Jigsaw Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Hi All, Not been happy with a clunking type noise at lower speeds so put the bike on the stand and engaged first gear. This is the noise I get,(MP3 file starts at around 5 so wait for it) sounds as if its going to tear the bike apart when your standing next to it. So before I strip it down do any of the Guru's have any input as to what it is please. Bike.mp3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beck Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 There's been a history of some shaft drive iniversal joint failures with some of the 7th gens. Do a search on the forum and you should find a few things written about it in the last couple of years. Have to warn you, it's not pretty. I think it usually involves a full replacement of the shaft portion and joints of the drive from Honda, and some required the replacement of the housing too.. So far I think the ones that failed have been covered by Honda warranties, so better have the dealer look at it quick before you miss out on your warranty period.....if you still have warranty on the bike... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamworth Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 "history of u-joint failures", as in one single failure reported on this forum. A non issue. Do NOT run the bike in gear on the center stand. Yes, there's some play in the drive line and it becomes noticeable in low RPMs when you are floating between acceleration and deceleration, makes a bit of a clucking noise. You can remedy it in a number of ways. Put acceleration pressure or deceleration pressure on the drive line, gear down to bring the revs above 3k, pull in the clutch and coast til you can do one of the first two. Stay away from slow traffic as much as possible. This bike is not happy in heavy traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beck Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 "history of u-joint failures", as in one single failure reported on this forum. A non issue. Do NOT run the bike in gear on the center stand. Yes, there's some play in the drive line and it becomes noticeable in low RPMs when you are floating between acceleration and deceleration, makes a bit of a clucking noise. You can remedy it in a number of ways. Put acceleration pressure or deceleration pressure on the drive line, gear down to bring the revs above 3k, pull in the clutch and coast til you can do one of the first two. Stay away from slow traffic as much as possible. This bike is not happy in heavy traffic. Uhmmmm.. where have you been??....... http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/77020-shaft-failure/?hl=%20universal%20%20joint http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/75671-failed-final-driveshaft/?hl=%2Bshaft+%2Bfailure#entry906493 The first case from South Africa was certainly the most memorable one as the owner had to pretty much "McGyver" the repair with parts shipped from Honda, out in the bush, but there were certainly other 7th gen shaft drives that came knocking after that one...... Not many, but certainly not just one.... Good thing was, I think Honda covered repairs/replacements for most of them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigsaw Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 "history of u-joint failures", as in one single failure reported on this forum. A non issue. Do NOT run the bike in gear on the center stand. Yes, there's some play in the drive line and it becomes noticeable in low RPMs when you are floating between acceleration and deceleration, makes a bit of a clucking noise. You can remedy it in a number of ways. Put acceleration pressure or deceleration pressure on the drive line, gear down to bring the revs above 3k, pull in the clutch and coast til you can do one of the first two. Stay away from slow traffic as much as possible. This bike is not happy in heavy traffic. Sorry mate but your telling me that the bike is supposed to be shit? I spent 4years as a apprentice mechanic I do know a bit about machinery. There is definitely a problem here, no bike comes out of a showroom like this or they would not have sold one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamworth Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 "history of u-joint failures", as in one single failure reported on this forum. A non issue. Do NOT run the bike in gear on the center stand. Yes, there's some play in the drive line and it becomes noticeable in low RPMs when you are floating between acceleration and deceleration, makes a bit of a clucking noise. You can remedy it in a number of ways. Put acceleration pressure or deceleration pressure on the drive line, gear down to bring the revs above 3k, pull in the clutch and coast til you can do one of the first two. Stay away from slow traffic as much as possible. This bike is not happy in heavy traffic. Sorry mate but your telling me that the bike is supposed to be shit? I spent 4years as a apprentice mechanic I do know a bit about machinery. There is definitely a problem here, no bike comes out of a showroom like this or they would not have sold one. You're running the bike in gear on the center stand and you are wondering what the noise is? Do NOT run the bike in gear on the center stand, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigsaw Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 did you listen to the sound clip? that noise is not just on the centre stand but all the time at lower speeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaq123 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 It's very hard to guess what exactly you recorded there? You need to explain what exactly you/bike is doing when that noise is happening? Are you just riding in 1st, what rpm? Are you holding your throttle steady or variating it open and close at low rpm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigsaw Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 ok, so say I am riding at low speed up to 60kph approx., cruising with a steady throttle in 1st 2nd or 3rd the intermittent clunk on the clip you can feel through the seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer hvfrdave Posted August 4, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 4, 2014 Jigsaw, a lot of that noise through the drive train at low revs, is due to the fueling, you would be amazed what difference it makes, another thing, a longer exhaust also helps, it may sound daft to some, but it isn't. you will gain more bottom and mid-range with the likes of the Akropovic LeoVince, 2brothers etc, without loosing any top end power. The main reason I changed the end can, and fitted the PCV was to help with the low speed running, not out and out BHP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaq123 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 ok, so say I am riding at low speed up to 60kph approx., cruising with a steady throttle in 1st 2nd or 3rd the intermittent clunk on the clip you