Drive Sprocket noise is it bad?

FZ1fun

FZ1fun

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Okay I know I'm complaining about noises but I don't want anything to hurt my baby. I'm preatty convinced that I have a drive sproket problem. It wines when I'm driving but when I pull in the clutch it goes away? Has anyone had their sprockets or chain go bad on them, can you tell me what is sounds like?
 
Factory sprocket? How many miles on it? Is the chain properly lubed and adjusted? Possible that it could be bad, but you can always remove the sprocket cover to check it out further. If it's bad you should be able to easily tell.
 
What markings should be on it if factory? If factory then there are 22,000, does that mean I should replace the rear sprocket and chain as well? I just lubed the chain before I put it up for a couple day, when I hopped on it yesterday this noise was there. I had my rear tire replaced a couple hundred miles ago and he said the chain was tight enough. I haven't got out and measured the slack yet, but I will do that today.
 
Noise's

You mention that when you pull in the clutch it stops..?? Are you still rolling..? or is this at standstill..? It reasons that if your moving it could be the chain and sprockets, and at 22,000 miles its very likely that they need replacement and are no doubt at the end of their life cycle. If on the other hand you hear these noises and they are related to NOT rolling and pulling in the clutch..? it would more likely indicate an internal problem or worn output shaft bearing. A way to more isolate this noise is to put the bike on the center stand and in gear, probably second, engine running, and listen for this sound, and if you can hear it, spray some chain lube from the front down onto the chain where the teeth revolve and meet the chain on their rearward travel.........did it stop the noise..? or decrease it..? If so, I'd surmise the chain is shot and the rollers are worn to a loose fit, thus as they preload and unload, due to meeting the sprocket, then exiting the sprocket, they are making noise by scraping forward and backward against the side-links because there is play between the pin and roller. Lube.....rather, fresh lubing will mask this and quiet it temporarily as lubes often do with squeaks. Certainly your mileage is indicative of a well used chain and sprockets. I'd advise replacement before the chain breaks. Do the teeth lean..? the front one clockwise, and the rear counterclockwise..? Leaning teeth is a possative sign of the end of their lifecycle. At this relativly 'end of the lifetime' of the chain and sprockets, it would be highly prudent to change all three componants. Front sprocket, chain and rear sprocket. It would also be advisable to examine the rear wheel bearings.
 
Gohot229 said:
You mention that when you pull in the clutch it stops..?? Are you still rolling..? or is this at standstill..? It reasons that if your moving it could be the chain and sprockets, and at 22,000 miles its very likely that they need replacement and are no doubt at the end of their life cycle. If on the other hand you hear these noises and they are related to NOT rolling and pulling in the clutch..? it would more likely indicate an internal problem or worn output shaft bearing. A way to more isolate this noise is to put the bike on the center stand and in gear, probably second, engine running, and listen for this sound, and if you can hear it, spray some chain lube from the front down onto the chain where the teeth revolve and meet the chain on their rearward travel.........did it stop the noise..? or decrease it..? If so, I'd surmise the chain is shot and the rollers are worn to a loose fit, thus as they preload and unload, due to meeting the sprocket, then exiting the sprocket, they are making noise by scraping forward and backward against the side-links because there is play between the pin and roller. Lube.....rather, fresh lubing will mask this and quiet it temporarily as lubes often do with squeaks. Certainly your mileage is indicative of a well used chain and sprockets. I'd advise replacement before the chain breaks. Do the teeth lean..? the front one clockwise, and the rear counterclockwise..? Leaning teeth is a possative sign of the end of their lifecycle. At this relativly 'end of the lifetime' of the chain and sprockets, it would be highly prudent to change all three componants. Front sprocket, chain and rear sprocket. It would also be advisable to examine the rear wheel bearings.
Click to expand...

I was still rolling, in first or second gear I would hear the noise (actually I could still hear it as I got up in the gears but I didn't want to lean over to verify were it was coming from) and once I pulled the clutch it went away while I continued to roll. So this preload and unloading affect doesn't really take place when not in drive? I will have to check on the condition of the sprockets when I get home.

Anyone done the 14/47 sprocket mod?
 
hmmmm

That would lead one to believe it was dirrectly related to the clutch. Mabe worn out plates or needle bearings under the clutch basket # 19, or even possably the actuating arm having too much slack inside with the plunger # 33 that dissiegages the plates.
 
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Well as Gohot229 said the chain and sprockets could be at the end of their useful life with 22k miles on them, especially if the chain wasn't lubed and adjusted properly over the years.

However, it could be something else since it stops when you pull in the clutch and are still rolling. Either way I would verify the condition of the front sprocket since that's easy enough (and free) to do yourself.

As for gearing, stock is 16/44 so going to 14/47 is quite a change. I think you may want to try something a little less drastic to to start with. Either a 15/44 or a 16/47 should do the trick. Personally I'd go for the 16/47...just my :2cents:
 
Bike Bandit-OEM

For a larger picture of the clutch go dirrectly to Bike Bandit and hit OEM, then FZ3 ( a missprint) which is actually FZ1 and then you can locate the clutch assembly and brouse through the parts that could actually cause some sort of noise

not knowing your year, I went for a Gen1 05, but the internals should be a caryover through the years or at least fairly close as to represent the parts that could cause noises. deeper inside the motor, Beyond this, it could be gear shaft or idler shaft bearings ...

Heres a picture of a worn out o-ring chain, it's missing o-rings, the rollers are loose and the pins inside the rollers are likely shot from spinning dry, this could cause humming ratteling and squeaking as its turning. At a stop with the clutch pulled in, I'd think the noise would dissapear.
 
