So today's a little wet around here and so not the best traction. (no this isnt a crash post) I was going at 40ish in 1st, so revving a little high I guess. I needed to stop so just let the throttle slip to zero and applied a little brake pressure to the front, and all of a sudden I feel and hear this strong clicking/knocking at around 5-6 times a second like something was disengaging/engaging and the bike lost some control... pulling in the clutch and distributing braking front and back solved the problem, and I had ample room to stop. But at the next opportunity I tried engine braking from 40mph again and the same thing occurred. The clicking was so pronounced that my bike was actually bouncing a little on the front shock...

What could cause this? Was my tire actually losing/catching the road during engine braking, causing the tranny to change from driving the wheel to slowing it, causing clicking?

The only time I've noticed the clicking before is when I try practicing hard braking (and so I've never tried a stoppie). But it was always for a real short while, right at the end before my bike stopped, and didnt cause as much shake. This time on the road it was happening at like 30mph, so I'm concerned.

Another (unrelated?) issue: A couple of times when the bike fishtailed going straight (hard acceleration), the tranny slipped into neutral of it's own accord (which might have saved my a$$ by releasing power from the rear wheel). Is this acceptable? related?

My bike's at around 15.5k and I've just got the 16k service done...

Please advise!

 

i have the same problem and confused as hell. My bike seems to be knocking out of gear once in a while and i have to literally stop to put it back into gear

 

Usually, High-RPM engine braking causes the rear wheel to slow much quicker than the bike, causing the rear wheel to hop aggressively. (just like you described it, the tire slipping, then catching, slipping, catching The wheel hop gives you a violent shudder and semi-loss of control. When you pull in the clutch, the engine is no longer trying to slow the rear tire, therefore, the tire hop goes away.

Though, if you heard a bad "clicking", then I don't know what that could possibly be. The wheel is hopping, and that causes shuddering, which could cause the chain to slap another part, causing a clicking-like sound. I dunno, I would have to experience it to know exactly what it would be.

But, my bet is that you are getting bad wheel hop.

One thing I would try is to replicate it, but have someone standing on the sidewalk watching while you do it right by them, and tell them to watch the back wheel and see if it hops at all. That will tell you immediately what could/could not be wrong with the bike.

 

Definately sounds like wheel hop. As far as the clicking noise, my bike has made that noise as well under hard braking, so I think it's normal lol. Usually only makes that noise when you come to a screeching/hopping stop lol.

 

I've had the hard acceleration issue (bike getting sideways) when I had my worn D208s.

 

Ok thanks guys I'll try to make sure its wheel hop...
Well the hard acceleration was on fresh rained roads (I need to control that twitch in my hand), so I wont blame my new M3s. But the slipping into neutral when hydroplaning was surprising...