Strange Noise

I've had a noise emanating from the final drive/CVT area of my 2008 silver wing twice. Both times it happened after a good long riding followed by a 45 min cool down and then a start up to go again. I have right at 3000 miles on the bike.

It sounds like a scrape/sequel combination and once I get going again it wont come back. Braking doesn't seem to help/hurt so I don't think it's a brake problem. Last time it happened I opened up the CVT and gave it a look see, checked the final drive oil level and sprayed brake cleaner on the brake rotor. I didn't see any problems whatsoever. Today it happened once after we had been riding then took a dinner break and it did it after we started up again but just for a bit then stopped.

I was just wondering if anyone else had encountered this trouble and if so, had they fixed it and what was the trouble?

Thanks for any input.

When, prior to purchase, I was road testing my six-month-old Silverwing demonstrator, with 4000 miles on the clock, at a main Honda dealership I noticed a squeal when starting off from rest and was told it had only started making the noise at about 3600 miles and that it would be fixed under warranty.

Prior to picking the bike up the dealer had dusted out the clutch area in the hope this would cure the problem but by the time I got home I noticed the squeal was still evident.

The noise, which came from the lower rear / left hand side of the bike, sounded like a squeaking trolley wheel / squealing brake pads in need of attention but only seemed to surface when the bike was fully warmed up but could be overcome, to a certain extent, by brisk and revvy take offs.

I put the bike in for the dealer to investigate and was told that it needed a new belt, collar and a nylon bush and booked me in.

I duly arrived at the dealership one Friday at 0830 and by 1000 the work was completed.

I could not believe it when, by the time I arrived home, I heard the sound again and so straight away I phoned the dealer who said they just did not know what it could be, especially after having done the work they did which cost quite a bit, and said they would need to contact Honda technical department to seek advice.

So I took bike back to the dealer after they had contacted Honda technical for guidance and they deglazed the clutch and all was good as new for about 50 miles or so but gradually over next 150 or so miles the noise upon take off / slow traffic got progressively worse until it was as bad as ever.

I took bike back again to the dealership on Monday 4th October and they road tested it to confirm same problem back and said they would get in touch with Honda technical again.

I decided to leave the bike with them as I was getting a bit annoyed and frustrated, to say the least, as I just wanted it fixed and also was fed up having to go back and forward to the dealership which involved two train journeys and a bus journey each way.

On Wednesday 6th October I was that told Honda had authorised a complete clutch replacement, including the variator, and that the parts were expected on Monday 11th October.

Around midday on the 11th I received a call from the dealership to say all the work had been completed and I could pick my bike up which I did.

I must say that throughout the whole experience, which went on for weeks, the customer care and attention I received from the dealership was excellent and at the end of the day Honda have stood by and looked after me very well.

Anyway so far so good but I will wait and see what happens in another 3000 / 4000 miles or so !!

snap so it's a common thing this noise then..ok.

It truly is common. Most have probably had this problem and it is commonly known as glazing or glazed belt/clutch. The fix is simple and takes about 15 seconds.

Just one of the many threads about this "problem":
http://silverwing600.forumotion.com/silver-wing-topics-f3/advice-on-squeal-t884.htm?highlight=squeal

Check honda_silver's post in thie thread referenced above.

Smorkle, thanks for asking the question and to others for the explanation. Noticed the same sound on my Silver Wing. My driveway has an upward incline to the garage. Riding up the driveway and keeping the speed very low, I have noticed the sound is sometimes there, sometimes not. But it's never there out on the road. Glad I understand what's going on!

I learned 3 things today:

1. When you pull stuff apart, make sure you put EVERYTHING back where you found it. (Ok, I already knew this but I RE-learned it today.)

2. The speedometer cable is electric, not mechanical. And...

3. The speedometer is on the back tire, not the front.


Last week when I was looking for the noise in question (it still has not stopped) I took the CVT cover off for a look see inside. It's different from my old scooter and so there are more pieces to it. One of the pieces is the electric wiring to the speedometer. There are 3 wires in this harness so perhaps it does more. In any event, the wires have a hook thing inside the CVT cover that secure them in place but I neglected to get them back in where they belong. The wires dangled and got into the tire and rubbed raw and blew a fuse, but it was the fuse for the horn so I was looking for a problem up there and found none. Later the tire rubbed the wire in half and the speedometer started acting funny then died. I found the wire, re-spliced it and covered it with duct tape for the duration of today's ride.

Lesson learned.