4th Gear Making grinding sounds

[Gurock]

I sold my 06 FJR AE to a friend two years ago with 40,000 miles. He now has about 52,000 miles and called me Tuesday to say that all of a sudden his bike is making grinding noises only when in 4th gear. I've never heard of this on an FJR before and hope it's not that he damaged the gear due to alll the work it takes to get in to the gear box. Does anyone have an idea what the cause of this is?

 

[Niehart]

Have him drop the oil now and see if you have metal in it and go from there.

2nd once in a great while but 4th not that I have heard of.

 

[Ignacio]

2nd once in a great while but 4th not that I have heard of.

Generally concur. Search on shift forks or shift dogs and you'll see this discussion.

 

[ionbeam]

I don't recall any AE transmission gear or fork problems ever. It's easier to make this statement without searching, 'cause someone will, just to say you are wrong The OP wins either way.

 

[Fred W]

I wonder... what does the owner mean by "grinding noise".

Thinking back, I remember that some owners were hyper-concerned over the "whining noise" coming from the drive-train while cruising lightly loaded. That does seem to be most prevalent in 4th gear, and... like I said while just toodling along, cruising, not really accelerating much.

Now I would never have called it grinding, myself, but if the owner is concerned and realizes it is gear noise, he might call the whining grinding, I guess.

Anyway... just a thought.

 

[RossKean]

Have him drop the oil now and see if you have metal in it and go from there.
2nd once in a great while but 4th not that I have heard of.

Agreed

After the oil drain, put some 20W-50 in there and see how it sounds (assuming no metal bits in the drained oil). Like Fred, I have noticed a more pronounced whine in 4th but never anything I would call a grind.

 

[Gurock]

I talked to Walt again and asked for more details. He said that I didn't understand him that well. When he goes into 4th the bike only shakes and vibrates and makes a grinding sound when he then gives it the throttle. It stays smooth and quiet if he doesn't give it throttle. He also says that if he stays in 4th there is a power loss from the engine at that point in 4th. He also says that there are no issues what so ever in any gear but 4th.

 

[wfooshee]

That is classic worn shift fork, which as stated earlier would be quite unusual on an AE.

Look here for pics of my teardown when I found a badly worn 4th gear while actually repairing a shift drum. The dogs on 4th had an angle worn on them, which introduced an axial force into the shift fork, wearing it out, which made the engagement even weaker, wearing the angle farther on the dog, which pushed farther into the shift for, etc. etc. etc.

 

[rPGoatBoy]

If transmission issues can happen on an AE, I will no longer feel so disgusted about damaging my 2nd gear engagement with my big clumsy left foot.

Tell your buddy there are AE engines available on eBaymotors and other boneyard networks that can probably be had for cheap because nobody else wants them. A couple of AE motors have been *accidentally* bought by forum members and had to be returned or in at least one case, internally modified back to a manual shift model.

Engine swap might be a quicker solution to dropping the engine, splitting the cases, and replacing about $500 in parts.

 

[Gurock]

Thanks so much all of you!!! and BTW my friend Walt thanks you all as well! After talking to Walt again and reading all the comments I'm pretty sure that Wfooshee is right on spot and that the issue is the shift fork. Walt wants to keep riding the FJR without addressing the problem, but avoiding 4th gear. I'm kind of worried that the problems might get worse and that at some point the gears could seize while he's riding locking up the back wheel and causing an unexpected get off. I've told him that this scares me a bunch. What would you guys tell him?

Remember that his bike is an 06 with almost 62,000 miles and the cost of repairing that fork with Yamaha is the better part of $3,000.00. His other question is what do you guys think he could sell the bike for if he gives an honest disclosure of the problem. He noticed that the local Yamaha dealer has a 2015 FJR non ES reduced to $9,900.00. Then he started to think about selling the 06 for what he can get and moving up to the 3rd generation. The bike is good in most other ways. it has a few small dings from no speed drops and he lent it to a friend who didn't attach the left side case right and lost it off the bike. He got another left side case from me that I'd save from an 08 FJR that the insurance totaled, but that side case is the 08 Charcoal color and he hasn't had time to get it painted 06 Silver. It does have a MCL riser and blocks, Sargent seat, Throttlemeister,,Back-Off brake light modulator. and Givi mount. I think if he got $2,000.00 for it he might just makes his move into the Third Generation. Do you guys think he could get that? Maybe he should sell the Sargent seat, Throttlemeister, and side cases here and see if the "Stealer" would give him $1,200.00 for the bike without those items?