Rear Wheel Clunk

I put the back of the bike up in the air to work on the rear brakes and noticed that when I rock the rear wheel back and forth I can feel a clunk in the transmission.  Its probably just backlash in the gears being taken up but Im worried.

Can anyone confirm that their rear wheel kind of clunks when being spun back and forth by hand?

clarification: the clunk only occurs as the wheel changes direction of rotation.

Thanks

Just check mine. There is no clunk or feeling of play when rotating rear wheel and reversing directions.

Uh oh:(

Yep, mine clunks too with around an inch of free rotation in both directions. I believe its normal free play in the final drive and as such, is not a concern.

Oh sweet yeah that's exactly what mine does

Wait to see what others say.

But I got the answer I wanted

Kidding yes more input please

2,000km ago I sanded the glaze from the clutch pads and the inside of the clutch drum.
Ever since then the back wheel rotates when I start the bike on the center stand. Maybe that has something to do with mine not clunking?
At that time I asked if this happened to others and I got mixed replies.

I was typing when Crusty replied. So I did not see his post until now.

Yep, mine clunks too.

What is this? A bunch of clunkers!
Ken. When you start yours on the center stand does the rear wheel turn? It seem that when I removed the glaze from the pads and inner drum I created a slight bit of friction that causes the rear wheel to turn. It can be stopped with a finger. But will start turning again.

No it doesn't turn but I can spin it fairly easily by hand and it will coast about 1/2 turn

This is with both calipers removed.

Just checked mine again to see how far it would keep turning. Maybe a 1/3rd turn after my hand leaves the tire.
But then I tried rocking it back and forth instead of spinning it one way and then the other after it stopped and guess what. A little clunk.
Looks like I am a clunker after all.

Ok cool. Yeah I think it's just backlash in the gears.

I'm going through the parking brake. The previous owner apparently never used it and it sortof locked up on me.

That your wheel doesn't slightly move at idle on the center stand is most likely because the clutch shoes are slightly worn and not kissing the clutch bell.

The clunk is final drive gear lash.

Neither condition is worth worrying about. Just ride.

Tim

Gear Lash=norma;

john grinsel wrote:

Gear Lash=norma;

I have 2012 new with 156 miles and it clunks normal free play

Thanks for all the feedback. It awesome to have a place to get these kinds of answers!

Oh Sure! You all got me wondering about mine so I went out to the garage and checked. With 27,687 miles, I have a clunk. So I guess it's normal seeing as I've never had a problem with it.

However, if I turn the wheel back and forth slowly and gently I get less of a clunk than if I do it harder and faster. Sorry, I couldn't help putting this last comment...

Yes, it's late and past my bedtime...

Yeah the harder and faster I go the more noise she makes for sure.

About two years ago when my 06 S/W had about 40,000 miles I completely dissembled the final drive because I thought It was a little noisy and I had to much time on my hands. The short of it ,the unite is made fairly rugged. Although there are thrust washers on the input and output shaft I do not think Honda ever intended for any one to adjust them. Thrust washers could be made to adjust the back lash but again I do not think Honda thought it necessary and would be very time consuming to remove a slight noise and back lash. I have used 90 weight gear oil for some time and now have
57,500 miles on the S/W.  Howard

Very good to know. I have some Royal Purple 75w90 I'm going to use. Not really necessicary on non hypoid gears but I already have it so why not.

I also ordered a 5qt jug of royal purple 10w30 (I went with 10 30 because it was on sale.) I've never been anything less than impressed with Royal Purple. It's the only lubricant I have ever used that actually made a difference in noise and how things run. A 5 qt jug is only $33 on Amazon right now so I'll be paying $17 per oil change.

I believe the final drive has hypoid gears (angle cut). The main reason I went to 90W gear oil is because Honda and many other manufactures removed a key ingredient from there oil because they found out that it was causing a problem with there catalytic converters.This is the reason so many manufactures had to change the material in lifters and camshafts to prevent premature ware. Howard

No, I checked the service manual and they are straight cut gears.

I can tell you from experience and page 11-0 of the service manual my Honda S/W has angle cut gears. Howard

Well I'll be darned. The picture I looked at on 11-3 makes them look straight cut. I stand corrected.

Ok  so my initial confusion came in because you called them hypoid gears.   Hypoid gears are used to change the direction of rotation such as a ring and pinion in an axle.  These gears are  helical but not hypoid.

Couldn't resist joining the clunking subject.

Mine clunks with just 22500 miles on it. I noticed when I bought the bike at 15900 miles. Doesn't seem to be getting any worse. It probably came about by the centrifugal clutch letting go just before coming to a stop (don't know if you've felt it). After doing that a few million times, I guess a little clunk is inevitable.

Kennylxix wrote:

I put the back of the bike up in the air to work on the rear brakes and noticed that when I rock the rear wheel back and forth I can feel a clunk in the transmission.  Its probably just backlash in the gears being taken up but Im worried.

Can anyone confirm that their rear wheel kind of clunks when being spun back and forth by hand?

clarification:  the clunk only occurs as the wheel changes direction of rotation.

Thanks

The clunk heard is simply the rear half of the Variator changing from hi to low as the belt rises to it's highest position in the rear pulley. Nothing wrong with the bike, Sometime this clunk can be heard when starting the engine. See my starting procedure in my reply to Dave Weller. Happy Motoring lloyd 193.

That clunk Kennylxix was asking about (Nov of 2016) is in fact the gear lash in the final drive. With a centrifugal clutch there is no way the the Driven Pulley will be engaged by turning the rear wheel. Otherwise it would be possible to bump start the scoot.

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

That clunk Kennylxix was asking about (Nov of 2016)  is in fact the gear lash in the final drive. With a centrifugal clutch there is no way the the Driven Pulley will be engaged by turning the rear wheel. Otherwise it would be possible to bump start the scoot.  

Yes I have noticed a number of mis statements pertaining to these rear end clunks. Happy motoring lloyd193.

I think I may have confused matters here.

I agree that the rear end clunk is actually backlash in the final drive gears. I suspect that it may be caused by the clutch take up and release at critical moments, a natural process but it will cause wear over a period of time. It happens in all geared mechanisms between a clutch and wheels.

I intend to replace the final drive gears on my SW at some point so I guess I'll find out for sure. Don't watch this space for the results just yet as I don't intend to do it for a while yet. I'll live with my clunking for now. It won't be keeping me awake at night !