Drive Shaft - Help plz (any FJR owners?)

[FRJ Jc]

(Apologies on the subject line, this was posted in another forum as well - copy and paste is sometimes not my friend)

Today I installed one of my recent b-day gifts - relfective rim stickers. Here is the Coles notes of what I did.

- bike on center stand

- start the bike, put it first to check the alignment of my rim sticker - Check all is good

- when I get near the bike I hear a banging noise, I listen and feel around to see where it's most prominent - Drive shaft swing arm side.

- shut the bike off

- I unscrew the top bolt of the rear gears are to check the level of the gear oil - I did the 600 mile service myself - check oil level is good.

- start the bike again, let it reach operating temp and no banging noise. Put it in first, there it is again. I feel around - yup still the drive shaft swing arm side.

- I investigate a little further and here is what I see:

My apologies on the bad pics, it was quite difficult to get the camera to focus this area of the bike.

Red line points to what I think is the cause of the banging noise:

Red line points to what I think is the cause of the banging noise, blue line represents the grease that has come out:

In both pics you can somewhat see the knuckle of the shaft, it appears a big chunk of the black metal has broken off. I don't think the knuckle nor the shaft is supposed to be exposed like that. The bike has 1460 miles on it. It's still on warranty.

My questions are:

1- This is not normal, correct?

2- Could I drive it to a dealer to get this fixed or should I trailer it?

3- Do you believe this is this covered under warranty? (I'm only asking cause I've had bad experiences in the past with dealers)

I don't know what it's normaly supposed to look like. Anyone with pics of it being "normal" would be appreciated.

Thanks

Jc

 

[RadioHowie]

I'd say from the (nearly impossible to see quality) of your photo, that what you're looking at is perfectly normal.

What you're pointing out is the "Spooge" shroud around the U-Joint, seen MUCH better in this pic. That gap in the shroud is supposed to be there:

I'd hazard a guess that the clunking you're hearing is simply the motor not warmed up 100%. When that happens on an FJR, a cylinder (or two) may occasionally misfire, and the piston stops for a microsecond, resulting in a "CLUNK" that reverberates throughout the entire machine.

If the bike is in-gear while running on the centerstand, there's even more mechanicals, i.e., driveshaft, final drive and rear wheel, being turned by the motor, so the effect of the "CLUNK" will be even more pronounced, since the motor is driving more mechanical parts than just the motor itself.

Since there is some play/slack in the driveshaft system, it would be very easy to assume the "CLUNK" is originating there.

What you need to try is to duplicate the issue with a completely warmed up motor and a correctly set idle speed, ~1100rpm..

 

[NSrider]

What you are hearing is normal just like RadioHowie said. It is just the backlash in the drivetrain that you are hearing because there is no load on the system. Mine does the same if it is in gear while on the center stand.

 

[S76]

Picture police won't let me see your photo's right now but it is very normal to hear all kinds of clunking and banging if the bike is on the center stand idling in gear.

These engines, most engines, do not idle that teribly smooth so the gears and shafts and splines will all chuck around and make bad noises.

If you want to prove the theory, while it is in gear, just put a very little drag on it with the rear brake. You will see it instantly goes quiet with a little load.

 

[TC'sFJR]

RadioHowie- Thanks for the explanation on the source of the clunk on initial start when the motor is cold. Now I finally understand what that God awful clunking noise is when I fire up the bike when it's cold, thanks!

 

[FRJ Jc]

Thanks RadioHowie. Great explanation. Makes me feel better now that I know this is normal.

 

[Bounce]

PM that u-joint!

https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/ujoint/uj.html

 

[RadioHowie]

PM that u-joint!
https://www.fjr-tips.org/maint/ujoint/uj.html

I tried but his Inbox was full.

:finger:

 

[Fred W]

[devil's advocate]

Why PM u-joints? Has anyone ever had a u-joint failure?

The bearings are sealed, so you aren't going to get any grease in where there needs to be grease, unless you also drill and tap for a zerk fitting.

The splines on the U-joint do not slide under normal operation. They are only there for disassembly. The sliding splines (to take up any dimensional changes due to suspension articulation) are on the back end of the drive shaft lubed in gear oil from the final drive. There is a spring in the back that pushes the shaft fully forward to engage the front splines fully.

You are probably more likely to force dirt into the (otherwise fine) sealed bearings while trying to clean it up than if you just leave it alone.

[/devil's advocate]

YMMV

 

[mad dog]

I fully agree with Fred. I have babied my cycle (its probably full of carbon), and at any slow speed the engine

sounds and acts like it is not happy to be running at all. No engine built like a high performance race car is going

to run smooth until it gets up in the rpms. When I got my 06 three years ago, it was my first experience with fuel

injection on a motorcycle. I was expecting a smooth flow of power from idle on, just like most fuel injected cars.

However most cars don't have the compression, cam lift, timing, etc. that we have here.

Now at 7600 miles the roughness has increased to the point that I will be cleaning or changing the spark plugs

soon. Maybe after this I will hot rod the engine to much higher rpms before shifting, keep the carbon out, and have

much more fun.

Take Fred's and my advice, check the idle, run some sea foam and enjoy. I am feeling like that rear drive is bullet

proof.

Mad Dog

 

[BugR]

I fully agree with Fred. I have babied my cycle (its probably full of carbon), and at any slow speed the engine sounds and acts like it is not happy to be running at all. No engine built like a high performance race car is going

to run smooth until it gets up in the rpms. When I got my 06 three years ago, it was my first experience with fuel

injection on a motorcycle. I was expecting a smooth flow of power from idle on, just like most fuel injected cars.

However most cars don't have the compression, cam lift, timing, etc. that we have here.

Now at 7600 miles the roughness has increased to the point that I will be cleaning or changing the spark plugs

soon. Maybe after this I will hot rod the engine to much higher rpms before shifting, keep the carbon out, and have

much more fun.

Take Fred's and my advice, check the idle, run some sea foam and enjoy. I am feeling like that rear drive is bullet

proof.

Mad Dog

Have you done a TBS?

That smooths out the motor a lot.

Chris