Whine,Whine Whine

[davegs850]

I will probably not get to this for a week or two as we are very busy at work right now,but I am looking for ideas and suggestions. 1983 GS850G 40000 miles, started a whining sound this week. It does not seem to be coming from speedometer or tach. Only when I am applying throttle,and it seems worse if throttle is only applied lightly. If I let up on throttle,or use the clutch it stops. I am thinking it is drivetrain related. I have checked and there is gear oil at the proper level in both primary and secondary drives. My next move was going to be to change the gear oil and see what I can see in it. I am not very experienced at wrenching ,but willing to try. Looking for a direction to go, open to suggestions. Thanks in advance!

[Brendan W]

Disconnect the tacho and speedo at the drive ends anyway. If a dog told me it wasn't them, fine but human ears are not great. I thought my cams had dried up when a cable started whining. At least it eliminates them.
Drop the oil sounds a good plan. Try get it into a clean container so any metal flecks are easy to spot and have a close look at the back of drain plugs immediately on removal for same.

[davegs850]

UPDATE: Have disconnected both cables at drive end. Drained oil last night from final drive. Not seeing anything yet. Still whining. Will drain secondary tonight ,going at this one small thing at a time.

[Johnny]

My bike produces also some sound when the throttle is applied, although I'd use words "hiss" or "swish" to describe it, rather than "whine", but it could be the same thing. I've never given it a serious thought though, 'cause it is only evident with throttle, so I have guessed that maybe it's air moving through carbs or something. Well, interesting.

[davegs850]

Drained the secondary. Still no signs of anything wrong. Not sure where to go next. Should I remove the bolts and pull out the bevel for a look, or am I opening a can of worms that an inexperienced guy
like me should not be getting into. Open once again for suggestions on where to go next. I have been spooked by threads of rear wheels locking up. Also the final drive was replaced with a used one probably 10-15000 miles ago and I replaced the spline in the rear wheel 4-5000 miles ago. Just throw this in for reference.

[AMK]

Here's a thread that I started with a similar "whine".
If you search "secondary" you'll find a lot of similar complaints.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?240490-Diagnosis-of-secondary-drive&highlight=Secondary

[davegs850]

I had the dealer ride my bike today. He thinks it is coming from the secondary drive. I will be attempting to repair myself though. My thoughts are that it would be easiest to start by pulling the driven gear from the left hand side. Can I just pull this out as a unit and replace with a used one? I am not afraid to spend twenty or thirty bucks on a chance. Or am I taking a real chance on the gears meshing properly? I did read the thread on replacing the bearings and will attempt that this winter if need be,hoping it is not above my capabilities. Looking for advice on trying the used one and what I am looking for when I take the old one out? Will the bearing be noticeably tight?

[AMK]

Is the thread you read?

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?235664-GS1000G-Secondary-Drive-Bearing-Replacement

Yes the drive gears will slide out the left side but I'm betting your issue will be the driven gear out the back to the drive shaft.
The bearings will easily turn but they should have no end play.

[davegs850]

Well, I went down a side road and tried replacing the clutch, figuring it would not hurt as the bike has 41000 miles. Did not solve the problem. Back to the secondary gears. Starting to try to amass shims. Do I need to have all the different sizes on hand before I start? Also does anyone have any that they would like to sell, Possibly left over from doing this job themselves?

[Gorminrider]

If your problem is THIS

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?199533-Can-t-separate-secondary-drive-from-shaft&p=1732978#post1732978

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/archive/index.php/t-65157.html

from the above..
"A quick test: Unclamp and pull back the rubber boot where the drive exits the engine/transmission case until you can see the drive shaft coupling. Poke it with a screw driver and see if it moves side-to-side or forward-backward. There should be no movement."

