Ugh...rear end noise. Rear splines.

Coming home from work today, I heard a weird noise from the rear of the bike. At first I thought it was a brake pad dragging. Nope. Then I thought maybe something stuck to the tire. Nope. Only 250 miles on my week old RSV.

Called the dealer service dept. The service man asked if it was a "creaking" noise, regaless of bike running. Yep!

Taking the bike to him in the morning.

He said he has seen it before.

The splines to the final drive (? i think that is what he said) were not set deep enough.

Anyone else have this problem? Is it safe to drive the bike the 10 miles to the service dept?

Very common , some of them dont get enough grease

He said he has seen it before.

The splines to the final drive (? i think that is what he said) were not set deep enough.

 

Anyone else have this problem? Is it safe to drive the bike the 10 miles to the service dept?

Not sure about the splines being set deep enough (they kinda only fit one way), but they sure can be Dry. Some even get rusty, like mine were.

I would not worry about driving it to the Dealer, should be fine, assuming it is dry splines.

Brad

Thanks for the replies. He said he could fix it while I waited. I guess it will take about an hour or less.

Thanks for the replies. He said he could fix it while I waited. I guess it will take about an hour or less.

Bet it you lunch, it takes him no less than 2 hours........that is if he pulls the drive shaft out all the way from the rear of the engine....

Bet it you lunch, it takes him no less than 2 hours........that is if he pulls the drive shaft out all the way from the rear of the engine....

Well, since my parents are here visiting from Michigan, and Dad has not been able to ride his Kaw Voyager all winter, he is following me up there on the 650 Silverado.

Guess we'll be 2 up back to the house.

Hey Jethroish,

I had this problem last November and made several post about it. I even talked to the Regional Service Manager with Yamaha and he called and talked to the service manager at my dealer. It is a common problem but the regional service manager said it wouldn't do any damage to drive the bike. Anytime anyone does any work on the rear end even just changing the rear tire the splines need to be re greased.

Glad we did not wait on the bike. Service guy said only about 45 minutes, but he was finishing up a bike from yesterday. Had other things to do, so I just told him I'd be back after lunch. It was ready and quiet again.

Holly and I have an 06 venture and we had the same problem, after 500 miles... woosh, woosh, woosh, and would change with our speed. We took her in twice for the problem which seemed fine after we got the bike back but sure enuff a few hundred miles later...... woosh, woosh, woosh,

Bottom line for us was this, there is a service bulletin on this problem and it can be a combination of two things 1. the damper bushings not fully seated, 2. out of spec axle, which ultimately was what solved ours. hope this helps.

I was told that mine was not fully seated. Put about 100 miles on it since they "fixed" it. Seems fine for now. Keeping my fingers crossed.

i have an 05 and she would creak when i was backing out of my garage. it turned out to be a bent axle ... free replacement/warranty work

motorose

2500 miles later, the noise has returned. A little creaking along with a slight "clunking" sound when I roll the bike, running or not.

Can anyone fill me in on the service bulliten? I was going to ride it tonight(180 miles round trip) but now I hesitate. All the dealers around here are closed on Mondays, so I can't get anything done until tomorrow. Is it likely to do any harm to put another 180 miles on it or should I drive the cage?

Got the bike back yesterday. they told me the driveshaft was out of alignment. How? They did the first regrease of the splines at all of 300 miles. I asked if something came loose, but they said no. Guess time and riding will tell.