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So if it is the clutch what next? How hard is that going to be to deal with? Anybody know someone they dislike who is looking for an FZ1??? I need to stop thinking about this till I get home. What makes things worse is my car broke down this morning, this is turning out to be a nasty day.
 
Easy does it......

Cluth stuff is relativly easy, very easy in fact, it's all in your face on the right hand side. It's removing the cable...easy, and a fiew bolts to get it exposed, then snap rings and rachet/sockets to do the rest. Not hard at all.

The hard part is diagnosing the problem correctly and being sure of the problems location Without seeing it in person and hearing the noise, these are just likely guesses, if the bike has around 20K or so miles, the internals should not have that much wear, its likely to be way too soon for that. In that case,it's more likely the chain and sprockets that aremaking the noise. Could be the motor vibration is ratteling the rollers aginst the chain pins because their so worn, that would make a humming noise too. once the o-rings disapear or wear out and go away, there's lots of slop for ratteling to happen. I'd try to first eleminate the chain and sprockets then go from there if it still exists.
 
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Chain and sprockets range in the two hundred dollar pluss range. On the other hand if its a clutch basket needle bearing it's around 20 to 25 dolars. There is no gasket on the sidecover, only silicone is used.

Theres no way to give a difinative answer to just what the problem is for sure by back and forth posting, it will ultimatly need to be listened to by someone who has owned and rode and wrenched bikes, someone who's a fairly good mechanic. Then you can address the primary areas that 'could' be the noise, beyond that it's a guessing job with likely sources of parts that 'could' cause or are the only moving parts in that area from which to choose, and narrowing that down will be more likely with a bike shop or someone you trust as a pretty good gearhead, someone fairly knowledgable about motors and the internal componants. I know for some this is as foreign as living in Tibet, for others who have played with bikes for decades, it's just another 'fix' . I'm hoping for you, it's the chain and sprockets, and while that may cost the better part of $250. it's the simplest to deal with. For clutch wear problems it's more difficult to say for sure if there are two suspects, both the Chain/sprockets and clutch.

What were looking for is the source of the noise..... what parts/componants could cause them........a rotating mass, which side of the bike, what localized area, what resides in that area, does it have parts that wear upon other parts/touch parts, its a game of localizing and locating the individual part responsable. Please don't think me as condecending, no way, I'm as interested as anyone here.
 
If I'm correct, were dealing with a bike not too much in excess of around 20K in miles. From a wear standpoint, thats relativly newish, it shouldnt be time to be addressing internal parts, it's just too low of miles, but it 'can' happen, though unlikley.
 
A while back I'd posted about a weird noise in the drive sprocket area but never actually nailed it down. I only had 7k on the set. I've since replaced the 17T front with the 16T and just realized today that the whine I had before isn't there but I can't say for sure if this was the culprit. There wasn't a lot of wear on the 17T when I pulled it either. I'd be curious now to put it back on and see if the noise comes back. But I'm loving the 16T a little too much... :tup:
 
I remember

I remember FZ1inNH's post just a short while back too. Anyone here for a while will remember it too. FZ1fun, I don't want to alarm you, not even... and It's likely that it's going to be a non-event, as far as tearing into the bike, so don't get nervious yet... As I posted previously, the pic. of the worn out chain.....on it you can see the worn out side plates with hogged out inner faces, places where the o-rings are gone altogather and daylight through the bottoms and tops of the rollers where they should touch the sideplates. If your chain is anything like this, and with 20+K it's likely, unless you religiously lube your chain, then you 'should' be looking at a worn out chain. In my mind, it's too fiew miles on your motor and trans, unless you'v had some epesodes with running low on oil. Here are more pics of both chain and sprockets. On the sprockets, the wear is barely vissable, at least from just looking at the bike from the side. Bushings can wear out and due with lack of lube, or just with age, and if worn can set up a vibration noise harmonics ie. rattle-humm.
But can you see the oblonging? look close, that's 'shot', 'finished'.

With the chainguard and sprocket cover off, you might have a better vantage, and see traces of wear as on this front sprocket. They speak for themselves, but are sort of on the begining end of 'worn-out'.

I'm leaning with FZ1inNH's experiance, as I said, don't get nervious yet, it's probably an easy item to correct. By the way, hope you got your car up and going, boy the timing suks to be sure :(
 
Thanks for all the thoughts guys, I got everything off yesterday and honestly I can't really tell. It's not as bad as the pics posted by Gohot, thanks by the way. When I showed them to my boss he said the sprocket was worn, after seeing those posted pics I'm a little apprehensive on whether it's bad or not.

If anything Hellgate the chain is loose, I know there is at least 50mm of play in it. I didn't get a chance to measure it yet but I just bought a ruler last night. As long as it isn't raining when I get home, I will go measure it.

I got the car running yesterday, thanks for the best wishes Gohot, the thing that sucked is I'm in the middle of jetting my carbs. I got them out the night before last and the next morning my car quit lol. So instead of getting to finish up the carbs I had to fix the car, which was only a bad starter so it didn't take to long.

Here are some pics sorry if the angles kind of suck.
 
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Here is a comparison of my 7k miles 17T and my new 16T sprockets. You can see that mine is worn but not as bad as yours. If you had a new one there to compare, you'd see how much it really is worn.

2285d1269213198-installed-gen-i-16t-sprocket-gen-ii-dsc08334.jpg
 
You're still in the safe zone... consider this a note to order a sprocket and chain set. You can only damage what you'll be replacing anyway.

You're concern would be if the tips were wearing thin. Take a look at this extreme example. :eek: :D

bikerepair-sprockets-734270.jpg
 
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