I just used the old shims. They settle in ok. .that is, If you end up as having the "Zooks Syndrome" shown here http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?240490-Diagnosis-of-secondary-drive&p=2301091#post2301091

[davegs850]

Well add me to the list along with Gorminrider and AMK!! Finally got around to tearing mine apart tonight and as soon as I pulled the swing arm a little gold nut with a broken off bolt from the secondary driven fell on the floor! I am at the point of removing the driven gear and have decided to stop for the night. I pried at it some and it did not want to budge. I know it is said to loosen the case bolts, but I will have to study where and what they are. Any one that wants to give me clues is appreciated. I want to thank these two guys for encouraging and helping me through so far, along with the rest of the forum. As to cause, I think that it happening to all three of us at the same time is because it is an election year. Not sure if Obama, Hillary , or Putin is to blame, but I think all three of our bikes have been rigged!

[AMK]

If I remember correctly there're two bolts on the case in the back that I had to loosen, maybe three. The one on the corner has a nut on the bottom with a wire strap, don't twist the wire, ask me how I know. And of course the ones above the drive gear. I would also loosen the four flange bolts on the drive gear.
Take your time getting it out so as to not damage the boot groove.
I used a wooden dowel and hammer to get a little turn or rotation which seemed to help break it loose. Then I pried it straight out with a couple of pry bars. Little by little, side to side.
20161022_160625.jpg

This is where I'm at on mine. Waiting on seals and o-rings.

[Gorminrider]

MyBrokenSecondaryDrive-1.jpg

Here's mine laid out on the bench I can't swear it's all in the right order (the three thin washers ahead of the bushing I was not too sure about but I did try to keep it in order) but it's likelyhow I put it back in!....you see the shims. I know zooks had quite a time with these, but it was my theory that the repair would have to be checked out after running awhile anyways.so fiddling with gear mesh seemed premature unless there was obvious wear from the whining(which there wasn't, by the way) ..test torque on bolts etc...and so far, everything seems fine-in fact it's just that tiny bit smoother now then when first put back in....but that's just my good luck, maybe.

I only recall two case bolts to usefully loosen but loosen more if you like! and,ahem, if there's no risk of snapping them.... They will not make a huge difference getting it out- they are just loosened to ensure they are not clamping..I took swing arm entirely off.(see below*) Main thing is to be endeavouring to be pulling it out perfectly straight..any sideways and it's obviously jammed so to do this (I recall).... wants warmth and oil encouraged into the dryness of the mating surfaces...tap tap tap with wood dowels and a heater of some sort-not hot! theres that O ring(hidden here) you can reuse- at least I did... just warmth...warmth and cold together with tippy tap around it helped me feel I was helping to break the seal...I like AMK'S rotation and dimly find it familiar.. anyways it kept my mindset away from my usual prybar-screwdriver long enough to not make things worse, if you get my drift...You want to reuse those shims if possible but in the event , I would not take them too seriously..I wouldn't hesitate to cut some out of aluminum or steel roof flashing if it came to it.

Once it's out it's pretty straightforward. Make a good record of how it's assembled-particular attention to just how much play there is in its turning shaft....The seal will need to be ordered big O- ring too if necessary. My bearings seemed fine. Finally it's Off to a machinist, unless you ARE one...and you will want loctite too.

* Now.... If you want trouble, check out your swing-arm bearings...mine were badly galled and rusted. Getting the race out was a Real tedious thing... Someone had been there before me and tightened em up to "fix" them...funny how you can see the path of a previous "mechanic". Maybe the same that had a look at the above job but balked when he snapped a case bolt and buttoned it up again....

[davegs850]

The driven gear is now out!!!!! I would have sworn on a bible there was not clearance but I used a piece of wood to tap it out and it finally came! I know this repair is nothing to a lot of you guys, but even to get it out is a huge accomplishment for me. Next thing is to contact a machinist ,and I plan to take advantage of a very generous offer a very kind one made to me . Probably a couple of weeks and I will be back posting assembly questions.

[davegs850]

Everything is back together again! Did the zooks repair with the help of a really good machinist. Rode it to work today even though it was low 40's this morning. So far everything is fine. The GSR members deserve a pat on the back for their help and encouragement in keeping one more old GS on the road! Take a bow guys!