Trans chatter noise on decel

Got a new one for ya ... the noise began while on a 1300 mile trip to Canada and back. Took last week and loaded up the wife and the bike (wife had to be "loaded" to get her to go) for a trip to Niagara Falls. I estimate that with both of us and luggage we weighed in around 1300lbs so the load could have been an issue. The trip up was uneventful since most of it was 80mph highway riding, but as we neared Canada I noticed a distinct gear noise getting louder when decelerating in the lower gears with 1st and 2nd being particularly noisy. On the way back we took highway 6 through Pensylvania and with the up and down terrain and lower speeds the "chattering" noise could even be felt in the seat. The best way to describe it is from past experience with finer toothed transmission gears from other types of vehicles. It felt and sounded like a broken gear tooth. Like one was totally missing off a gear without causing any kind of binding or catching. It's really strange, I think the only way to get to the bottom of it is to yank the trans and inspect it. The bike is only a year old next month with 10k miles so its still under warranty, I hate the idea of losing her for the rest of the summer but I've set an appointment with L&D in Dover to drop it off next week. The water pump is squeeling as well and she's due for the 10k service so I had planed a trip to the shop anyway, just not one this long. I have that feeling of dread however, knowing the sequence of events to follow .... tear down and inspect, order parts, wait couple weeks for parts, wrong parts, reorder parts, wait for parts (repeat as necessary) , reassemble and test ride in time for X-Mas. Think I can get a summer loaner out of them for a month or two? LOL
FYI ... we got just over 30mpg during the trip fully loaded and with an oversize windscreen running 80+mph, thats pretty much what I get commuting to work daily. Funny how the mileage didn't change hardly at all.

Has this noisy tranny (not vocal drag queen) been an issue with anyone else?
I hate the idea of splitting the case ... feels like surgery, I'm even worried about incision scars. It had that red silicon gasket sealer bulging out in a couple places from the factory when new, I have fears it will be everywhere when I get her back from the hospital. Oh well, has to be done.

Any thoughts?:kick:

Glad you and Mrs. Hellfire had a nice enjoyable trip.
Sorry bout finding out your baby needs surgery.
Might be time to buy the wife a Thunderbird,
so y'all got something to ride while the surgery takes place.

Output shaft bearing? It sort of sounds like a blender going.

My output shaft bearing sounded more like a brake draggin to me.
At least to me thats what it sounded like.

If it's the TDU bearing, when you back off the throttle (coast) with the clutch pulled in (but in gear), the noise disappears because, I think, the shaft centers itself and allows the bearing to freewheel. The TDU bearing only provides end support to keep the output shaft aligned with the drive shaft that goes to the final drive.

As it progresses, you'll begin to feel it in the seat of the bike. Whatever it is, there will be debris in the oil fliter.

xhdskip said:

so y'all got something to ride while the surgery takes place.

Click to expand...

unfortunately no, only have the one bike right now. I'm waiting to win one from Triumph for answering their questionairs. The last survey I did for them asked if I was offered a triumph to use while mine was in the shop. As a matter of fact I was given a Tiger to take to lunch, I thought it was just something the owner did out of the goodness of his heart since I had the most expensive bike they sell in for service. The survey made me wonder if perhaps it was something more, maybe one of those super secret perks you have to know about from an insider to get? Have you guys heard of anything from Triiumph about giving loaners? It would be nice to have one while Phoebe goes under the knife.

No, I'm pretty sure its not any kind of bearing ... the noise is toward the front left side and it most deffinately has that "gear mesh" CLACK to it. Since it's 1st and 2nd making the noise, it must be a gear they share. I'll peruse through the factory manual when I get around to it and see what they have in common.

Yes, the trip was nice (her butt might tell you otherwise) and the weather cooperated for the whole week. Only got damp once a few miles from the hotel. Highway 6 was really cool, I'd heard about it for years and finally got the chance to check it out. If you have been looking for a nice long biker freindly road to spend a few days on I recomend it. We made it a point to try out those smaller town roadside motels rather than the chains we stayed at on the way up and with the exception of one, found them to be very clean and cheap. (the old couples that tend to run them are always a hoot)

I may end up with a month or two off later this summer due to the railroads misdirrected discipinary action (fired). And would like to put something together to go back and ride highway 6 again. Of course it would be a tent/camp trip since I won't be employed and the wife won't be going. She has to work and support her deadbeat husband hehehe. I'll put the word out if it happens ... see if anyone wants to go along.
Thats why I decided today to cancel the service apointment, I'll wait to see what the job does before losing the bike. That would really suck if I had 30days off and the bike was in the shop the whole time. Besides, I can live with the noise for awhile ... it doesnt seem to be causing any problems other than that. Hell, if it blows up it will be just that much easier to find out whats wrong, right? lol