Whining Venture

[Ferrantelli]

After all I read about our whining problem, nothing seams to have made much sense:think: until now. I read this TECH Q&A in Rider magazine and thought some one else may be interested.

 

Q: / recently purchased a used, one-owner 2007 Yamaha Royal Star Venture with the 1,300cc V-4 engine, still under factory warranty with 7,000 miles on it, I discovered (only after I brought it home and began to ride it) that as the engine speed increases there is an annoying "whine" to the motor. I have talked to two other Venture owners about this, and whine is so loud you can't hear the radio! Is this something I should take back to the dealer to have looked at, or is this truly a whine I have to live with? By the way, the noise is in the engine— not the drivetrain—because it is notice­able in neutral as the motor is revved. Dave Sugarbaker, Via E-mail

A: The kind of noise you're describing usually comes from straight-cut gears, and the Venture has two sets: the gear pair that drives the clutch and the pair that drives the balancer shaft. The pri­mary gears—the ones that drive the clutch—seem to be the problem here. Most manufacturers address the noise issue by using helical-cut gears (teeth that are at an angle rather than parallel to the shaft) or split gears (gear pairs that are slightly offset and spring loaded). Now, by using straight-cut gears, Yamaha has made accuracy in the machining of the gears highly critical. A driven gear (the one on the clutch hub) that's just a couple of thousandths of an inch too big will make a lot more noise. As with all mass-produced machinery there's a plus and minus tolerance, and ideally the gears will be matched so the tooth engagement is just right. The engineers have probably made sure that even if you got two "big" gears there would be enough tol­erance in the shaft bearings that it wouldn't cause a bearing failure.I suggest you take your bike in to your favorite Yamaha dealer and get it looked at while it's still under warranty. Even if the mechanic can't find the problem (using Plastigauge to measure the clearance and then actually finding a specification to compare it to), you'll have docu­mentation and if something breaks later you'll have something to fall back on.

[Bobby G]

Thanks for posting the article. Makes sense to me.

[Mariner Fan]

Mine has always had a whine, but not like the rest of you describe. I guess I'm lucky and got one that isn't quite so loud.

[eazyduzzit]

The first RSTD I test rode sounded like George Jetson's flying car (according to my wife who went on all test rides with me). It was the reason I didn't buy it. It was perfect in all other respects. The one I ended up buying had no whine at all on the test ride, but every now and then I hear it a little if I'm wearing a half helmet.

I was told by the dealership owner, where the first one was that they all had the whine. I liked everything else about the bike, so I kept looking.

[Steve-O]

new to me 2006 RSTD that has a notable whine.

 

Is there a fix for this?

 

I've been told they have a larger clutch basket that might fix the issue, but have also been told the whining just goes to a different rpm.

Also been told to switch to synthetic oil, which I am doing.

[FreezyRider]

new to me 2006 RSTD that has a notable whine.

 

Is there a fix for this?

 

I've been told they have a larger clutch basket that might fix the issue, but have also been told the whining just goes to a different rpm.

Also been told to switch to synthetic oil, which I am doing.

 

I'm not aware of any fix that is permanent. It seems that a lot of people who replace the clutch basket with Yamaha's recommended I-basket (myself included) will have an initial improvement. However, after about 5000 miles on mine the whine started coming back just as before.

 

I found my own permanent solution. It's called a Goldwing.

 

[djh3]

Sort of an expensive fix I would say. But if it works for you. I would say if its the gears driving the clutch assy why would changing out the basket make it stop? Unless the basket has one of the drive gears attached to it.

[FreezyRider]

Sort of an expensive fix I would say. But if it works for you. I would say if its the gears driving the clutch assy why would changing out the basket make it stop? Unless the basket has one of the drive gears attached to it.

 

It does. The driven gear is affixed to the back of the basket.

[djh3]

Ah sayz da blind man. That makes sense, if the gear is fixed to the basket. But by the same token its a crap shoot as to wether the gear on your new part is the correct size to make the tollerence to where it quits the noise right? Hmm Back in the olden day of my hot rodding youth we had this sort of problem with front gear drives I think it was mainly on small block Chevy's. I think we would send them to a machine shop and they cut sort of diagnal small groves in one of the gears (say the one being driven) and that would allow more oil on the surface to help quite it down.

[CaptainJoe]

10w30 makes it louder

10w40 Yamalube makes it tolerable...

 

I made the mistake of using 10w30 on my second oil change.

[FreezyRider]

Ah sayz da blind man. That makes sense, if the gear is fixed to the basket. But by the same token its a crap shoot as to wether the gear on your new part is the correct size to make the tollerence to where it quits the noise right? Hmm Back in the olden day of my hot rodding youth we had this sort of problem with front gear drives I think it was mainly on small block Chevy's. I think we would send them to a machine shop and they cut sort of diagnal small groves in one of the gears (say the one being driven) and that would allow more oil on the surface to help quite it down.

 

You are exactly right, it IS a crap shoot. And that is why the results vary widely when people try different baskets.

In the past, some have wondered why Yamaha doesn't do the right thing and just issue a recall to address the issue. I believe that the answer to that is simple....it would nearly bankrupt their motorcycle division to do so. The only way I can see that the whine could be solved permanently is a redesign of the drive and driven gears. They would have to make them helical, and changing to them would involve removing and breaking down the engine on every single Venture ever made....at least those brought in to have the problem fixed.

Now, why they don't re-engineer it for future model years is another issue. I think it's probably because there won't be many more future model years for the RSV. At least not in its present form.

 

Joe

[djh3]

So what are ya saying Jow. Yamaha is going to finnaly break down and follow the rest and go V-twin on the RSV. Use the Stratoliiner 1700 motor or something? I think thats the new bike.

[FreezyRider]

Yep, that's what I've been saying for a few years now. I honestly think they will full-dress the Strat and that will be their touring bike. They've already taken the first step with the badder version of the strat, just need the electonics etc.

[djh3]

With being 18k the way it sits now I hate to see what they will charge for it. But then again the current ones new to me are way over price point. If I would have had to pay for a 2011 new RSV retail I think I would be riding something else. Probably something made in Minn.