can feel through the seat. what are your rmps when this noise is happening? And when is it disappearing (what rpm)? As you probably know, the bike has only two gears -right one and wrong one. 3rd at 60mph is a wrong one, if those noises are happening above 3.5-4k rpms, I'd say there is a problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigsaw Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 Jigsaw, a lot of that noise through the drive train at low revs, is due to the fueling, you would be amazed what difference it makes, another thing, a longer exhaust also helps, it may sound daft to some, but it isn't. you will gain more bottom and mid-range with the likes of the Akropovic LeoVince, 2brothers etc, without loosing any top end power. The main reason I changed the end can, and fitted the PCV was to help with the low speed running, not out and out BHP. Hi Dave, I did all my mods to make the bike smoother, not interested in more hp. My set up is the same as yours apart from the Dam exhaust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I agree with you that it sounds like there is a major problem. I have no idea of the cause but check the topics Becks posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spud786 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 "history of u-joint failures", as in one single failure reported on this forum. A non issue. Do NOT run the bike in gear on the center stand. Yes, there's some play in the drive line and it becomes noticeable in low RPMs when you are floating between acceleration and deceleration, makes a bit of a clucking noise. You can remedy it in a number of ways. Put acceleration pressure or deceleration pressure on the drive line, gear down to bring the revs above 3k, pull in the clutch and coast til you can do one of the first two. Stay away from slow traffic as much as possible. This bike is not happy in heavy traffic. Uhmmmm.. where have you been??....... http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/77020-shaft-failure/?hl=%20universal%20%20joint http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/75671-failed-final-driveshaft/?hl=%2Bshaft+%2Bfailure#entry906493 The first case from South Africa was certainly the most memorable one as the owner had to pretty much "McGyver" the repair with parts shipped from Honda, out in the bush, but there were certainly other 7th gen shaft drives that came knocking after that one...... Not many, but certainly not just one.... Good thing was, I think Honda covered repairs/replacements for most of them.... Yes I was going off memory, and remembered issues in that area, plus a couple blow ups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamworth Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 There is an issue with the 1200 of uneven RPMs at 3000 rpm and below. When you're between acceleration and deceleration just coasting along the uneven engine pulses cause the drive line to knock back and forth. It's unpleasant and every 1200 owner has brought this up. You can work around it in various ways but this is not a great city bike because of this. I deal with it by either accelerating or decelerating or pulling in the clutch and coasting a bit. It's a bitch for sure and stop and go traffic is no fun at all. You can also smooth things out by running above 3000rpm but that's not always an option but is sure smooths things out and shifts are also less clunky . You just have to struggle with a combination of these till you can get out of the slow traffic. Just like a chain drive bike, if you run the drive line with the bike on the center stand the pulses will slam the drive line back and forth freely, especially at idle. Chain drive will make the same horrifying noise in this situation. There is always a possibility that your particular bike has a bad u-joint but unlikely. You can inspect the u-joint behind the rubber at the front of the swingarm. If your riding is mainly city this is just not the bike unfortunately. Out on the highway these issues pretty much disappear. This uneven running behavior can be cured by altering the fuel mixture in those lower RPMs with either a Powercommander or ECU alteration and plenty of experimentation. (Don Guhl is the only one who's gotten into the ECU successfully). I deal with this problem by staying away from city riding and when I do have to ride in the city I ride like a bit like a 16 year old hooligan. It smooths things out a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamworth Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 "history of u-joint failures", as in one single failure reported on this forum. A non issue. Do NOT run the bike in gear on the center stand. Yes, there's some play in the drive line and it becomes noticeable in low RPMs when you are floating between acceleration and deceleration, makes a bit of a clucking noise. You can remedy it in a number of ways. Put acceleration pressure or deceleration pressure on the drive line, gear down to bring the revs above 3k, pull in the clutch and coast til you can do one of the first two. Stay away from slow traffic as much as possible. This bike is not happy in heavy traffic. Uhmmmm.. where have you been??....... http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/77020-shaft-failure/?hl=%20universal%20%20joint http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/75671-failed-final-driveshaft/?hl=%2Bshaft+%2Bfailure#entry906493 The first case from South Africa was certainly the most memorable one as the owner had to pretty much "McGyver" the repair with parts shipped from Honda, out in the bush, but there were certainly other 7th gen shaft drives that came knocking after that one...... Not many, but certainly not just one.... Good thing was, I think Honda covered repairs/replacements for most of them.... The first one was a parking brake failure that caused the damage. So far the second one was the only actual u-joint failure reported on the forums. Still counting only one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer hotshoerob Posted August 4, 2014 Member Contributer Share Posted August 4, 2014 Here's two more... http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/75671-failed-final-driveshaft/ http://www.bikersoracle.com/vfr/forum/showthread.php?t=125507 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f3racer Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 is it me or are 90% of the vfr1200 issues happening in europe? the recal is for europe only bikes, all these drive line issues. unless im missing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamworth Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Here's two more... http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/75671-failed-final-driveshaft/ http://www.bikersoracle.com/vfr/forum/showthread.php?t=125507 One of those is the same as posted above so now we're up to only two reported u-joint failures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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