oil for your bike, synthetic or conventional is OK. What you want to make sure of is that the oil is rated for the JASO spec MA or MA2. Those oils are designed for wet clutch applications. Modern oils without those specs can have friction modifiers included in their recipe which plays hell with the wet clutch.

Mike
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Thx Mike,
I got a Penrite fully synthetic JASO MA2 oil.

Might have quieted it a bit. I think it’s just the standard Honda gearbox noise. Just got louder after 51,500kms.
Only other change I made was that I shifted the windshield to higher position so there’s a very slight chance that’s just changed the way the noises bounce around. Or now with less wind I’m hearing more gear noise.

Either way I think I’ll just get used to it. New oil all round so not much else to be done.

Thx for all the good advice.

JD.
 
Off the subject a little, but I am surprised at how many people read this board. This thread has 9,000 views!
 
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