I searched all 11 pages of postings to see if I missed this somewhere, but didn't see it anywhere. I have a 2001 929 with just under 14k on it. I have been experiencing some really strange clicking noises when the bike is in gear and I slowly take off from a stop at around 2k rpm (probably HTEV?).

The other thing I noticed is with engine off and bike in neutral when I roll the bike around that there is a weird noise coming out of the gearbox. It is rather regular sounding in terms of interval between popping sounds. Would anyone have any idea what this could possibly be before I venture to ask a dealer any questions?

 

WHAT'S UP MAN I had a clicking that I thought was from the gearbox. a couple of the things it could be is the cam chain tensioner($70 part) and the sound would be coming from around the airbox on the brake side. when you ride in a helmet it throws the sound all over the place and that makes it hard to tell. it could be your chain slapping from to much slack but in my case it was a dead spot in the chain. I put chain lube on it until I got a new one. sound went away . Try lubing your chain and see if that helps. keep us posted and good luck

 

The poping noise from the gear box sounds like a kink in the chain. Not cam chain but drive chain.

 

sorry thats what i meant by dead spot in the chain. the drive chain has a stretched link that is not going aroung the sprocket like it should. it gets caught up on the sprocket and (pops) off

 

I have recently had the same problem too. I find it really hard to tell where its coming from with the helmet on, but notice it more when there is someone on the back of the bike.

Although it sounded like it was coming from the back of the drive train. I took the casing around the drive sprocket off and gave it and the chain a good cleaning and then re lubbed it.

I do think I need to adjust my chain also but I have not heard the noise since(which has been about a week), but I also have not had anyone on the back since then.

Jesse

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I adjusted my chain (found total slack was almost 2 1/2 inches. [:@] It is riding smoother and quieter, but there is 1 noise coming from the gearbox that I can only hear when the bike is turned off and I push it around in neutral. It makes a deep version of the sound a playing card makes when you attach it to the frame of your bike when you were a kid and the spoke hits it. It is pretty regular sounding, not quite like a kink in the chain which would be intermittent. The only thing I didn't do was attempt to pull the drive sprocket off to see if there was any debris or anything behind it. I will continue troubleshooting and get back to you guys. Thanks.

 

that's the same sound my bike was making and the same way I described it. lube your chain and it will go away but you will still probaly need to repalace it shortly

 

Thanks a lot everyone, I pulled off the drive sprocket cover, cleaned out some goop that was packed in down there, then I adjusted the chain and lubed it with the Honda Pro Lube with White Graphite and it sounds a lot better. It seems as though a couple of the noises/vibrations that I was feeling were associated with my chain issue. I figure the RPM range/speed I was riding at the chain was hitting a harmonic frequency or something creating some of the vibrations I was getting.