Is this normal?

[Alexxxman]

Hi fellow riders, I removed the read wheel for the first time for give the bike a deep wash after riding in some very dirty roads, when I noticed this free play on the final drive.
I had already noticed every now and then that sometimes when riding slow and switching gears I hear and feel a small "clunk" on the gearbox. Any thoughts on this?
Final Drive free play

 

[Journeyman]

That has to be excessive. I may pull my rear wheel later to compare.

 

[Alexxxman]

Bike has 4k miles on it.

 

[Journeyman]

I've got good news for you, or bad news for both of us

 

[Alexxxman]

Wow. It appears to be exactly the same ammount of free play, so maybe that's just the way it is but still, strange. I have a Suzuki M109r, also shatf driven, tomorrow I'll lift her up and check if it has a similar behavior.

 

[Journeyman]

Wow. It appears to be exactly the same ammount of free play, so maybe that's just the way it is but still, strange. I have a Suzuki M109r, also shatf driven, tomorrow I'll lift her up and check if it has a similar behavior.

Let us know- I'm surprised. A third check on a 2.5 Rocket would be nice- it took all of 10 minutes (torque value, btw, = 25Nm 1st, 100Nm second twist). Any takers?

One thing to consider- the movement at the center ("axle") is much smaller than the movement we are seeing at the larger diameter brake disc.

When parking the bike on a hill in gear and allowing it to move back it doesn't seem like all that much, but obviously the wheel is actually rotating much more. I have a feeling now that this is normal. Disclaimer (knocking on wood). I went through two final drives on my 2011 Roadster.

@Alexxxman "Bike has 4k miles on it."
Nearly 30K on my 3R with lots of spirited riding.

 

[stingray]

Why take off the wheel? Jack it up and check the free play.

 

[Journeyman]

Why take off the wheel? Jack it up and check the free play.

Yeah, duh...

Waiting on your result....

 

[Jagster]

I would have expected some free play in the transmission if you're going from the axle through to the gear set.
I wouldn't be concerned about it in principle, but if the transmission is snatching under load and off-load then that could suggest a potential problem.

Remember, there is always free-play of this kind in a chain drive system.

 

[Gerald]

I would have expected some free play in the transmission if you're going from the axle through to the gear set.
I wouldn't be concerned about it in principle, but if the transmission is snatching under load and off-load then that could suggest a potential problem.

Remember, there is always free-play of this kind in a chain drive system.

Does the Rocket 3's have the same cush system as the older III's, that could explain the slack.