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Sloppy/Slap LASH? in the rear end....?

2570 Views 14 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  runelvr
G
:?: I dont know the technical term... but my best friend and I each bought "DA RUNE"!!!! and we CONSTANTLY experience the same problem/NOISE??

In the city (mostly) maybe a combination of Fuel INjected, NO PLAY throttle, etc.... but there seems to be ALOT of noise in the rear-end hitting bumps, potholes etc..... Like theres a LASH / PLAY in the rear-end.

If it was a car...I'd say it was a sloppy Universal Joint!!! Has anyone else experienced this? My Buddy took his back to HONDA and they (of course) said they ALL do this???? its almost EMBARASSING, trying to "BE COOL" , going down the strip. I find Im often pulling in the CLUTCH and coasting in slow areas , to keep that SLAPPING sound from happeneing>>??

ANY IDEAS or COMMENTS would be greatly appreciated!!!

2 RUNES in MIAMI, FL>
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Drive shaft

I think the dealer was a little right. I have the same situation sometimes. I believe it has to do with having a drive shaft driven bike. I've not experienced what your describing in a chain driven bike because the chain can give you a little forgiveness. The shaft and teeth seem to be less forgiving. I just keep my hand very lose/gingerly on the throttle when I notice a bumpy area or crappy road surface coming up. I find having a tight hand on the throttle going over these areas tends to amplify the problem because of the jerkyness associated with rough roads and how they work the bike. Hope this helps a little. :roll:
I HAVE NOTICED THE SAME THING, BUT IT GOES AWAY IF YOU KEEP THE RPM'S UP, THE SAME THING HAPPENS WITH MY BMW 1200 AND MY HARLEY BELT DRIVE.
I seem to remember from the old board that the lash from the shaft drive was improved by adjustment of the free play in the throttle cable. Perhaps one of the more savy riders out there might remember exactly what settings were recommended?
G
wel actually, we already TIGHTENED up the PLAY in the throttle (on both bikes) just seems that the SLOPPY/PLAY in the driveshft, well, maybe is a SAFE GUARD??? Dont know
But since i installed that SPANKY Throttle-Lock (the billet one piece job) seems to have helped.....

Less time on the throttle the better..... HAHHA
Thanks guys (& Gals)???
The EFI is very sensitive, keep the rpms up and we all need louder exhaust, then you couldn't hear it!
Something else that most of them do is a very slight frontend wobble at about 35 mph. I asked my dealer and he said it's caused by tire tread design and that the GW does the same thing, so I took one of his demo GW's out and sure enough it did the same thing.
I get the noise too. And, especially in the morning when the engine is cold and overly responsive. My Harley riding buddy says he can tell I am riding next to him, not because of my exhaust, but because of the drive train lash & clash. If you take a hard look at the transmission and drivetrain components in the service manual, you will see a seriously powerful design. The noise aint hurting anything!
I've rode plenty of older valks and 1800 GW's and they don't have that kind of slop in the drive system. Why does the Rune? This is good
subject to bring up to the Rune Tech line.
The shaft final drive should have ZERO slop, and I'm sure it does, but what you guys are experiencing is slop in the transmission; listen carefully. It's normal to have some slop in the transmission, otherwise gears wouldn't engage. The problem is sometimes there's a bit too much. Both the GW and BMW use straight-cut gears, which are inherently noisier than helically-cut ones (keep that in mind), but are MUCH stronger, so durability is enhanced. By the way, a chain final drive has more slop than a shaft drive, because a chain HAS to have some slop, in addition to the tranny one. Just open and close the throttle in first gear (at LOW rpms) on both bikes, and it'll be immediately obvious there's more slop on the chain bike.
I experienced less noise in both my ex-GL1800 and BMW by switching to synthetic oils in final drive and engine (BMW has separate tranny fluid as well). I'm sure that should work on the Rune as well, but don't expect it to go away; straight-cut gears will always make noise (the typical tranny 'whine').

Finally, the slop is not going to hurt anything in the long run as long as it's not done constantly in a violent way (like when you close the throttle and reapply it abruptly, like to run a yellow light at the last moment; one more incentive NOT TO DO THAT). but it's certainly annoying. Low rpm amplifies that, so you can downshift a gear or two to alleviate the problem (as suggested earlier). I also used to anchor my right hand thumb to the throttle housing area on the GL to avoid jerking the throttle on broken pavement, which is almost impossible to prevent otherwise. Try that; works great.
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Like most others here, I too have experienced "backlash" and recently adjusted throttle for less play. During a ride this evening, I thought the backlash was a little more pronounced. While riding on an open highway at about 70 mph, I accelerated slightly and as I remember, when letting off the throttle, I heard and felt a loud POP as though something had broken on the bike. I looked back for pieces of something that might have come off the bike or that I might have hit, immediately pulled off the road, parked the bike, got underneath; looked for some kind of damage; nothing found. After checking everything again, I turned around, circled back; literally looking for something I may have lost or might have hit. I again found nothing on the highway. Now I believe this was something internal in the transmission or shaft drive, possibly "gears" got in a bind or something. I am no mechanic, but this was a serious noise. I rode the bike to my house, about six miles, without any problems. This bike has about 3800 miles and has never been abused or even ridden hard. I am taking it to the dealership tomorrow for the 4000 mile service, and will certainly ask them to look into this; but I was wondering if anyone has an opinion as to what might have happened. I am very concerned that the bike might "lock up" while riding (?).

Lee (slydog)
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I'm no mechanic either, but here's a guess.

The transmission output shaft couples to the final driven gear through a damper lifter and a large spring. If the output shaft receives a large impulse (like would happen if the throttle is snapped on, off, on), the damper lifter may ramp its way out of the final driven gear against the force of the spring. If this were to happen, the damper would spin 180° and pop back into the gear, probably making a hell of a noise, but equally probably not causing any damage.
all vehicles have thier own kwirks.........motocycle or other wise. my rune makes the same noise but mostly under bad road conditions.....this is a noise it makes also it will get stuck between gears sometime also.. you can feather the throttle to lessen the noise. but still the rune is different in every way, to other less awsome machines the make thier own little noises or own "kwirks". you will never get anything made by man to be perfect unless its made on wednesday! haha :lol:
Drivetrain slop

I have noticed the play in the drivetrain and had the dealer take a ride. He pronounced it normal.

However, my 2003 Gold Wing doesn't seem to have nearly as much.....perhaps the throttle response in the Rune is crisper...resulting in more noticeable play????
jc is right on....
Drivetrain slop

It's much more pronounced than my 2003 GL1800.....maybe production variance....
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