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Final drive whine

6K views 42 replies 28 participants last post by  DrVanNostrand 
#1 ·
Hi guys , I am a new member.
I owned a 1995 Diversion XJ900S for 20 years and the shaft drive was as quiet as a mouse. I now have a 2015 FJR 1300A and I am really pissed off with the whine coming from the shaft drive when cruising at 100kph on freeways. WTF has Yamaha done?
 
#2 ·
They fitted a bigger fairing and windscreen, which act like a stethoscope, so now you can hear the engine and transmission on the FJR, whereas you couldn't hear the XJ900. Fit louder aftermarket silencers and the whine will no longer be audible.
 
#3 ·
Sell the POS now b/c if the minimalist whine of the final drive bothers you I can only imagine what the roar of the front tire and snap/crackle/pop/creak of the wind shield and plastics is going to do for you.

Or you could do (or have done) a little maintenance:

- replace the final drive oil (I use Valvoline or Mobil 1 75-90, whatever's handy);
- lube the final gears (the ones you see with JUST the wheel off);
- lube the shaft splines:
- lube the front U-Joint splines.

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

Also, this thread may be helpful -> https://www.fjrowners.com/forums/15-general-chat/147645-earplugs-motorcycle-riding.html
 
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#5 ·
It is more likely the gear whine from the transmission and balance shafts, a feature of pretty well all FJR's. I'd bet the final drive is perty quiet relatively speaking. Even a pair of earplugs of any kind will filter out a lot... everybody wears hearing protection, right?
 
#25 ·
... everybody wears hearing protection, right?
I thought we all got FJR's so we Don't have to wear earplugs 😛 ....I pop the screen up and listen to classical music through Sena doing hwy speed...when people talk to me while I am riding, they ask me why is it so quiet in my office...(true fact).... and that's with my Schubert C3 visor up 🙂 (VStream medium)
 
#9 · (Edited)
Hi guys , I am a new member. I owned a 1995 Diversion XJ900S for 20 years and the shaft drive was as quiet as a mouse. I now have a 2015 FJR 1300A and I am really pissed off with the whine coming from the shaft drive when cruising at 100kph on freeways. WTF has Yamaha done?
rowdyson,

Some will say that oil is oil, and I do not wish to start a debate. I just report - Yamaha has felt it necessary to issue a special hypoid gear oil, especially for the FJR (and other) Final Drives. I can't guarantee that it will "fix" the whine, and it is pricey, but one bottle will refill the FD several times. I consider the cost as acceptable, then.

Yamaha says the oil is formulated to withstand the shearing forces that are typical of hypoid gears, and that the oil does not degrade much between scheduled changes. I have not noticed any serious whine from the FD on my 2008, but maybe I just expect some noise there, in place of chain noise.

If your FD oil is dirty or discolored, it's probably due for a change anyway. You can pull the fill/inspection plug to check, without losing any oil back there. The correct oil level should be at the base of the threads, when you pull the filler plug. The bike must sit on the center stand for at least thirty minutes, with no wheel rotation, to read the FD oil level correctly. The same applies to a FD oil change there. The wheel must not rotate during a FD oil change, or the FD will get overfilled. The excess oil will get vented onto the wheel, sometimes making the new owner think there is a leak when there is not.

The Part Number for the oil is on the label, and the dealers or the on-line shops can get it for you if needed. Prices will vary. HTH.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0081837YO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
.
 
#14 ·
#10 ·
Bought a new truck in January of 2017, trade for another new truck a little over a year later because I had a rear diff howl that I know wasn't normal and the dealer said it was. I say that because noises just drive me nuts in general. That being said, you are straddeling a 145 HP inline 4 motor and transmission, fuel injection, cooling, all the good stuff to make you happy. I can certainly understand a little whine here or there. To me, in those circumstances it would have to be blatantly excessive for me to really start paying atention to it. I wonder, under those circumstances how you are sure it is the final drive?
I would do as Russ Suggested above, swap out fluids and lube necessary parts.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Ever since I got my first FJR, a 2003, the "FJR whine" has caused me to wince and whine and drink wine.

