1200 GSA transmission whine

Jon P

Jon P

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Have noticed a bit of a 'whine' noise from my new (2,000 miles) 2007 1200 GSA. It might have been there all along and I have only just started to notice it as I become more familiar with the bike.

I seem to remember hearing something similar on previous GSs.

It is a sort of drone that cycles (mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm!), most noticed when on part throttle on smooth roads and at speeds between about 20 and 50mph (I guess at faster speeds and rougher roads I wouldn't notice it).

The noise is not very loud and can't really be felt as a vibration through the bike.

The sound goes away when I pull the clutch in. The sound goes away when the motor is put under a greater load (up hill etc).

Any thoughts? Maybe just a normal sound coming from the gearbox?
 
what gear are you in, at that sort of speeds I would be in 3rd or 4th max, if your in too high a gear you will be straining the motor
 
R1200GSA, 4500 miles....

Hi Jon P, mine does the same.
This is my first BMW and shaft driven bike and I wondered about odd/different noises from the engine/transmission.
If your not 100% sure about the sounds, nip it in to your dealer and let them have a listen.

Timpo.
 
terayon said:
what gear are you in, at that sort of speeds I would be in 3rd or 4th max, if your in too high a gear you will be straining the motor
Click to expand...

Typically higher gears - you can't really hear it in the lower gears because of the increased engine noise. The noise is definately from the transmission and not the motor because of the frequency of the cycle - nothing turning that slow in the motor.

I am not overly concerned - (although I had to have every gear box rebuilt in my old airhead GSs - FOUR in total - though at much higher miles - I think BMW had problems with bearings) - I seem to remember my 1100 GSs making a similar sound.

It does seem that BMW still have trouble with transmissions - can't really figure why? They have been making them for long enough!!!
 
R1200GS 04/05 transmission whine/droning

I'm currently suffering the same noise but it is in all gears, although harder to hear in 1 & 2. It seems it can be best heard in 3,4 & 5, between 3k & 4k revs, I think this is related to road speed versus engine noise masking the droning.

It it is related to the road speed and it is not affected by pulling the clutch in. The noise is more prevalent under load.

The rear wheel bearing has been replaced and the the flange recall done.

I wondered whether it could be the UJs in the drive shaft?

The bike has done 70k miles but apart from this problem runs like a train.
 
What tyres are you guys running? I remember when at Coopers we had a number of bikes with transmission whine and they all seemed to be running Michelin Anakee 2. As soon as we put a set of wheels with different tyres on the noise was cured!
 
Mine does it and has for the last 40,000 miles. I'm pretty sure it's the gearbox as I also have the "standard" rattle when its ticking over in neutral. That rattle also happens if I roll along in neutral. It goes away when clutch is pulled in. All gears shift nicely and there's never any bad behaviour.

Knobbly tyres make their own noise, but there's no speed difference between tyres and gearbox so they should not add to any thrum thrum.
 
Monty's Motorcycles said:
What tyres are you guys running? I remember when at Coopers we had a number of bikes with transmission whine and they all seemed to be running Michelin Anakee 2. As soon as we put a set of wheels with different tyres on the noise was cured!
Click to expand...

i see where you're coming from but I don't think it's tyres, I'm running on Metzler Tourance Next, great tyre for what I do, had some before the noise started and renewed for the same about 2.5k miles ago.

I've pulled the bevel box and swing-arm off and checked the UJs, no problem, gearbox backlash as you would expect from what is essentially a car box.

There is however a bit of play on the bevelbox input shaft/bearing, so that's next.
 
Bendy toy said:
Mine does it and has for the last 40,000 miles. I'm pretty sure it's the gearbox as I also have the "standard" rattle when its ticking over in neutral. That rattle also happens if I roll along in neutral. It goes away when clutch is pulled in. All gears shift nicely and there's never any bad behaviour.

Knobbly tyres make their own noise, but there's no speed difference between tyres and gearbox so they should not add to any thrum thrum.
Click to expand...

Not sure this would last for 40k miles before something breaking, its getting louder all the time!
 
terayon said:
what gear are you in, at that sort of speeds I would be in 3rd or 4th max, if your in too high a gear you will be straining the motor
Click to expand...

I wouldn't take any notice of this comment at all tbh as it's silly.

I sometimes have had the same cyclic vibration going on but I ignore it as I know the bike is fine. Relax, don't worry.
 
I had the same on my 2011 GSA....Seems to have gone at the moment, don't know why, tyre change, FD oil change ??

Have you tried running without the panniers, they can amplify vibration noise.

It was 5th gear i was using when it was most pronounced (maybe I should have been in 4th)

You know your own bike best, but you want to make sure there actually is a problem before trying to fix it.
 
olgiffer said:
Not sure this would last for 40k miles before something breaking, its getting louder all the time!
Click to expand...

Whack the throttle full open in a high gear at around 4000 revs - the clutch should not slip.

Check the back wheel for lateral play. If its excessive you need a new wheel bearing.

Check the drive shaft UJs for wear. They wont show up as slack in the transmission (unless about to fall apart), so you'll have to drop the final drive down and have a look.

While you are at it, change the gearbox and transmission oils. If the noise changes you'll have a clue where to look next.
 
Bendy toy said:
Whack the throttle full open in a high gear at around 4000 revs - the clutch should not slip.

Check the back wheel for lateral play. If its excessive you need a new wheel bearing.

Check the drive shaft UJs for wear. They wont show up as slack in the transmission (unless about to fall apart), so you'll have to drop the final drive down and have a look.

While you are at it, change the gearbox and transmission oils. If the noise changes you'll have a clue where to look next.
Click to expand...

Yup done all that, renewed wheel bearing, UJs OK, swopped a newer bevelbox to check the final drive bearings, no better, oils all new, beginning to think it is in the gearbox after all! :-((
 
But new gear oil should temporarily (at least) reduce any gear noise.
Can you try a wheel with entirely different tyre tread to rule out tyre noise interaction.
 
If you want to mask the whine, stick a set of Anakee 3's on it, they'll out whine a fukcing teenager!
 
Bendy toy said:
Mine does it and has for the last 40,000 miles. I'm pretty sure it's the gearbox as I also have the "standard" rattle when its ticking over in neutral. That rattle also happens if I roll along in neutral. It goes away when clutch is pulled in. All gears shift nicely and there's never any bad behaviour.

Knobbly tyres make their own noise, but there's no speed difference between tyres and gearbox so they should not add to any thrum thrum.
Click to expand...

Mine was sounding worse in neutral lately after a recent bike tour. I drained some cold gear oil out (via the level plug) which was a generic EP75W90 and it was slightly foamed and looked a bit 'thin'. I compared it to a drop of fresh Castrol syntrax in the drip tray. By tilting the tray the old oil flowed much faster. Having now drained and refilled with fresh syntrax, the endfloat clatter at idle is a lot quieter. No debris in the old oil or on the drain plug magnet.
 
I replaced brother's rear wheel bearing over the weekend. The old one was so gummed with dried up grease, the bearing balls not actually turning at all. The grease was like dirty soap. The new one had a bit more grease added (not too much) before fitting. He never commented about whines or rumbles but that bearing was so bad it had to be noisy.
 
Pukmeister said:
1200 Hexhead, or something else ??
Click to expand...

1200 hexhead 2008 Adventure.

Looking at the design who knows why BMW did not simply use a pair of deep grove ball bearings instead of expecting just one to handle the side loads of cornering. Of course bikes do not take the side forces of car wheel bearings, but hitting a bump while leaned over sends a vertical force into the bike. The springs can only absorb part of that force, the remainder laterally loads the wheel bearings and frame.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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