noise from clutch area

i have a noise from the clutch area on my wing? been told it could be dust in the bowl ? it only happens on pull away from stand still.anybody had this and is it a simple cure.there's no judder or shake just the noise.
any idea's.

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 !!

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.

Thanks for the response guys. Glad to know it's a known issue and relatively simple. My old scooter never did this and it has a very similar clutch/CVT setup. Will try the fix indicated!

Would Belt Dressing help the squealing at low speed or would Belt Dressing really mess me up?

My 2006 with 10500 miles just started making a drive belt noise at low speed. (sounds like a car belt that is slipping) I bought it with 10250 miles and it was not making the noise.

I have to say this forum is a godsend. I heard the noise at work and by the time I got home it was much worse. I parked the bike with the intent of not moving it until I disassemble the cover and got a good look. Now I may just try some hard accelerations. Except that I was trying to ride "smoothly".

BTW, doesn't holding the break and revving the engine to "burn" the belt mean that it is being worn out fast?

With 12000 miles coming up and a scheduled belt change I am wondering if I can afford to do that or if I will break it early!

Ishkatan,

I have held the brake and rev'd it up to 4,000 rpm's for about 4-5 seconds quite a few times and when I change my belt at around 14,000 miles I still have a new looking belt. I wouldn't worry about it at all and my SWing has over 33,000 miles on it. You can do a bunch of WOT acceleration and see if that works but I wouldn't worry about the holding the brake at all.

I tried the Brake Holding / revving trick this AM and the noise went away. I rode the bike 50 miles on the highway up to 75mph and then on country roads / city coming home. At one point in the stop and go I smelled something burning but hoped it was a car in front and we quickly got up to 40.

When I got home I rode the bike into grass to get a piece of plastic. Coming out of the soft grass I was going real slow but revving the engine - no break - and smelled burning rubber.... this was going about 10-15 ft in tall grass "straddle walking" while riding the SW through a tight turn - ie. some load on the engine/transmission. The burning rubber smell has me thinking I am melting the belt.

I bought the bike used and don't know how much the prior owner did the anti-squeal break routine. The SW passed a state inspection after a rear tire change at a Harley / Yamaha dealer (was near work/on way) but not a through mechanical eval... Sigh.

My worry now is that I have a burnt belt and should not ride until I get it changed..... vs. hoping I have a couple thousand miles to go and can change the belt at 12,000. But tomorrow sounds like another nice bike to work day...

Ishkatan.

I have been lucky enough to not have this problem. However, I take off hard as often as I can. I also do not have to ride stop-n-go traffic very often. I have 14,500 miles on the original belt on my 2003 Swing.

So I may not know what the heck I am talking about, but I don't think you need to worry about the burning smell if it only happens sometimes.

If you look around on this forum, there is a poster who lives in Thailand that has a sidecar (I think his name is Pico-Thai). I think he did finally switch to a Dr Pulley HiT clutch, but he still uses the stock belt. It is a very tough belt.

One thing you may want to check is the filter for the CVT. There is usually a foam filter that allows air to flow through the CVT case, and it might be clogged (allowing the CVT to heat up too much). Just a thought. You should be able to find it by looking at the belt change pictorial.

Best of luck with it, and enjoy your ride.