Hi guys.
First of all let me introduce myself. I am of 1952 vintage, so I guess that will make me one of your older members. I have a 2001 Fazer 600 which I bought 4 years ago and which has covered only 15,000 miles. I had one new in 2000 and thought it was a great bike, but things cropped up and it had to go. I have been riding bikes on the road for the last 44 years. I have owned about 30 bikes in all and have only been without one on three occasions, once for nine months and twice for six months.
I take part in the Round Britain Rally either on one of my bikes (the other is a 25 year old BMW K100RS but I hope you won't hold that against me) or in a Lomax 3-wheeler (ditto). My wife used to ride her own bike (BSA Starfire, Suzuki GT500A & Virago 535) but had to give it up on doctors orders. She can't even ride pillion anymore so the Lomax is the only way that she can take part in the rally.
I have always done all of my own servicing and maintenance, and saw your forum when I returned from Europe last weekend with gearbox problems
. I thought that someone may have experienced the same problems and could help with a diagnosis. So here goes.
Half way through a weeks tour of France, Belgium, Germany and Luxemburg the Fazer developed a clunking. At walking pace I can hear a clunking sound and feel it through the footrests and handlebars. As engine speed increases so does the frequency of the clunking. As I change up the box the clunking, which is in every gear, gets faster until at motorway speeds it is an awful vibration which causes me white-finger. I checked the chain tension and that was ok (I have only adjusted the tension twice in 11 thousand miles). Returning home I took off the gearbox sprocket cover and found the sprocket nut secure. Indeed it took a real effort to undo it. I took off the sprocket, dropped out the rear wheel and moved the chain out of the way. I then fired up the bike and found that the clunking was still there. It seemed to be coming from the gearbox output shaft. Even without the chain and sprocket fitted the clunking increased in frequency with both engine speed and as I changed up the box. I guess that it will be either the gearbox output shaft bearing or the shaft itself. Before I take the engine out and strip it (over winter, pension permitting), has anyone experienced a similar problem?
Any comments would be most welcome.
Dooz
