faint noise when coasting in 1st (82 550L)

[DimitriT]

I noticed a faint whirr/grinding sound coming from below
when I coast the bike in 1st gear with the clutch in. You can
barely hear it. Doesn't do it in any other gear or in neutral.

I don't know if this is a problem. All the gears shift fine. This
is my first bike so I am paranoid about every little thing.

Anything I should worry about?

[bradleymaynar]

Re: faint noise when coasting in 1st (82 550L)

Mine does the same thing. I don't think it's anything to worry about. My parent's truck (5 speed manual) does the same thing when shifting into first and coasting.

Brad tt

[ddaum]

Guys, this may be a whirring sound coming from either your speedometer where the cable attaches, or the speedo drive unit located on the front wheel. I had the same noise, then it got louder and I noticed speed readings were off sometimes, the needle would bop around, and I could hear the cable winding down when I came to a quick stop. I took off the speedometer, turned it upsidedown and put a few drops of oil in it. Then I took the speedo cable apart and cleaned and lubed it with oil and sprayed oil up into the drive unit on the front wheel. I put everything back together, tested it out and the noise was eliminated along with the abnormal speed readings. This happens a lot to our GS motorcycles as they age and there is a lot of info on the subject if you search the forum for "speedo noise" or "speedometer." Good luck, there's my two cents.

[bradleymaynar]

This noise is only when shifting down into first. My speedo is okay.

Brad tt