I was told, when I whined, that the whine was due to the straight cut gears in the transmission.

Now I hear the whine is in my FD. I have more to whine about than I thought.

Actually, outside of all the drivel I have written above. I suspect that the "whine" that bothers me, is NOT from the FD. JMO

P.S. I no longer hear the "whine" that used to bother me, except when I made a video about how good my new pipes sounded, and then I heard it again. LOL
 
#15 ·
Inside the engine there is a differential, that's where your whinning is coming from, when I first bought my 06 fjr I noticed the whine, tracked it down to that, nothing will subside that noise, if it changes you know you've got a problem, you learn to ignore it after awhile, go and enjoy the bike, have fun.
 
#16 ·
Methinks not.


The "whine" comes from the reeds inside the air valves on top of the head.



Some people have removed those things. Ask them about the noise.
 
#18 ·
Thanks for all your answers guys. In the past I have replaced final drive oil with Redline full synthetic heavy shockproof gear oil. I wear earplugs when riding. I have Two Brothers slip on mufflers fitted ( bloody noisy ) Still hear very noticeable whine. Reported it to Yamaha service guy, he said mechanic took it for a ride and said it was quieter than others he has ridden and that it is common FJR final drive noise. Only thing I haven't done is lube the splines
 
#20 ·
The only whining I hear isn’t coming from my fjr 😁😁,,,, honestly though the whine actually comes from the bevel gears that turns the power output from the crank 90deg into the driveshaft. Probably resonates some in the solid driveshaft. Personally I kinda like it, the Ducati guy’s and the Honda VFR and Goldstar people find it a “sexy” noise in their bevel gear valve Train that they are willing to pay extra for,,, , we get it for free so quit whining !
 
#22 ·
Pay your money for an oil sample analysis and you'll find there's no quantifiable differences between the old Yammy lube, the new Yammy lube, Mobil 1 75-90 and Valvoline DuraBlend 75-90. In our real world any good quality hypoid gear oil lasts at least 15,000 miles with no appreciable change. Pay the extra $$$ if you feel you must but me? Nah...
 
#24 ·
Any good GL-5 gear oil of those viscosities are quite fine, dino or synthetic. Change it once a year is plenty good....
 
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#23 ·
My ‘14 has the stock exhaust and I rode another ‘14 with Akra slip ons. Funny I thought the bike with the Akras whined less than mine. Does that mean my bike wants a set of Akras? All joking aside all bikes make some noises and whatever the whine is on the FJR I don’t hear it with my earplugs on and it is less bothersome (to me) than the noise other bikes I’ve owned have made. Having done a bunch of long distance rides whatever it is isn’t an issue.
 
#26 ·
"Synthetic" is not an oil performance specification.

I use a bottle of Mobil-1 75W-90 I bought in 1990. Only have 54,000 quiet miles on my FJR so I can't say what the long term effect will be.
 
#31 ·
I can go with the straight cut gears of the tranny and balance shafts and the middle gear... but I've never heard a noisy shaft drive with all those nice gears and heavy oil. One of us needs to ride with a stethescope and figure all this out.
 
#32 ·
When I got my 03 I read all the FD gear oil warnings, so I bought a quart of some fancy red synthetic stuff that costs 25 dollars or so.

I MEANT to use my laser temperature reader to take "before" and "after" temperature readings from the Final Drive, since the fancy oil claimed to keep the FD cooler. But like FjrjrF I kept getting distracted by the pure joy of riding my FJR.

Since then I have used the cheapest GL5 rated dino oil I could find [supratech}, even when I put RSV Final Drive gears in my 07.

Unlike some others, I have only put 45,000 miles on my FJR so I guess the verdict is not in yet. LOL
 
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