Whine question

[crash33]

ok did a ride today and wore the open face helmet and i am hearing a Whine at 3000- 3200 rpm, its def rpm related as I dropped down a gear and hit the same noise at the same rpm.
Since I dont hear that well land cant tell direction of sound it makes it even more difficult to pin point it and it could very well have a noise at lower rpm but I dont hear it.
i did run the rpm's up in the shop when I got back and still hear it and seems like a ( not as loud ) whine at lower rpm, but not sure.
So the question would be if someone has had this noise before what was it?

My first thought on the sound was like a Alt bearing, but I cant pinpoint it for sure

Thanks for any ideas

[jre258 in SoDak]

I think most would agree that the whine you are hearing is normal for the XII. Some call it the Jetson's car sound. I hope you enjoy your new ride.
Jim

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

Meet George Jetson,
Jane his wife. Do do do do do do do.
His boy Elroy.........

Sorry, childhood flashbacks I guess!
That whine and the Jetson's analogy/description are perfect! From what I understand the sound could be attributed to the square cut gears.

[debron]

Yep! Square cut gears. Varies among bikes. My '01 was loud at 70 in 5th, less loud but noticeable at 50 in 4th. My '95 has very little whine.

[Skibou]

Best advice I got on this website about 50k miles ago was essentially: "Don't worry about it, it's normal. If it annoys you, turn up the radio." That's worked well for me.

[suzib6sw]

It happens to co-incide with 55mph on most of the times I have heard it..
It happened on my 94 and i initially located it coming from the worn rear tire (Dunlop Elite II)
It was worse in corners..
So.. Replaced with Elite III .. Whine reduced..
Replaced final drive oil with Mobil 1 Synthetic LS75-90w grade.. and that fixed the wire to much more acceptable levels.. Its still there due to the Square cut bevel drive, but...

Mobil 1 in a grey bottle

Cheers..
Pete

[crash33]

I understand the gear whine theory, but why is it RPM related, 5th gear at 3000- 3200 it has a whine, drop down to 4th gear same RPM but not the same speed and you still hear the whine at the same RPM.
it it possible to pull the alt off the motor and run it without any major issues?

[suzib6sw]

May want to look at the Lash adjusters on the right of the engine..
Two shafts connected by a rod..
Im sure there are details on how to adjust it somewhere on here..

Pete

[Lucasind]

I understand the gear whine theory, but why is it RPM related, 5th gear at 3000- 3200 it has a whine, drop down to 4th gear same RPM but not the same speed and you still hear the whine at the same RPM.
it it possible to pull the alt off the motor and run it without any major issues?

If the alt rubbers are suspected, just replace them. They don't cost much, and they're easy to change out. at the very, least that would eliminate one of your concerns.

[mountainman]

The XII is a whiny machine! The alt rubbers will make a rattling sound no whine there. The alt its self does whine some. But so does the gears in the engine and the rear end and the rear tire if its scalloped which is inevitable.

[cushman eagle]

The primary reduction,[crankshaft to clutch],gears are straight cut.This can add a little whine and would not change in different gears as the primary reduction gears are engine speed related.You would notice the whine less in the lower gears as there would be less load on the gears than in the higher gears.Helical cut gears make almost no whine but add considerable end thrust to the shafts that the gears are mounted to.

[JHD]

http://www.wavsource.com/snds_2014-01-1 ... ns_car.wav

[Chris near Kansas City]

Pretty much any noise you hear in this video is normal, except the "woo woo woo wooo" from the cupped rear tire. I wish I had a video of a noisy final drive. My '90 was so bad when I first got it in '02, it made hearing the radio difficult.

[crash33]

that sounds like the noise, is that what you hear from the gears?